Guidelines for the Management of Sickness Absence

CITY OF LINCOLN COUNCIL

GUIDELINES FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF SICKNESS ABSENCE

1Introduction

The management of sickness absence is one of the key tasks that managers have to face. There will always be occasions when an employee is absent as a result of sickness and the Council’s policy is to respond sympathetically to cases of genuine illness. However, through careful monitoring of absences the Council has to act to ensure absence is controlled and managed. Early response by the line manager will alert both the employee of management concern and support and allow any work related problems to be addressed. Similarly, management need to maintain contact with employees who are long term absentees to ensure the employee doesn’t feel cut-off from the workplace.

What follows in this section is a ‘tool kit’ for managers and DMTs to monitor and manage absences within departments. Every case will, of course, be different but the steps described here can be applied across most cases provided that managers are sensitive to these variations. The following policies and working practices all contribute to keeping sickness levels low:

• good physical working conditions and appropriate workloads
• maintaining health and safety standards
• job design, training, career development and promotion policies, communication procedures and welfare provision are kept under review to see if they can be improved
• training needs are identified and managers take an interest in their employees’ health and welfare

In some cases the record of actions by management may ultimately form the basis for dismissal on the grounds of capability or permanent ill-health dismissals and it is therefore essential that the process is followed consistently. In carrying out this work managers will be able to draw on assistance from their line manager and, where necessary, the HR Department. It should be stressed however that the Council’s policy is to support employees in times of illness and that termination of employment should only be considered as a last resort.

2Sickness absence reporting procedure

2.1It will be the responsibility of each service area to determine the specific postholders who will be responsible for receiving notifications of absence, undertaking return to work interviews, formal absence reviews and the different stages of the Capability Procedure should this be required. All supervisors/ managers with responsibility to take action under the policy will be made aware of the policy and their responsibilities and will be provided with appropriate training.

2.2Each department and service area will nominate an appropriate officer to whom sickness absence should be reported in accordance with their own structure and circumstances. In some cases, this may be the line manager and in others, it may be a single officer acting on behalf of the service area. Each department will also determine the time limits to be applied. For example, it may be appropriate for an employee who works ‘office hours’ to report sick by, say, 9.30am, but where employees work shifts or other patterns, other arrangements will be required. All employees will be informed about their departmental procedure for notifying absence and return to work and the name and telephone number of their nominated officer.

2.3Each Department will also have an absence recording officer who is responsible for completing absence records and administering sickness absence documentation.

2.4Notification of absence

2.4.1Employees who are prevented from attending work due to ill health must contact their nominated officer as soon as possible on the first day of absence in accordance with their service area’s reporting rules.

2.4.2Notification should normally be made by the employee him/herself or, if this is not feasible for any reason, by a personal representative, eg relative or friend, preferably by telephone.

2.4.3Notification of sickness should include the reason for absence, and when the employee first became incapable of work (including rest days, Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays). If possible, an indication should be given of how long the employee anticipates they may be absent. If this is not foreseeable, he/she must maintain contact with their department on a daily basis, unless a longer period is agreed with the nominated officer to advise on progress of their condition. The employee should also notify the nominated officer of any work commitments which may require delegating, rescheduling or cancelling.

2.4.4Failure to notify absence or refusal to indicate the reason for absence may render the employee ineligible for the payment of Sick Pay.

2.4.5The details provided will be recorded by the absence recording officer and the employee should sign to confirm their accuracy on return to work. If the nominated officer is not the absence recording officer, the nominated officer will pass on the absence details to the absence recording officer as soon as possible after notification from the employee.

NB In the absence of the nominated officer, employees wishing to report their absence should either contact another manager in their section or their department’s absence recording officer. Equally, if the nominated officer is not the employee’s line manager, it may be necessary for the line manager to contact the employee to confirm absence details or clarify work commitments.

2.4.6If the period of absence lasts for more than 7 calendar days (including weekends and public holidays) a Medical 3 statement of Fitness for Work must be obtained from a GP and sent immediately to the absence recording officer, who will retain a copy, forward a copy to the line manager (unless specifically requested not to do so by the employee) and the HR Department and send the original certificate to the Payroll Section, who will forward it, if required, to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The Line Manager should then consider the recommendations made by the GP, in particular whether an individual ‘may be fit for work’ and in consultation with Human Resources decide what workplace or personal considerations should be implemented to encourage a mutually acceptable return to work for the employee. This should be done by means of a risk assessment.

