ALL WALES
SICKNESS ABSENCE POLICY
MANAGEMENT GUIDANCE NOTES AND ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTATION
This document may be made available in alternative formats and other languages, on request, as is reasonably practicable to do so.
1. Introduction
2. Reporting Procedures
3. Fitness To Work Certificate
4. Absence Other Than Sickness
5. Definition of a Sickness Day
6. Accidents/Incidents at Work
7. Sickness During Annual Leave
8. Holidays During Sickness Absence
9. Medical Suspension
10. Episodes of Diarrhoea and/or Vomiting (Medical Exclusion)
11. Return to Work Interview
12. Procedure for Dealing with Frequent Sickness Absence
13. Recognisable Patterns of Absence
14. Pregnancy Related Illnesses (Do Not Count Towards Trigger)
15. Episodes of Sickness Which Count Towards The Trigger But Do Not Lead To Further Action
16. Setting Levels of Improvement
17. Initial Discussion
18. Formal Sickness Interviews (7 Days Notice Required)
19. Occupational Health/Medical Advice
20. Third/Final Formal Sickness Interview (Frequent Absence)
21. Long Term Absence
22. Planned Long Term Absence
23. Standard Letters & Forms
24. Telephone Conversations
25. Help & Advice
26. Authority to Dismiss
27. Appeals
APPENDICES
Management Guidance Notes
Sickness Absence Process - Flowchart
Sickness Absence Notification Form – Day 1
Self Certification Form
Return To Work Interview Form
Letter calling Employee for Informal Discussion
Informal Discussion Form
Letter calling Employee for Formal Interview
Outcome of First Formal Interview
Outcome of Second Formal Interview
Formal Interview Form
Letter calling Employee for Third/Final Formal Meeting
Outcome Letter of Third/Final Formal Meeting (not terminated)
Outcome Letter of Third/Final Formal meeting (termination letter)
Letter calling Employee for Long Term Sickness Meeting
Outcome Letter of Long Term Sickness Meeting
Letter Termination
Formal Long Term Interview Form
Long Term Absence – Flowchart
Individual Attendance Record Sheet
Employee Information Summary Sheet
Diarrhoea & Vomiting Guidance
Management action – Failure to Notify
Letter 1
Letter 2 – Reminder
Letter 3 – Final
NHS Terms & Conditions – Sickness Absence Scale of Allowances
ALL WALES SICKNESS ABSENCE POLICY
MANAGEMENT GUIDANCE NOTES
1. INTRODUCTION
Good sickness absence management is about managing all your staff fairly and consistently and providing a supportive working environment, which encourages good communication and takes into account individual circumstances where necessary.
The following guidelines have been developed to assist managers in the implementation of the All Wales Sickness Absence Policy Managers must ensure they read the All Wales Sickness Absence Policy in conjunction with this guidance.
Managers should also if appropriate refer to Section 14 and Annex 2 of the NHS Terms & Conditions of Service Handbook.
2. REPORTING PROCEDURES
To be discussed with new starters at departmental induction.
Day 1-Day 7 Self certificate to be completed.
Day 8 onwards Fitness to Work certificate required (medical certificate)
Staff must be made aware of the departmental reporting procedures (including out of hours)
· that they must report personally by telephone to their manager or designated deputy (or text phone for those with a hearing impairment) as soon as they become aware that they will not be able to attend work but normally no later than the normal time of commencement of duty. Where, in exceptional circumstances they are not able to report personally, a third party may do so on their behalf. Text messages from staff other than those with a hearing impairment are not acceptable.
· to whom they should report (and what to do if that individual is not available). If they leave a message informing you that they are off sick then you must ring them back to get the information you require and document it.
· what information they will need to provide:-
Ø the nature of the illness (and if it relates to an accident at work or D and V)
Ø likely date of return
Ø how and when contact will be maintained
If staffs fail to notify their absence there is a procedure attached which sets out how you should deal with this.
