Our Sickness Absence Management Policy sets out our procedures for reporting sickness absence and the management of sickness in a fair and consistent way. It applies to all our employees whether on fixed term or permanent contracts, and whether working full- or part-time.
Reporting absence
If you are ill or unable to attend work for any reason you must report your absence as follows:
- Email your Line Manager by no later than 9.30am or as soon as is reasonably practical. If it is not possible to use email, please call or text your Line Manager or HR
- Explain why you will be absent
- If possible, indicate a date by which you expect to be back.
- You should contact your manager on each day of absence, unless it has been agreed that this will not be necessary, or you have been signed off for a specific length of time and your manager has that fit note.
Failure to report your absence, without good reason, may amount to unauthorized absence. This may constitute misconduct and be actionable by us under our Disciplinary Procedure. Your entitlement to sick pay may also be affected.
Your Line Manager will log your absence each day on Staffology, if you are unable to. Please inform your manager if there is something urgent that needs to be dealt with in your absence. If possible, you should ensure that the ‘Out of Office’ on your email is activated.
Any colleagues or third-parties with whom you had scheduled meetings that day, will need to be informed. If you are too unwell to do so, please let your Line Manager or Head of Department know.
It may be unavoidable that your Line Manager, Head of Department and/or our HR Department may need to contact you during your absence. They may require information about the work you have been doing or enquire after your health or your expected return date.
If you are diagnosed with a condition or illness, or have any surgery or other medical procedure scheduled that will require an extended period or periods off work, you should discuss this with your Line Manager/Head of Department and HR.
If you are affected by a disability or any medical condition that affects your ability to undertake your work, whether short or long term, you should also discuss this with your Line Manager/Head of Department and HR. You should also let us know of any reasonable adjustments that you may require in order to undertake your work.
Self-certification form and doctor’s certification
If your sickness persists for seven consecutive days or less, you must complete a Self-Certification entry on Staffology or, if you don’t have access, let both your manager and HR know by email
From the eighth day of your absence, and thereafter, you must provide HR with a medical certificate (a Statement of Fitness for Work) from a doctor (usually your GP) stating that you are not fit for work and the reason for your absence. You will be required to provide subsequent certificates to cover any further periods of absence. You should maintain regular contact with your Line Manager during your absence and at least once a week when your absence is scheduled or prolonged.
If your doctor provides a certificate stating that you may be fit for work, you should inform your Line Manager and HR immediately. We will discuss with you any additional measures that may be needed to facilitate your return to work, taking into account your doctor’s advice. This may take place at a return-to-work interview. If appropriate measures cannot be taken, you may have to remain on sick leave and we will set a date to review the situation.
Where we are concerned about the reason for absence, or frequent short-term absences, we may require a medical certificate for each absence regardless of duration. In such circumstances, we will cover any costs incurred in obtaining Doctor’s Certification for absences of a week or less, on production of your doctor’s invoice.
Unauthorized absence
Absence that has not been notified according to our reporting procedure above will be treated as unauthorized absence and may be dealt with under our Disciplinary Procedure. If you do not report for work, and have not contacted your Line Manager or HR to explain the reason for your absence, your Line Manager or HR will try to contact you by telephone, email or text. This should not be treated as a substitute for reporting sickness absence.
Return-to-work interviews
On return from absence or sick leave, your Line Manager or our Head of HR may meet with you to discuss the reasons for your absence and most importantly to check that you are fully fit to return to work and resume your normal duties. You should tell your Line Manager or HR if:
- Your illness was caused by a contagious disease or infection;
- You are still feeling unwell;
- You are still taking any prescribed medication that may have side effects; and/or
- You are required to have further medical check-ups or treatment.
Where your doctor has provided a certificate stating that you may be fit for work we will usually hold a return-to-work interview to discuss any additional measures that may be needed to facilitate your return, taking account of your doctor’s advice. In some cases it may be necessary to arrange a phased or progressive return to work. This will be discussed with your Line Manager and HR.
Company enhanced sick pay
When absent due to sickness, and after your probationary period (and provided you have complied with this policy in all respects), you will receive full pay for a total period of four weeks per annum during the first year of service following successful completion of your probationary period. Thereafter, payments will be made according to the following scale:
| Full Gross Salary (in any 12 month period) | Half Gross Salary (in any 12 month period) | |
| For service from 1 year to 5 years: | 4 weeks | 4 weeks |
| For service from 5 years to 9 years: | 6 weeks | 6 weeks |
| For service from 10years to 14 years: | 8 weeks | 8 weeks |
| For service of 15 years and over: | 26 weeks |
Company sick pay is inclusive of any Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and Social Security Benefits that may be due for the same period. Once company enhanced sick pay is exhausted, you may qualify for SSP.
