Should I have worked while injured?

I was knocked off my bike in summer 2025 when a car pulled out into my path.  I wasn’t able to work for 3 months. I had to see a medical expert instructed by the third party insurer. He has written in his report that it was not reasonable for me to be off work for more than a month. This is very unfair as my GP signed me off for the full 3 months. My employer wants me to repay them for the 3 months of sick pay they paid me but this will leave me penalised financially. Can they do this?

Helen D, by e-mail

Answer

Your employment contract clearly has what we call a subrogated claim clause. This allows your employer to recover sick pay paid to you from the compensation you receive from a third party. Your solicitor should have sent you to your own medical expert rather than rely only on the other side’s expert and if this has not been done it is vital that this is rectified. Your expert should provide an opinion on the reasonableness of the time off work and if the report is supportive it should be sent to the other side maintaining the loss of earnings claim in full.

If there is a shortfall then a solution could be that your solicitor explains the situation to your employer asking them to accept what you actually recover for loss of earnings rather than the full amount. This is usually accepted.