KING EDWARD VI COLLEGE

NUNEATON

PROCEDURAL STANDARD FOR

ABSENCE MANAGEMENT POLICY
Strategic Ownership: / Principal / Personnel Manager
Approved by SMT: / November 2014
Date Reviewed by JCC: / March 2015
Date Approved by Governors Sub Committee: / n/a
Date Approved by Governors Full Board: / n/a
Date Staff Informed: / May 2015
Date Impact Assessed: / This policy has been impact assessed and found to be compliant with the College’s E&D statement and with most recent legislation.
Date Uploaded to SharePoint/Website: / May 2015
Date of Next Review: / November 2017

College Absence Management Scheme

Preamble

TheCollege values the contribution of its staff in the successful running of the College and the provision of education to its students.

Whilst recognising that employees may be prevented from attending work through ill health, the College has a duty to maintain services and minimise disruption.

The College is therefore committed to managing attendance and sickness absence and believes that it is the responsibility of the College’s managers, trade union representatives and employees to work together to promote the management of sickness absence, ill health and unauthorised absence.

The College will achieve this through:

  • Promoting the health, safety and well being of all employees, including the use of risk assessments to identify and manage hazards impacting on health in the workplace
  • Monitoring levels of sickness absence for individuals, teams and the College as a whole
  • Implementing procedures to support and manage staff absences, whilst dealing with unjustified and/or high levels of sickness absence

The impact of this will be to improve the morale, health and well being of all staff.

1.Principles

The following principles apply to the College’s procedure for dealing with sickness absence:

  • Good attendance is valued and all opportunities should be taken to acknowledge and recognise such attendance
  • Matters raised relating to an employee’s absence do not imply any distrust of staff or concerns regarding their conduct
  • Sickness absence will be dealt with in a way that is non-discriminatory and in accordance with the College’s Equal Opportunities policy and ensure compliance with Disability and Discrimination legislation – Equality Act October 2010
  • Employees will be dealt with consistently and the sickness absence procedures will be applied fairly across the College
  • The College will aim to promote a positive and preventative rather than punitive approach.
  • The College will be sensitive and supportive to those suffering the effects of ill health including flexibility within working arrangements where appropriate.
  • Sickness absence cases will be conducted with respect for confidentiality and in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection and Access to Medical Reports Acts
  • Open communication between line managers and staff will be encouraged and promoted
  • The College will discuss with and alert employees if they may be running the risk of disciplinary action for their attendance patterns or abuse of the sickness absence system.
  • The sickness absence policy and procedure will be monitored and reviewed to ensure that it continues to meet the College’s aims and complies with these principles.

2.Employees are expected to:

  • Maintain a high level of attendance
  • Raise concerns with their line manager or Personnel Manager if they believe that their job is making them ill or contributing to illness
  • Report sickness absence promptly, in accordance with the sickness absence procedure (see below)
  • Ensure that the appropriate forms are completed and certifications provided, in accordance with this procedure
  • Maintain contact with the Personnel Department during periods of sickness absence
  • Communicate effectively with their line manager about their sickness absence
  • Co-operate fully with the Occupational Health Advisor and/or other organisations that provide support to the College and its employees
  • Ensure that medical advice and treatment, where appropriate, is received as quickly as possible in order to facilitate a return to work
  • Not to abuse the sickness absence procedures or sick pay scheme

3.Support for Employees and CollegeManagers

In order to support this policy, the following services are available to managers and staff:

  • Occupational Health Services

The College uses the University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire Occupational Health Service, to provide advice and guidance on the impact of ill health on work and what steps the College and/or member of staff can take (see Section 12)

  • Counselling Service

The College Counsellor, provides a confidential service to staff in order to discuss concerns related to work or personal circumstances. Any appointments will be with an external counsellor, and referred by the College Counsellor as to the appropriate needs of the individual. The College will pay for up to 10 counselling sessions with the referred service

  • Personnel Department

The Personnel Department, are available to provide support and guidance to managers and staff in dealing with sickness absence and ill health and in the use of the College’s related policies and procedures

4.Procedure for Employees

a)Notifying Absence

i)In order to maintain the effective working of the College it is essential to know when a member of staff is unable to attend work due to illness. Failure to inform the College of absence may lead to the absence from work being considered as unauthorised, resulting in loss of pay and possible further action.

ii)The member of staff must phone or send a message to the Main Reception as soon as possible on the first day of absence, the reception is staffed from 8.15am and there is also an answerphone. Exceptionally, if the member of staff is unable to telephone in person, they must arrange for someone else to telephone on their behalf. The member of staff must make direct contact with the College reception or Personnel officeas soon as possible thereafter, and also contact their line manager.

