Compensation

[pieoftheday]

Hi, if a royal mail employee has an accident outside of work and gets compensation from a third party can royal mail claim the sick pay back? Thanks

[tramssirhc]

Hi, if a royal mail employee has an accident outside of work and gets compensation from a third party can royal mail claim the sick pay back? Thanks

Have a look in your contract of employment. Yes employer can claim back the pay workers receive if they are absent due to an accident in which they employee receives compensation. The employee will need to discuss with the employer the amount to be repaid and how.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Short answer: In most cases, yes – Royal Mail can seek to recover sick pay, but only if the employee received company sick pay (CSP) and the compensation they later receive from a third party includes money for loss of earnings. This is a standard UK employment law principle, not unique to Royal Mail.

Can Royal Mail reclaim sick pay after a non‑work accident?

They can reclaim it if:

The employee received Royal Mail Company Sick Pay (CSP), not just Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).

The employee later receives third‑party compensation (e.g., from a car accident claim).

Part of that compensation covers loss of earnings.

This is because employers have a legal right called “subrogation” – meaning if they paid your wages while you were off, and you later recover those same losses from someone else, the employer can ask for reimbursement.

This principle is confirmed in UK employment law discussions.

They cannot reclaim it if:

You only received Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) – this cannot be reclaimed.

Your compensation does not include loss of earnings (e.g., only pain and suffering).

Your contract or Royal Mail policy does not include a recovery clause (Royal Mail contracts normally do include one).

How Royal Mail usually handles it

Royal Mail typically requires employees to:

Inform them if they pursue a third‑party claim.

Include Royal Mail’s sick‑pay loss in the claim.

Repay the CSP portion only if the insurer pays out for lost earnings.

This is standard practice across large employers.

[pieoftheday]

Short answer: In most cases, yes – Royal Mail can seek to recover sick pay, but only if the employee received company sick pay (CSP) and the compensation they later receive from a third party includes money for loss of earnings. This is a standard UK employment law principle, not unique to Royal Mail.

Can Royal Mail reclaim sick pay after a non‑work accident?

They can reclaim it if:

The employee received Royal Mail Company Sick Pay (CSP), not just Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).

The employee later receives third‑party compensation (e.g., from a car accident claim).

Part of that compensation covers loss of earnings.

This is because employers have a legal right called “subrogation” – meaning if they paid your wages while you were off, and you later recover those same losses from someone else, the employer can ask for reimbursement.

This principle is confirmed in UK employment law discussions.

They cannot reclaim it if:

You only received Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) – this cannot be reclaimed.

Your compensation does not include loss of earnings (e.g., only pain and suffering).

Your contract or Royal Mail policy does not include a recovery clause (Royal Mail contracts normally do include one).

How Royal Mail usually handles it

Royal Mail typically requires employees to:

Inform them if they pursue a third‑party claim.

Include Royal Mail’s sick‑pay loss in the claim.

Repay the CSP portion only if the insurer pays out for lost earnings.

This is standard practice across large employers.

Many thanks for both replies, I have previously requested a copy of my employment contract from the 80s, and it was pretty much blank, no terms and conditions, diddly

[redlen]

What happens now is that any claim for compensation is also passed onto the Local Authority to check if you are receiving any assistance with rent and council tax. Any payment will be expected to be repaid.

Any contractual sick pay will also requested to be repaid from the employer. (Double Bubble Principle)

These things will not impact your final settlement as they are paid to the council and employer direct through the third party insurers.

Was involved in an accident myself and the insurer paid back Royal Mail my contractual sick pay. As Royal Mail now suffered no loss my sick absense was also removed.