Frequently Asked Questions

Terms & Conditions

• Am I entitled to have a copy of my Terms and Conditions?
• What rest breaks am I entitled to?
• Am I entitled to be paid while off sick from work?
• How much sick pay am I entitled to?

Q Am I entitled to have a copy of my Terms and Conditions?

A Every worker has the right to have their main contract terms written down in a statement of terms and conditions within two months of starting work.

The statement must include particulars of:

1. Name of employer and employee
2. Date employment began or when continuous employment began
3. Rate of pay
4. Payment intervals
5. Hours of work
6. Holidays and holiday pay
7. Sickness and sick pay
8. Notice entitlement
9. Pension rights
10. Collective agreements
11. Job title/brief job description
12. Period of employment if temporary
13. A note specifying disciplinary and grievance procedure
14. Place of work

Q What rest breaks am I entitled to?

A The Working Time Regulations 1998 provide statutory rights to a rest break for most workers in Britain. The Regulations entitle you to:
a 20 minute rest break for every 6 hours worked and 11 consecutive hours of rest per 24 hour period and at least one day off each week. (This day off should be taken with the 11 hours referred to above meaning that you are entitled to at least 35 consecutive hours off work once a week).

At present transport workers, doctors in training and those involved in deep sea fishing are excluded from the Regulations. However, a new European Directive will provide protection or these groups in the near future.

Occupations requiring continuity may be exempted from these rights. These occupations include:

• Some jobs in the NHS

• Some security guards

• Work at docks or airports

• Gas, water and electricity production

• Household refuse collection

• Industries where work cannot be interrupted on technical grounds

Where there is a foreseeable surge of activity including tourism and agriculture. However, workers in these occupations are still entitled to periods of ‘equivalent compensatory rest’. For more information and advice contact your local UNISON representative.

Those involved in driving goods or passenger vehicles are entitled to rest breaks under domestic and European law. For more details contact your local UNISON Health & Safety representative.

The Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations 1992 state that regular users of such equipment are entitled to ‘breaks or changes of activity’.

If you are being asked to ‘sell’ your break in return for other bonuses it is worth remembering that it may prove very difficult to get this break back if you subsequently regret having waived your rights.

Q Am I entitled to be paid while off sick from work?

A The law sets minimum standards through Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). Your employer has to pay you SSP when off sick from work.

You are entitled to SSP after three qualifying days of absence for up to 28 weeks, provided:

You are absent for four or more (not necessarily working) consecutive days. This forms a Period of Incapacity for Work (PIW). Two PIWs can be ‘linked’ and treated as a single PIW if 8 weeks or less separates them. Your absence also has to fall in a “period of entitlement”. The period of entitlement begins with the PIW. The employer’s liability to pay SSP ends if:

• you are no longer sick

• you reach the maximum entitlement of 28 weeks, or three years have elapsed since you began your PIW

• your contract ends, unless your employer is trying to avoid paying SSP

• you are detained in legal custody; or you become entitled to SMP or Maternity Allowance and are within the maternity pay period

You are not entitled to SSP if on the first day of incapacity:

• you are under 16 and over 65

• you are on a fixed term contract of 3 months or less and you have worked less than 13 weeks. If you are on a series of contracts and no more than eight weeks separates these you can link them together for this purpose

• your average earnings are less than the lower earnings limit (£77 a week)

• in the previous 57 days you were entitled to SDA or incapacity benefit

• you have done no work at all under the contract. If you had worked for an employer under a previous contract which ended not less than eight weeks before, you are not excluded

• there is a trade dispute in which you have a direct interest

• you have exhausted the 28 weeks with a former employer and there is a gap of 56 days or less since you last received SSP

• you are or have been pregnant and within the maternity pay period

• you are a ‘Welfare to Work’ beneficiary with a 52 week linking period; or you are detained in legal custody, or you are not in the European Union. If you are excluded or have exhausted your entitlement, you may transfer to incapacity benefit (IB). Entitlement to IB depends on your national insurance record. Otherwise you may be able to claim income support (IS), a means tested benefit

Q How much sick pay am I entitled to?

A This depends on whether you are eligible for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) or Incapacity Benefit (IB) or your employer’s own scheme. Many employers improve upon the basic State scheme and provide full pay or half pay. Usually, the more service you have with the employer, the better the entitlement. Check your rights under your written particulars of employment and any collective agreement.

SSP is paid at a weekly flat rate of £64.35. IB is paid at 3 weekly rates (higher rates for people over pension age). The rate you get depends on the length of time you have been entitled to IB. You may also get an age addition or dependants increase.

Generally, IB is payable after four consecutive days of incapacity. The first three days are waiting days but if you fall sick again within 8 weeks, the two spells are added together. You do not have to wait another three days.