Listed below are one other couple of questions that had been raised in our current webinar on Managing Illness Absence, plus our define solutions.
If an worker all the time makes use of their full illness allowance however by no means goes over this, can we nonetheless have conferences and challenge warnings, even when there isn’t a proof of an underlying medical situation?
Sure, completely. The truth is, that is precisely the scenario the place you have to be actively addressing and managing their attendance.
Ideally, your illness process ought to embrace “triggers” that immediate a overview (and normally a warning) after a sure variety of absences. This ought to be the case even when (and actually, particularly if) the worker doesn’t have any underlying medical situation, e.g. the explanations for the absences are totally different and completely unrelated. Keep in mind, the aim of the warnings is to not “self-discipline” the worker, however to make sure they’re conscious of the requirements of attendance which are anticipated and to assist them in assembly them.
A couple of extra factors to contemplate. Do you presently perform return to work conferences after an worker has taken a interval of absence? Research have proven that conducting return to work conferences after each interval of illness absence is usually a highly effective device in managing short-term absence. It’s because staff are a lot much less more likely to “throw a sickie” if they have to then attend a gathering with their supervisor or a member of the HR crew to elucidate the explanations for his or her absence. Such conferences additionally give employers the chance to flag up any patterns of illness absence, which might in itself immediate the worker to enhance their attendance.
There’s additionally an schooling piece right here. You utilize the phrase “illness allowance”, which means that a few of your staff see your sick pay provisions as successfully extra depart they’re entitled to take every year, and consequently that they is probably not all the time genuinely sick after they take “illness absence”. Real illness absence is never so thoughtful as to final precisely the length of your sick pay provision, any greater than to fall principally earlier than and after lengthy weekends or different holidays. It’s important that an worker reporting suspicious patterns of absence is made conscious that they’re being watched – with out onerous proof of abuse of the illness guidelines, that allegation is tough to make however even simply understanding that you could have been “pinged” by your employer will focus the thoughts fairly materially.
That is much more purpose for proactively dealing with short-term absences to make sure you are sending out the suitable message to the remainder of your workforce, specifically that good attendance is vital and poor attendance can be managed. If different staff spot such “handy” patterns of absence going unaddressed, they could additionally see this as an invite to make use of up their very own annual “illness allowance”, which might trigger even larger points for the enterprise.
Clearly, if the worker in query shouldn’t be genuinely sick then this turns into a conduct quite than a functionality challenge, however as this may be tough to show, recommendation ought to all the time be taken earlier than happening this route.
If an worker is on a everlasting medical health insurance scheme, do they proceed to accrue annual depart and are they entitled to a cost in lieu of depart on the finish of every vacation yr?
Many PHI schemes require staff to stay in employment to be eligible for canopy. By which case, as they’re “staff” for Working Time Laws 1998 (WTR) functions, they proceed to accrue statutory annual depart whereas in receipt of PHI. It’s because case legislation has established {that a} employee’s entitlement to statutory vacation relies on their standing as a employee and never on their really doing any work. This doesn’t nonetheless imply they’re entitled to a cost in lieu of depart on the finish of every vacation yr, because the WTR prohibit funds in lieu of vacation, besides on termination.
If an worker seeks to take vacation while on PHI, how ought to their vacation pay be calculated? Equally, how ought to their vacation pay be calculated if their employment involves an finish? The place right here is unclear however within the case of Souter v Royal Faculty of Nursing Scotland (2010) a Scottish Employment Tribunal held that when an worker goes on PHI their contract of employment is deemed different such that their “regular remuneration” for statutory vacation pay functions is their “PHI pay” and never their regular full pay. In different phrases, employers should not obliged to “prime up” an worker’s advantages below the PHI scheme to replicate their authentic wage entitlement. As to how far again that accrual goes, the WTR now present that any Regulation 13 depart (the essential 4 weeks’ statutory depart) not taken 18 months after the tip of the yr by which it was accrued may be handled as forfeited.
If the worker is off sick unpaid lengthy sufficient to profit from a PHI scheme, then they could select to deal with a sure interval as vacation as a way to be paid for that point. In these circumstances the employer might want to suppress the grinding of tooth which comes with the request to be paid for a interval of relaxation and respite from work the worker hasn’t carried out, and agree.
For those who missed any of our earlier posts on this sequence, they’re obtainable to learn right here: