The company I work for have stopped paying sick pay to employees. do they have to notify you to do this?

Question

It is causing a bit of unrest in the workplace. Basically we have a new manager who has stopped paying sick pay to employees regardless of their time with the company. What i want to know is can he do this without informing us first? I have checked my terms of employment and it says that the employer can "pay sick pay at their discretion" Can anyone help?

Answer 1

The comment at their discretion answers your question as I am sure you had guessed. It's in the terms you agreed to when you started. He is within his legal rights even  if not very moral.  

Answer 2

Labor laws don't mandate that any company must pay for sick leave.  It's a gift to employees, a benefit that some give, some don't.  Therefore you do not have to be notified when the employer decides he can no longer afford to provide sick leave pay.