You must notify HR if a period of sickness absence is or appears to be occasioned by actionable negligence, nuisance or breach of any statutory duty on the part of a third party in respect of which damages are or may be recoverable. You must also notify HR of any claim, compromise, settlement or judgment made or awarded in your favour and all relevant particulars that we may reasonably request and are not covered by any requirement of confidentiality. If we require you to do so, you must cooperate in any related legal proceedings and refund to us such part of any damages or compensation that you recover that relates to lost earnings for the period of your sickness absence. The amount refunded to us shall not exceed the total amount we paid to you in respect of your period of sickness absence.
Statutory sick pay (SSP)
You will be entitled to SSP if you are absent due to sickness. SSP is payable by the company as your employer for up to 28 weeks. The rate of SSP is set by the Government in April each year.
You will qualify for SSP if you have been sick for four or more consecutive days (including non-working days). SSP is not payable for the first three consecutive days of sickness.
SSP is paid by the company in the same way as your salary namely, monthly in arrears, and tax and National Insurance will be deducted.
Medical examinations
In operating this policy we may, at any time, ask you to consent to a medical examination(s) by an Occupational Health Practitioner and/or a GP or Consultant nominated by us and at our expense. You will be asked to agree that any report produced in connection with any such examination will be disclosed to us and that we may discuss the contents of the report with the OHP and/or GP/Consultant as well as our external legal advisers, if necessary. If you refuse to cooperate with us on a medical examination, this may result in decisions being made by us relating to your employment in the absence of such advice.
Long-term sickness absence
We aim to provide as much support as reasonably practicable in the event of an illness or injury resulting in long-term absence and are committed to helping you return to work. Your Line Manager and/or our Head of HR will meet with you at regular intervals during your absence to conduct a Health Review where the following will be discussed.
- Your current state of health;
- The likelihood of you returning to work in the foreseeable future (wherever possible, this will be based on medical opinion);
- Reasonable adjustments that might be made to the workplace, working practices and workings hours to enable you to return to work or whether you are able to work effectively from home;
- Other vacant job roles that might enable you to return to work; and/or
- Whether it is possible for us to continue to hold your job open for you and for what period.
If you are able to travel, the Health Review will take place in our office. If not, we may hold the review by phone or video call.
During sickness absence your holiday entitlement will continue to accrue. If you are on a period of sickness absence that spans two holiday years, or if you return to work after sickness absence so close to the end of the holiday year that you cannot reasonably take your remaining holiday, you may carry over unused holiday to the following leave year. Carry over of holiday is limited to the four-week minimum holiday entitlement under EU law (which is enshrined into UK law and includes Bank Holidays), less any leave taken during the holiday year that has just ended. If you have taken four weeks’ holiday by the end of the holiday year, you may not [CE1] be allowed to carry anything over. If you have taken less than four weeks, the remainder may be carried over. For example, a full-time employee who has taken two weeks’ holiday plus two Bank Holidays before starting long-term sick leave can only carry over one week and three days. Any holiday that is carried over, but is not taken within 18 months of the end of the holiday year in which it accrued, will be lost. Alternatively, you can choose to take your paid holiday during your sick leave, in which case you will be paid as usual.
Doctor/dentist appointments
Appointments with doctors, dentists etc. should be made outside working hours if at all possible or, if not, you should try to schedule them at the beginning or end of the working day. You are allowed to take time off to attend such appointments, but you must notify your Line Manager in advance and, if on the day, you are delayed. You should manage your diary and meetings to minimise the impact of scheduled medical appointments and use your out of office response if the appointment occurs during core working hours. This should be recorded on Staffology as a medical appointment, less than ½ day.
If the appointment is more than ½ a day, this should be recorded on Staffology as a sickness absence, for which you will in most circumstances (e.g. not undergoing absence management) be entitled to full day
Attendance management
If for any reason your number of absences or length of absence are becoming a concern, HR may conduct a Health Review, which may include:
- Discussion of the reasons for your absence(s);
- Whether you have followed absence reporting procedure
- Determination of how long the absence is likely to last and/or the likelihood of further absences;
- Exploration of ideas for improving your health and/or attendance, including any reasonable adjustments we can make to facilitate your return to work and to reduce future absences;
- Consideration of whether a medical examination is required; and/or
- Agreement on the way forward and a time-scale for review and/or further meeting(s).
After the Health Review your absence(s) will continue to be monitored. If your absence rate does not improve the following courses of action may be taken:
- HR may require you to submit to a medical examination(s) or request your permission to contact your GP for a medical report or medical tests to review your health and assess the reasons for your absence (where appropriate and subject to the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988 and data protection law); and/or
- If your absence is related to reoccurring health problems or a disability then further Health Reviews may be conducted by HR, the aim being to provide as much support as reasonably possible.
If at any time we consider that you have taken sickness absence when you are not unwell and you are fit to work, we may take action under our Disciplinary Procedure.
If you have a question about any aspect of our Sickness Absence Management Policy please contact our Head of HR.
Last updated: 20/10/2023
