If you are injured at work, you can check to see what benefits you may be entitled to claim. First, however, you should go through your contract of employment to see whether your employer pays “contractual sick pay” if you are injured in an accident at work and as a consequence need time off to recover from the injuries you sustained.
To find out more about getting paid and receiving benefits you may be entitled to receive if you are unable to work, please read on.
Check Your Employment Contract if Injured at Work?
If you are injured at work and want to know if you would be paid even you are off recovering from the injuries you sustained, one of the first things you should do is check the terms of your contract of employment to see if any of the following applies to you:
- Whether you would receive “contractual sick pay”
- Whether you would have access to medical care or if there is a support helpline for injured employees
Should you not have a contract of employment or there is no mention of sick pay in the terms of your employment, you can ask the person in charge or your employer if you are or are not entitled to contractual sick pay. You could also check whether it is written into a staff handbook or intranet.
If you are classed as an “employee” or as an “agency worker”, you could be entitled to receive Statutory Sick Pay – SSP – but this would only be for up to 28 weeks and the amount you would get would be £94.25 a week.
How To Check if You Are Entitled to Sick Pay When Injured at Work
Providing you are not self-employed and you work, you would be entitled to receive Statutory Sick Pay – SSP as long as the following applies to you:
- You are working for an employer at the time
- You are off sick for four full days or more in a row which includes non-working days
- Your average earning are a minimum of £118 a week (gross – before tax)
- You are not classed in one of the “ineligible categories“
- You abide by your employer’s guidelines for receiving sick pay
It is worth noting that if you are injured at work and you work part-time or you work on a fixed-term contract, you could still be entitled to receive Statutory Sick Pay.
Should you be classed as a casual or agency worker carrying out a job on an assignment when you are injured at work, you may be entitled to receive SSP right up until the end of the assignment. Should you have already agreed to work on another assignment, you may be entitled to receive Statutory Sick Pay until the end of that assignment if you are injured during the second assignment you have undertaken for an employer.
If you are on a “zero hours contract”, you may still receive sick pay and should ask your employer to pay it. Should they refuse, you have the right to ask them why and if you are not happy with the answer you are given, you should seek advice from a personal injury lawyer.
Your employer must provide you with a written explanation if they say you do not qualify and they should provide the information a form known as “Statutory Sick Pay and an Employee’s Claim for Benefit – SSP1″. An employer should provide the form within seven days which begins from the time you are off sick. You would need this form in order to claim any benefits you may be entitled to receive if you are injured at work and need time off to recover. Your employer is obliged to give back the doctor’s notes that you provided too.
Should your employer refuse to provide you with the form SSP1, you should do the following:
- Ask your employer for a written statement explaining the reasons why you would not receive SSP. You have the right to give your employer a copy of the SSP1 form for them to fill in.
- You should contact HMRC if your employer does not give you the form SSP1 or a written statement. HMRC would then request that you employer provides a reason why they deem that you would not be entitled to receive Statutory Sick Pay
When you contact HMRC, you would need to provide the following information:
- Name, address and your national insurance number
- The name of your employer together with their contact details
- Your payroll number
- The details of what your employer said when you requested an SSP1 form and sick pay and when you were off work
Should you not be working when injured, you would not be entitled to receive Statutory Sick Pay – SSP.
Why Would I Not Be Entitled to Receive Statutory Sick Pay?
You would not qualify to receive Statutory Sick Pay if the following applies to you:
- You are self-employed
- You have already received Statutory Sick Pay for 28 weeks which ended with the last eight weeks
- You have received Employment and Support Allowance – ESA – in the last twelve weeks
- You are receiving Maternity Allowance or statutory maternity pay
- You are pregnant and your child is due in four weeks or less with your illness being pregnancy-related
- You gave birth in the last fourteen weeks – or in the last eighteen weeks should your bay have been born four weeks prematurely
- You are part of the armed forces
- You are in custody which includes being in prison or detained by the Police
- You are an agricultural worker
What If I Am Not Entitled to Statutory Sick Pay When Injured at Work?
If you do not qualify for Statutory Sick Pay, you may be entitled to receive Universal Credit or some other type of benefit should you not be able to work having been injured in an accident while carrying out your job.
What Other Benefits Could I Receive When Injured at Work?
If you are injured at work and need time off to recover from your injuries, as previously mentioned you may be able to claim Universal Credit. You can also check on the Citizen’s Advice website to see if there any other benefits you may be entitled to receive. This could be Personal Independence Payment (PIP) which you could qualify for should you require long-term assistance in doing everyday chores or to get around.
What If I Already Receive Benefits, Can I Still Claim if Injured at Work?
You would still be entitled to receive tax credits when you are off work and you are receiving sick pay. You may find that some of your existing benefits may increase whereas your normal salary would be less than when you are working. You should inform the department of your situation so they can tell you whether you may be entitled to other benefits while you are recovering from your workplace injuries.
Can I Claim a Tax Refund if Injured at Work and Need Time to Recover?
