Unison celebrates employment law victory

Posted 29/02/2012

A Manchester hospital has been told it cannot deny pay rises to members of staff who take more than 18 days off sick a year or who are ill more than four times in 12 months.The employment law tribunal ruled in favour of the Unison complaint, with regional head of health at the organisation Paul Foley stating the decision is “a victory for fairness”.Following this case, other trusts around the UK will be unable to bring in similar policies penalising workers who need time off due to illness.Mr Foley pointed out health professionals are more likely than others to become sick due to the nature of their work, adding: “Hospitals should be there to care for people when they are ill – the last thing they should want is people coming into work when they are not well enough.”Earlier this month, Unison called on the Department of Health to show greater transparency over how the wages of senior staff are paid.The organisation stressed the need for more scrutiny of payment processes after a report revealed more than 25 senior civil servants working for the department have their salary paid to a limited company, potentially reducing their tax bill.