2.4.7In the event of the absence continuing following expiry of the initial medical certificate, the employee must notify their nominated officer by telephone as soon as they know that they will not be returning to work and obtain further certificate(s) which follow on immediately from the expiry date of the previous certificate. This should be sent to their absence recording officer within 3 days of the expiry of the previous certificate. If these are not provided, sick pay may be withheld.

2.4.8Any employee who falls sick immediately prior to commencing pre-booked annual leave or who returns from leave wishing to reclaim a proportion of that leave due to having been sick during their leave period will be required to comply with their sickness reporting procedures. This means contacting their nominated officer on the first day they became unfit for work and submitting a medical certificate from the 8th calendar day of absence. If the employee became fit for work whilst still on leave, they should confirm the date on which they would have been fit to work on their return from leave.

2.4.9Payment of the lump sum element of Essential User Car Allowance will continue for three months at full rate, then reduce to half rate for three months. It will be withdrawn from employees absent from work for six months or more and re-instated on their return to normal working.

2.5Return to work

2.5.1Employees returning to work following a period of sickness should give as much notice as they are able of their intention to return to allow appropriate arrangements to be made by their manager.

2.5.3Immediately on return to work, the employee must confirm the reasons for absence by signing a sickness certificate and give the Statement of Fitness for Work certificate) to the absence recording officer.

3Sick Pay

3.1Employees will be entitled to receive sick pay in accordance with the local government national terms and conditions of service for their post (copies of which can be seen in the HR Department, City Hall) and DWP rules on the payment of Statutory Sick Pay.

3.2Employees are eligible to receive sick pay during absences provided they follow the procedure for reporting on the first day absence, submit certificates as required and keep management informed of their progress. In cases where employees fail to submit certificates the withholding of pay for the period can be considered. In addition the Council may suspend sick pay if an employee abuses the scheme or is absent because of:

• sickness due to, or attributable to, deliberate conduct prejudicial to recovery
• misconduct or neglect
• injury while working in their own time on their own account for private gain or for another employer

However, before taking this step managers must properly investigate the facts and take advice from the HR Department as necessary.

3.3Employees are eligible to receive full and half pay during absences, the precise period being dependent on their length of service. The relevant absences used to calculate these entitlements are all those occurring in a rolling 12 month period back from the first day of each new absence. This means that a person’s entitlement to full or half pay may expire before the end of an absence if they have had many or long absences in the past year. The exception to this policy is where an employee suffers an accident or assault at work or develops an industrial disease. In such cases, the accident, assault or disease stands alone from the normal 12 month rolling total and the normal service related eligibilities apply.

3.4Employees may request consideration from their Corporate Director for their half pay entitlement to be extended. The Council’s Executive Committee at its meeting on 18 November 2002 agreed the criteria against which requests should be considered by Corporate Directors and these will be provided to employees considering submitting a request.

3.5The Payroll Section will advise employees in writing of the dates entitlements will expire. Managers should ensure that employees understand the implications of these dates and of the process to be followed to make a request for an extension.

4Short-Term Sickness Absence

4.1In order to monitor short-term sickness absence it is essential that accurate records are kept and reviewed regularly to ensure that all cases are considered. Concern may be caused by such factors as the number of occasions, the pattern or the total number of days.

4.2Where intermittent absenteeism due to ill-health is involved, the emphasis is on undertaking a fair review of the level of absence and the reasons for it.

4.3On each occasion when an employee returns from sickness he/she will be seen by their line manager informally on a one to one basis. This meeting should ideally take place at the start of the day the employee returns to work and should not be delegated to the nominated officer/another officer except in exceptional circumstances. The purpose of the meeting is to:

• see the employee on his/her return to work to show a genuine interest in their wellbeing and to ask how they are
• check that they are okay and fit to carry out their duties
• explain what actions/events have taken place in their absence which have had an impact on their work/workload to “bring them up to speed”
• offer assistance if required. In particular, managers should promote the take up of Carer Leave or other authorised time off facilities by staff whose absence may be linked to personal/domestic problems.
• If there is any suggestion of a work related absence, the causes of this must be discussed and solutions sought

These discussions will not normally be recorded. However, where, as a result of the informal discussion, some action is required, the outcome of the discussion will be recorded and a copy given to the employee.