If you are injured at work and need time off to recover, you may be entitled to receive a tax refund. Even when you are off work, you would still have to pay National Insurance and tax which in short, means you may be able to get some of the money refunded.
What Happens When My Sick Pay Ends When Injured at Work?
You may be entitled to receive Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) if you as a result of being injured at work leads to you suffering from a long-term medical condition. You would be entitled to begin a claim for ESA, three months prior to your sick pay ending. It is worth noting that an application can take some time to process which in short, means the sooner you send in an application, the sooner you would receive a reply.
Consider Claiming Accident at Work Compensation From Your Employer?
If you are injured at work and the incident occurred through no fault of your own but rather through the error on the part of a work colleague or through employer negligence, you may be entitled to seek compensation by filing an accident at work claim against your employer. Your boss is liable for the actions of all people who under their control in the workplace so if a fellow worker causes an accident in the workplace in which you got injured, you could still seek compensation for the pain and distress you suffered.
What Time Limit Do I Have to Make an Accident at Work Claim?
It would depend on several things as to when the statutory 3 year time limit linked to personal injury claims which are as follows:
- 3 years from when you were injured at work
- 3 years from when you are diagnosed as suffering from some sort of medical condition that a specialist has linked to the workplace injury you sustained
- 3 years from your 18th birthday if you were injured at work before this date
What Damages and Losses Can I Include in an Accident at Work Claim?
Personal injury compensation is divided into two parts which are general damages for the pain and suffering as well as any loss of amenity you endured that can be linked to the injuries you sustained in the workplace and special damages which are awarded to compensate you for all your out-of-pocket expenses. This would include travel and medical costs you had to pay as a direct result of the workplace injuries you suffered and any other expenses that can be linked to your injuries.
Who Pays Accident at Work Compensation?
Employers must by law hold liability insurance with a minimum cover of £5 million. The insurance provider must be a recognised company and employer should displace the certificate in a prominent place so that all employees and other workers can clearly see it. The amount of accident at work compensation you receive would be paid out by your employer’s insurer who would handle the case from start to finish whether they decide to settle out of court or should your case be disputed, before a judge in court.
It is worth noting that the majority of personal injury cases are settled prior to going to court because should a judge rule that you should be compensated, your employer’s insurers would not only have to pay their own court costs but yours too.
Are There Any Benefits to Working With a Solicitor on a Claim?
There are many benefits to working with a personal injury solicitor when you are injured at work and would like to seek compensation for the distress, pain and loss of income you had to endure even though you were not at fault. A solicitor who specialises in accident at work claims would provide a free, initial consultation so they can assess your case and to seek whether they can prove employer negligence. You would be under no obligation to proceed with an accident at work claim against an employer should you wish not to.
If the solicitor you contact feels that your employer could be held liable for the workplace injuries you suffered and you have strong evidence to prove your claim, they would typically work on your case without requesting that you pay them to do so. This would involve signing a Conditional Fee Agreement and once you enter into the contract, the solicitor would begin their investigations. Other benefits and advantages of being legally represented when filing an accident at work claim includes the following:
- Personal injury lawyers can access “legal libraries” which they reference when researching precedents and to determine how much accident at work compensation you may receive
- They have the legal expertise required when communicating with insurance companies and their lawyers
- Solicitors understand the pre-action protocols that have to be followed and are respectful of the statutory 3 year time limit associated with personal injury claims. In short, you would not run the risk of your claim being “time barred” if you contact a lawyer sooner rather than later
- A solicitor would let you know how much accident at work compensation you may receive at the earliest opportunity
- They would arrange for you to be examined by a private medical expert and the report they provide would be used to calculate the level of general damages you could be entitled to receive
- Should your employer deny liability for the workplace injuries you suffered, the solicitor working on your behalf would investigate their claim thoroughly, bearing mind that if often only takes a first official solicitors letter for an employer and their liability insurance providers to accept responsibility for a workplace accident
- Should you require long-term, ongoing treatment and/or therapy, a personal injury lawyer would ensure that the cost is included in the accident at work compensation you receive
Would a Personal Injury Lawyer Represent Me on a No Win No Fee Basis?
As previously mentioned, if a personal injury solicitor feels that you have enough evidence to prove employer negligence, they would represent you on a No Win No Fee basis. As such, you would not have to pay for the legal services they provide. The only time you would pay is when you receive your accident at work compensation and the agreed percentage would be taken directly from the money you receive rather than you having to pay the solicitor out of your own pocket.
Should your lose your accident at work claim against your employer, there would be no fees to pay the solicitor because these would be waived due to you having signed a No Win No Fee agreement with them.
Informative Links
If you were injured at work and would like more information regarding your eligibility to receive Statutory Sick Pay, the following link takes you to the Government website that sets out the criteria necessary and provides essential reading on the SSP1 form:
SSP eligibility and the SSP1 form
To read more about the law regarding employer’s liability insurance, please follow the link provided below:
Employer’s liability insurance – the law
The link provided below takes you to the Health and Safety Executive website that provides in-depth information on reportable incidents: