The BBC has implemented sweeping changes to its employee suspension policies following the Huw Edwards scandal, establishing strict time limits on full pay for suspended staff who claim illness during disciplinary proceedings.
Corporation executives have eliminated a controversial provision that allowed Edwards and other suspended personnel to receive their full salaries indefinitely whilst claiming sickness, regardless of whether they participated in internal misconduct investigations. The arrangement enabled the disgraced newsreader to collect more than £200,000 after his arrest on child pornography charges.
Under the broadcaster’s updated regulations, personnel facing disciplinary proceedings who declare themselves unfit for work will now receive eighteen weeks’ full pay, followed by nine weeks at fifty per cent of their earnings. These provisions align the corporation’s suspension arrangements with its standard illness benefit structure.
The modifications were finalised at the end of January following negotiations with broadcasting unions, including Bectu, and form part of the BBC’s updated Respect at Work guidelines incorporated into all employment agreements. The adjustments were initially considered by the corporation’s board in September of the previous year.
Edwards, the former principal presenter of BBC News at Ten who commanded an annual salary exceeding £475,000, continued receiving his full remuneration following his November 2023 detention on charges of making indecent images of minors. His legal representatives reportedly informed the corporation that his health prevented participation in disciplinary procedures.
Documents disclosed that BBC management attempted contact with Edwards on multiple occasions between November 16, 2023, and January 19, 2024. His solicitors rebuffed these approaches twice, stating: “Huw is a BBC employee who has not been charged with anything. In the circumstances, and whilst the case remains under investigation, it is inappropriate both for Huw to be asked about, and for him to have to comment on, what has been set out in your email.”
The corporation maintained Edwards’ payments until his departure in April 2024, approximately three months prior to his admission of guilt at Westminster magistrates’ court regarding 41 unlawful images. He received a six-month custodial term, suspended for 24 months.
BBC chairman Samir Shah issued a direct appeal to Edwards regarding the sum exceeding £200,000 he collected following his detention. The ex-presenter “behaved in bad faith” in continuing to take his salary despite knowing what he had done, Shah said in a letter to staff.
Shah described Edwards as having been “living a double life” as someone who appeared to be a much-admired broadcaster but who had “betrayed the trust of staff and our audiences. Despite multiple requests from the corporation, Edwards has refused to return the money.
The controversy highlighted a significant disparity in BBC employment terms. Whilst permanent staff like Edwards continued receiving full pay during suspension, the corporation’s terms for freelance on-air talent explicitly state they have no entitlement to fees during suspension if under criminal investigation.
Employment law experts have defended the BBC’s original handling of the case, noting the legal complexities involved. Charlotte Rees-John, an employment law partner at Irwin Mitchell, told the Guardian that whilst dismissal after arrest was possible, it carried risks given Edwards had not yet been charged at that time.
Ronnie Fox, partner at employment solicitor Fox & Partners, said the BBC had little choice but to continue paying Edwards, calling it a “contractual issue. He emphasised that the presumption of innocence until proven guilty remains a basic principle of English law.
The new rules address a longstanding challenge for employers when suspended employees claim illness. As one tribunal noted in a separate case involving Croydon Council, long suspensions often impact an employee’s health, creating a situation where sickness policies could override disciplinary procedures.
Under the previous arrangement, unscrupulous employees could potentially “play the system” by using sickness as an excuse to refuse participation in disciplinary meetings whilst enjoying full pay indefinitely. The new time limits aim to prevent such exploitation whilst maintaining fair treatment for genuinely ill employees.
The changes represent a significant shift in BBC policy following one of the most damaging scandals in the corporation’s recent history. The Edwards case exposed weaknesses in the broadcaster’s disciplinary procedures and sparked public outrage over the use of licence fee payers’ money.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy met with BBC director-general Tim Davie following Edwards’ guilty plea to discuss the corporation’s handling of the case, with particular focus on safeguarding processes and the management of public funds.
The BBC board has also commissioned an independent review to make recommendations on strengthening workplace culture in line with its values, with outcomes expected to be published “within months.
Shah told MPs that “no one is untouchable” at the BBC, emphasising: “No one is bigger than the BBC. It’s really, really important. It’s 2025, we can’t have this kind of behaviour and find it acceptable.”
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Image Credit (Shortened):
Huw Edwards (James Tamim crop) — by The National Churches Trust, licensed under CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