4.4Where the manager is becoming concerned about the level or pattern of absence or has concerns about the health/welfare of an employee, he/she should advise the employee of this concern and discuss ways to improve the situation, which may include encouragement to seek medical attention either through their own GP or the Council’s Occupational Health Service. Similarly if there is an underlying work problem the manager should encourage the employee to discuss his/her concerns so that they can be addressed.

4.5The trigger point for determining that a more formal approach should be taken to reviewing absenteeism is 3 spells of absence in a 6 month period.

4.6Frequent spells of short term sickness absence can quickly result in an employee building a poor attendance record. Managers should monitor this type of absence and to assist in this process the manager will receive formal notification from the HR Department in the form of a sickness absence report showing cause of absence, start and finish dates and cost of absence where an employee hits the trigger point set out in paragraph 4. 5.

4.7Managers should be aware of any recurring patterns of sickness absence and frequency and seek to intervene at an early stage. In every case where the manager receives notification that an employee has hit the trigger point, a formal Absence Review as set out in paragraph 5 must be arranged.

5Formal Sickness Absence Review

5.1Regardless of the nature, length or features of any absence a formal sickness Absence Review must be conducted by the line manager with every employee who hits the trigger point. Apart from the role a formal sickness Absence Review plays in managing absence, they are an essential part of employee management. The nature of the absence review will vary depending on the length of the absences, the nature or cause of the absences, the likelihood of any further absences (for further treatment for example), and the employee’s previous absence record.

5.2The absence review should in all instances be formally recorded. A sickness absence review pro-forma is available for this purpose and there is a check-box on the Sickness Absence Report form for managers to confirm the interview has taken place. A copy of the completed Absence Review form must be sent to the HR Department for monitoring purposes.

5.3The sickness Absence Review should be used to indicate to an employee that their absence record is giving cause for concern.

5.4In some cases the absence review might reveal underlying problems that are the cause of the absence. These might include work-related problems or personal difficulties that are impacting on the employee’s health. Advice and assistance is available from the HR Department for managers dealing with these problems.

5.5At all formal Sickness Absence Reviews, the employee will be entitled to be accompanied by a trade union or other representative of their choice. Any subsequent sickness absence review within a 12 month period starting from the date of the first sickness Absence Review will constitute Stage 2 of the Employee Capability Procedure. Employees to whom this applies will have a 3 month improvement target set by their line manager. If, at the end of the 3 months, the employee has achieved their target, a further improvement or maintenance target will be set and this should be repeated a further twice (ie a total period of 12 months) until the employee has reached and maintained an acceptable level of attendance for a prolonged period.

5.6If, during the initial 3 month period, absence exceeds the target set, Stage 3 of the Employee Capability Procedure will be invoked. Stages 4 (ie dismissal) will follow if the employee fails to achieve the targets set. However, should the employee achieve the targets set at either Stage 2 or Stage 3, monitoring will continue, as above, for a further 9 months.

5.7Managers must ensure that the situation is discussed with and advice taken from the HR Department if there are any concerns about how to proceed before employees are invited to interview under Stage 2 of the Capability Procedure and should refer to the Employee Capability Procedure itself for further guidance. If requested, a representative from the HR Department will be prepared to attend that and any subsequent meetings. Managers must also ensure that Occupational Health advice is sought prior to the Capability Procedure being introduced, in order to ensure that there is no underlying medical condition or disability, which may be considered to be likely to lead to a higher than average absence level and which may need to be managed differentlyalthough it must be borne in mind that the Occupational Health Service exists to support and to provide advice on an employee’s fitness for work and is not to be used as a “management threat”. They should also explore all possible methods to support the employee to improve and maintain their attendance, including temporary or permanent alterations to working hours and patterns, duties and responsibilities or redeployment, if necessary and practicable.

5.8If these guidelines are followed, a culture of attendance will be instilled into the employee over time and should result in sustained improved attendance after the monitoring period. Alternatively, should dismissal result, every effort will have been made to support and encourage the employee to improve their attendance.