iii)The member of staff must provide details of their illness or injury, their anticipated length of absence and any work commitments that need rearranging.

iv)If the member of staff believes that their absence may have been caused by something that happened at work they should mention this and arrange for an Accident Report Form to be completed.

vi)Main Reception will ensure that the Staff Absence is input into the College central ‘Sharepoint’ system, which automatically notifies relevant members of staff as necessary via email.

b)Certification (via Sharepoint)

i)Every absence must be certified to ensure correct and prompt payment of contractual and statutory sick pay and to ensure that accurate records are maintained.

ii)The Sharepoint system automatically sends an email to the absent member of staff on the first day of absence. Upon return to work after absence the member of staff must complete the email as confirmation of their return. This will automatically send an email to the Personnel department for completion of the number of days absent, and then to their line manager for authorisation of the absence.

iii)If the employee is absent for more than seven consecutive days, (regardless of whether or not these are working days), they must consult a doctor and obtain a statement of fitness for work (fit note) stating that they are ‘not fit to work’, which must be forwarded immediately to the Personnel department.

iv)Where there is continuing long term sickness absence the employee must submit to the College concurrent fit notes to cover the whole period of absence.

v)If the employee returns to work before a fit note stating that they are not fit for work has expired, the employee must submit, upon return to work, a statement of fitness for work with appropriate advice details completed by the doctor.

vi)The line manager must liaise with the Personnel department to ensure that timely and appropriate fit notes are received from the employee.

vii)The Personnel department will ensure that fit notes and absence are recorded on the member of staff’s personal file.

viii)Exceptionally, if the manager is concerned at the frequency of a member of staff’s absence, or their account of their reasons for absence, the member of staff may be required to submit doctor’s fit notes, rather than self-certify, from their first day of absence. If there is a charge for this the College would normally pay.

5Monitoring Sickness Absence Levels

i)All sickness absence will be recorded on the College’s Personnel System, which will be maintained and monitored by the Personnel department.

ii)Each manager should monitor sickness absence levels within their teams and take further action where necessary when trigger points are reached and/or where there are concerns about a member of staff’s absence levels.

6Maintaining Contact

i)When a member of staff is absent from work due to sickness it is important that contact is maintained between the manager and the member of staff. The manager needs to ensure that work is re-allocated and service delivery is maintained. The member of staff needs to ensure that they do not feel isolated, vulnerable or out of touch.

ii) The member of staff and line manager should maintain regular telephone contact during the early stages of sickness absence.

iii)If a member of staff is absent from work for more than four weeks, the line manager or the Personnel department might arrange with the employee to visit them at home. This would be more likely to occur when a member of staff is unable or unwilling to come into College for medical or other reasons.

iv)If absences become long-term, regular contact must be maintained.

7.Long Term Absence

Employees should not return to work from a period of long term sickness absence without the appropriate medical certificate and MAY REQUIRE clearance from the Colleges Occupational Health Advisor DEDPENDENT UPON THE REASON FOR THE LONG TERM ABSENCE.

8.Absence other than Sickness (refer to Leave of Absence Policy)

9.Procedure for Managers

The line manager must ensure that timely and appropriate certificates are received from the employee via liaison with the Personnel department.

College managers will ensure that all email requests via the Sharepoint system for staff absence authorisation are kept up to date and in a timely manner.

Line Managers will conduct a return to work discussion with the employee, completed via a “Return to Work Form” available from Personnel, as per the triggers detailed in Section 11 (Return to Work – Triggers and Guidelines) and Appendix 1 and 2 (Return to Work Interviews and Forms).

To ensure fairness and consistency, and to provide accurate data, managers will work with the Personnel Department to ensure all absences (including absences that occur during the course of the working day) are reported and ensure staff record all their absences via the Sharepoint system.

Personnel Department and Line Managers will monitor absence and respond to the ‘frequency of absence’ trigger points detailed in Section 11.

10. Monitoring Sickness Absence Levels

All sickness absence is monitored via the Sharepoint system and termly reports are produced from the system by Personnel department.

Each manager should monitor sickness absence levels within their teams and take further action where necessary when trigger points are reached and/or where there are concerns about an employee’s absence levels. If managers require intermediate / individual reports these can be requested from Personnel at any stage during the academic year.

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11. Return to Work Interviews (Triggers and Guidelines)

Where an employee’s absence level meets one of the following trigger points, the manager will review the absence and discuss the matter with the employee.See Appendix 1 and Appendix 2.

Frequent absence patterns which are causing concern, such as:

  • Four or more occasions of sickness or unauthorised absence in a rolling 12 month period.
  • A recurring, recognisable pattern of absence within any timescale, for example, absence on a Friday or Monday, or at the start and end of holidays, or coincide with planned events e.g. Open Evenings and Training Days.
  • Frequent absence pattern occurring in consecutive years.