As soon as the employee feels well enough to return to work they must notify their manager even if they are not rostered to work that day. This is important as otherwise there will be an assumption that they are still sick and this will mean their recorded period of absence will be longer than it actually is.
3. FITNESS TO WORK CERTIFICATE
This replaces the current medical certificate with effect from April 2010.The GP has two options on the form:
Ø Not fit for work
Ø May be fit for work
This second option allows General Practitioners to suggest ways in which staff can be supported in returning to work to undertake for example alternative or reduced duties or hours for a specified time and is intended to be a way in which the GP and employer can work together with the employee to remove challenges to returning to work.
4. ABSENCE OTHER THAN SICKNESS
Sick Leave is only available to staff when they themselves are actually sick Staff who need time off for other reasons e.g. sickness of a child/bereavement, must be managed under more appropriate policies.
5. DEFINITION OF A SICKNESS DAY
Where an employee works more than half their shift, they will be paid as normal and this absence will not be recorded as sick leave.
Where an employee works half or less of their shift they will be paid sick pay and the absence will be recorded as sickness absence.
In both cases a Return to Work Interview must be carried out by the manager on the day the employee returns to work.
Managers must keep a record of sick absences to identify if a pattern emerges where staff frequently leave early because of sickness.
6. ACCIDENTS/INCIDENTS AT WORK
The Manager must be made aware of any accidents/incidents at work as soon as they occur. Staff who have had an accident/incident at work may be referred to Occupational Health if the manager feels it is necessary. However, there is no requirement for automatic referral.
Such absences may trigger a meeting under the sickness policy but will not cause the process to be escalated unless there is some negligence on the part of the employee.
7. SICKNESS DURING ANNUAL LEAVE
Staff are required to report their sickness in the usual way and are required to produce a Fit Note from the first day of absence. This Fit Note must be provided to the manager within 3 days of it becoming due.
Only in exceptional circumstances will a foreign medical certificate of more than one month be acceptable for payment purposes. A UK fit note must be obtained on return to the country.
8. HOLIDAYS DURING SICKNESS ABSENCE
Managers must make staff aware that they should take annual leave during their period of long term sickness absence. This may be used as a way to supplement pay when their sick pay reduces.
The employee does not need to have a signing off paper. Their records will continue to show a continuous period of sickness absence and will be treated as one episode.
Managers must notify Payroll and any Time and Attendance System, over and above the normal notification procedure i.e. by email, as the adjustment will need to be made manually as SSP cannot be suspended but Occupational Sick Pay can.
Notification is very important as this will have implications for those making 3rd party claims and for pension contributions.
Where employees are in receipt of a reduced level of occupational sick pay and /or Statutory Sick Pay, the salary will be ‘topped up’ to the value of the contractual occupational full pay. If an employee on sick leave is in receipt of Statutory Sick pay, and this coincides with the period of annual leave, the Statutory Sick Pay amount forms part of the employees full pay in line with HM Revenue and Customs regulations. An employee is likely to take paid annual leave at the same time as sick leave if:
· He or she is on sick leave for a considerable period and sick pay has reduced
· He or she is on long term sick leave and sick pay has ceased.
At no point, can any combination of annual leave pay, occupation sick pay and Statutory Sick pay; exceed the normal full pay entitlement.
If an employee is in receipt of any benefit payments from any external agencies, at the same time as the payment for annual leave is made, it is the employee’s responsibility to notify the relevant benefit agency of the additional payment(s).Notification is very important as this will have implications for those making 3rd party claims and for pension contributions.
Where an employee returns to work in a new leave year after a period of sickness absence they are entitled to carry over up to a maximum of 28 days of each leave year (pro rata) (which is currently the statutory element of their leave) minus any annual leave or bank holidays taken before they went off sick and any annual leave they took during the absence in accordance with section 8.4 of the All Wales sickness policy.
