Payment during sickness

An employee who is signed off from being sick and who is ready and willing to work has a common-law right to be paid, according to the EAT in the case of Beveridge v KLM UK (EAT/1044/99). Beveridge had been off sick for a considerable period of time and her sick pay entitlement had ended. Her doctor certified her as fit to return to work but her employers insisted on further medical checks, which took another six weeks, during which she was not paid. These too found her fit to return. Beveridge successfully claimed that the refusal to pay amounted to an unlawful deduction.