The Agricultural Wages (Scotland) Order (No. 72) 2025

Part 5- Absences Due to Ill-Health

Qualifying workers

16.—This Part applies to workers who have been continuously employed by the same employer for at least 52 weeks.

Qualifying days

17.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this Part, a worker shall be paid by their employer in accordance with this Part for each qualifying day up to a total, in any period of 52 weeks (including any week commencing before the coming into force of this Order), of the number of days calculated in accordance with the following formula–

13 × D

where

D represents the worker’s contractual days of work per week in accordance with article 10.

(2) Any payment in accordance with this Part will be taken to be in satisfaction of the employer’s obligation to pay Statutory Sick Pay, within the meaning of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992^[6].

(3) In this Part, “qualifying day” means a day during which the worker is absent from work as a result of –

(a)sickness or injury; or

(b)any other medical condition which a registered medical practitioner has certified in writing renders it necessary that the worker be absent from work; or

(c)a statement in writing by a registered medical practitioner to the effect that the worker should not work because of a contagious or infectious disease.

(d) And in the case of either (a), (b) or (c)–

(i) the day is not one of the first 3 days of a period of absence,

(ii)the absence is not one in respect of which statutory maternity pay, within the meaning of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992, is payable,

(iii) the day is not a holiday remunerated in accordance with Part 4,

(iv) the worker is not in legal custody, and

(v) the absence does not arise from intentional self-inflicted injury or the consumption of alcohol or a controlled drug (within the meaning of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 ^[7].

Payment for qualifying days

18.—Subject to the following provisions of this Order, for each qualifying day, a worker shall be paid no less than a sum calculated in accordance with the following formula–

((M+P)xC)/D

where

C represents the worker’s contractual hours of work per week or 39 hours, whichever is the lower, and

D represents the worker’s contractual days of work per week in accordance with article 10.

Conditions of payment

19.—(1) A worker shall not be entitled to be paid in accordance with article 18 unless–

(a)they have notified their employer within 24 hours from the usual starting time on the first day of absence of the fact of, and reasons for, their absence,

(b)they provide, within 24 hours of a written request by their employer to do so, a written statement signed by them stating the reason for their absence,

(c)for periods of sickness under article 17(3)(b) or (c) above, they provide to their employer, within 24 hours from the usual starting time on the first day of absence, the appropriate certificate or statement,

(d)for periods of sickness under article 17(3)(a) above lasting 4, 5 or 6 days, they provide to their employer either–

(i) a written statement signed by them stating the reason for their absence

(ii) a medical certificate advising them to refrain from work due to sickness or injury

(iii) a certificate of admission to hospital,

(e)for periods of sickness under article 17(3)(a) above of 7 days or more, they provide to their employer either–

(i) a medical certificate advising them to refrain from work due to sickness or injury, or

(ii) a certificate of admission to hospital.

(2) For the purpose of paragraph (1)(d) and (e) above, the period of an absence shall not include a day–

(a) on which the worker is not contractually obliged to work, or

(b) which is a holiday in accordance with article 11.