9. MEDICAL SUSPENSION
Section 3.6 of the policy gives managers the right to enforce a period of absence where an employee is deemed unfit to work through ill health. This relates to on going concerns where an employee does not recognise/admit to health problems. Where a manager thinks that medical suspension is necessary this should only be implemented after discussion with a Workforce Advisor and with advice from the Occupational Health department.
This is different from the arrangements to allow medical exclusion of staff under control of infection regulations (e.g. the 48 hour period after D&V) set out in Section 7.6 of the Policy.
10. EPISODES OF DIARRHOEA AND/OR VOMITING (MEDICAL EXCLUSION)
An employee suffering from Diarrhoea and/or Vomiting must report sick by means of the usual reporting arrangements for their department.
Whilst the employee is suffering from symptoms of D & V, this must be recorded as sickness absence.
However, in some circumstances the nature of the D&V infection may require the employee to remain absent from work for a 48 hour period after expiry of symptoms in accordance with the Health Board’s Infection Control Policy.
If so this period will be recorded as medical exclusion with pay, not sickness absence.
There is guidance attached to advise you on the sort of questions you will need to ask to establish the nature of the D&V infection. If you are still unsure you can ask the Infection Control Department or Occupational Health Department for their advice on this matter.
The Occupational Health department/Infection control department may require the employee to provide a specimen for microbiological examination in line with Infection control procedures.
11. RETURN TO WORK INTERVIEW
The Return to Work interview is the single most important element in the management of sickness absence and it is important that it is undertaken consistently and appropriately after every period of absence no matter how short or long. It is important that the Return to Work Interview is conducted on the first day of return or if that is not possible, as early as possible after their return.
Section 9 of the Sickness Policy sets out what you must discuss during this meeting. There is a Proforma attached that will help you to structure the conversation but this should act as a guide only.
You must complete the Return to Work Proforma and it must be signed at the end of the interview by yourself and the employee. If a self certificate form has not been completed this should be done at this stage for all absences from Day One.
12. PROCEDURE FOR DEALING WITH FREQUENT SICKNESS ABSENCE
· Managers can at any stage of the procedure request the involvement of the Occupational Health department. This will depend entirely on the circumstances applying in each case and the nature of the illness being suffered by the employee.
· Managers are required to actively manage absence where the pattern or frequency of absence gives rise to concern both for the well being of the employee and the provision of service.
· Managers must instigate the Informal Discussion where there are :-
Three episodes of sickness absence of any length in any rolling 12 month period
OR
Two episodes of sickness absence totalling more than 3 working weeks in any rolling 12 month period
OR
Recognisable patterns of absence.
These triggers will include any episodes of long term sickness absence which occur within the period.
The policy uses the term rolling period. This means that when an employee has a period of sickness absence, the manager must look back from the first day of the absence for a period of 12 months and establish whether the employee has breached a trigger within that period.
There may be some very exceptional circumstances when the manager does not feel it is appropriate to instigate the informal or formal meeting with the employee despite the fact that they have reached a trigger. To ensure consistency of application of the policy such situations must be discussed and agreed with a Workforce Advisor and the manager should keep a record of the discussion
13. RECOGNISABLE PATTERNS OF ABSENCE
Examples of a recognisable pattern of absence may be as follows:
1) where an employee is regularly absent on the same day of the week.
2) where an employee is regularly off sick on a bank holiday/night shift that they are rostered to work.
3) where an employee is regularly off over the Christmas period or in the school holidays.
4) Where an employee regularly takes half days.
Regular absences of this nature may suggest that other factors are involved (e.g. child care issues) and consequently it is important that the matter is discussed.
The review period set would depend on the nature of the pattern.
E.g. if you are seeing an employee who for the past two years has called in sick over the Christmas period, then the review period set would need to include at least one further Christmas period and possibly two to ensure the pattern does not recur.
Where you are not sure whether a recognisable pattern exists, it may be useful to discuss with your Workforce Advisor or Manager.