This is not a definitive list and the triggers may vary according to individual circumstances.

12. Dealing with Frequent Short-term Absence

Where an employee’s absence level meets one of the absence ‘trigger’ points a review meeting will be held with the employee to discuss the absence record, explore the reasons for absence, identify areas for support, review/update the risk assessment, set targets for improvement and clarify what further action may be taken if improvement targets are not met. A trade union or other representative may accompany the employee when it is appropriate

The following outcomes may be agreed:

  • Advice may be sought from the occupational health advisor
  • Other support mechanisms may be identified and implemented
  • Reasonable adjustments, such as changes to the workload, work practices or work pattern or the possibility of redeployment may be identified (subject to occupational health agreement)
  • A further meeting may be arranged to review progress
  • The employee may be advised that further absence could invoke the disciplinary system. This advice will be by way of an informal verbal warning.

Managers should not invoke disciplinary procedures unless the employee has previously been alerted to an issue regarding their absence record.

Once a manager has alerted an employee to the possibility that their absence record places them at risk of disciplinary action that advice extends for the next 12 months. Further absences causing concern within the 12 month period could lead immediately to the application of disciplinary procedures.

Continued poor attendance may lead to Disciplinary action up to and including a Disciplinary Hearing which may result in dismissal.

13. Long Term Absence

Long term absence is defined as absence of an employee in excess of 28 consecutive days.

In the event of long term absence the College will:

  • Via the Personnel Department and where appropriate the relevant College manager, maintain regular contact and meetings with the employee.
  • College managers will refer to the Personnel department for advice.
  • Ensure that the Occupational Health Advisor is involved throughout and from an early stage.
  • Where an employee is absent from work for 3 months with a psychological or emotional disorder, e.g.: stress or depression, he/she cannot return to work until he/she has been referred to the Occupational Health Advisor.

The purpose of gaining qualified occupational health advice will be to provide an indication of the likely duration of the employee’s absence and whether any steps can be taken to help the employee to return to work.

Depending upon the advice received from the occupational health advisor, one or more of the following actions may be taken:

  • Review periods may be set, with further advice obtained from the occupational health advisor
  • Reasonable adjustments, such as changes to the workload, work practices or work patterns may be identified and implemented, either as part of phasing the employee back to work or on a more permanent basis
  • Other support mechanisms may be identified and implemented
  • If possible, redeployment opportunities will be explored.
  • Decisions may be made about the employee’s continued employment, leading to the decision to dismiss the employee due to their incapability to undertake their job due to ill health
  • Recommendation that a return to work is the best course of action (this may involve agreed consultation with employees GP or Specialist)
  • Any actions being contemplated will be discussed with the employee and their representative, if applicable, before any final decisions are made

11. Ill Health Which Does Not Lead to Absence from Work

There may be occasions where an employee is suffering from ill health, but this does not lead to the employee being absent from work. If the employee believes that their ill health is having an impact on their ability to undertake their job they should raise this with their line manager. The line manager should discuss the matter confidentially with the employee, review the workplace risk assessment and discuss whether any additional support can be provided to the employee to support them at work. Depending on the circumstances, it may be helpful to seek advice and guidance from an occupational health advisor.

12. Occupational Health Referral

The role of occupational health is to provide advice and guidance to the College and its employees on the impact of an employee’s ill health on their ability to undertake their duties and what measures can be put in place to support the employee, where appropriate. The following points should be noted:

  • The line manager (or the relevant member of staff in Personnel) must complete the Medical Referral Form, in consultation with the employee. Employee to countersign.
  • The employee must be made aware of their rights under the Access to Medical Reports Act, in relation to the College’s request for occupational health to seek a report from the employee’s GP. Normally done during appointment with the Occupational Health practice.
  • The line manager and employee must ensure that as much information as possible is provided to the occupational health advisor.
  • The line manager and employee must be clear about the points on which they seek advice.
  • Where an employee does not give written consent to the occupational health advisor seeking a report from their GP and/or the employee refuses to meet with the occupational health advisor, the implications of this should be discussed with the employee and confirmed in writing.
  • Employees should not ‘self refer’ if a problem is affecting their ability to complete their duties effectively, or may result in absence. In these cases referrals must be through College managers. Occupational Health staff will insist on manager referrals for all such cases.
  • The College will receive a report from Occupational Health following a referral, the content of which will have been discussed and agreed with the employee beforehand. Upon request to the Personnel Department employees will be granted access to this report.

This policy has been subject to an equality impact assessment. It seeks to be fair to all and treat individuals according to their needs. The policy does not appear to discriminate directly or indirectly against any particular group or against individuals.