Notification Procedure

Please refer to the Organisation’s Absence Management Policy and Procedure for detailed information in regard to the reporting and managing of sickness absence.

Failure to follow this policy and procedure as detailed will result in the Disciplinary Procedure being used.

Notification of Infectious Diseases

You must notify the Organisation if you are suffering from or have symptoms of a notifiable infectious disease i.e. mumps, measles, or food poisoning etc., or where you have been in close contact with someone with such an illness. Where you have been off work with this type of illness, you must contact the Organisation and your doctor prior to returning to work to ensure that it is safe to do so.

Documenting Periods of Absence

You should produce the following written evidence of absence and ensure that appropriate documents are provided for the whole of your absence.

a. Self-Certificate - for any absence of up to and including 7 calendar days

b. Statement of Fitness for Work - for any absence of more than 7 calendar days; or when requested, where more than 3 periods of self-certificated absence occur in any 12 month period (this may have to be obtained at your own expense); or for any absence occurring immediately before or following an annual or public/bank holiday.

c. Return to Work Plan - where this has been provided following referral to the Government’s Fit for Work scheme.

You should forward certificates, statements and any correspondence to Head Office, as soon as possible. Failure to do so may result in sick pay being delayed or withheld and action under the Disciplinary Procedure being taken.

Where your GP/Medical advisor has issued a Statement of Fitness for Work or a Return to Work Plan indicating you may be fit for some work, you must notify your line Manager at the earliest opportunity so that a return to work may be considered.

If you are absent for at least 4 weeks the Company may seek your consent to refer you to the Government’s Fit for Work scheme and you agree this will not be unreasonably withheld.

If you are referred to the Fit for Work Service you may be asked to give your consent for the Company to be contacted and personal information it holds about you to be shared with the Service. You agree that the Company can share personal information including sensitive data about you.

If a Return to Work plan is produced you agree to give your consent for each version to be shared with the Company by the Service.

The Organisation reserves the right to have you examined by a medical practitioner of the Organisation’s choice and/or to seek a report from your Doctor.

Where the Organisation wishes to seek a report from your Doctor, you have rights under legislation; a summary of these rights is included later in this Handbook (under 'Access to Medical Reports').

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will be paid when you are absent from work due to sickness, provided that you have complied with the requirements and conditions attached to its payment.

SSP cannot be paid for the first 3 days of sickness. Therefore, payment usually starts on the 4th day of absence, and continues for as long as you are absent, up to a maximum of 28 weeks in any one period of sickness.

SSP is paid in exactly the same way as normal earnings.

SSP is not payable in certain circumstances, the principal ones being:

• if your average weekly earnings are less than the figure set by the Government for the payment of National Insurance Contributions
• for absences of less than 4 days in duration
• if you have failed to follow the Sickness Notification Procedure
• if your employment has terminated
• where Statutory Maternity/Adoption/Paternity/Shared Parental Pay is being paid to you
• for days on which you do not normally work (e.g. if you work Monday to Friday and not at weekends, SSP will normally apply to those 5 days only).

The rules on SSP are very complex and you should not hesitate to raise any query you may have with the Organisation.

Other Payment During Sickness Absence

Your Statement details the remuneration to which you may be entitled during periods of sickness.

In determining eligibility for payment, any periods of paid absence occurring during the twelve months immediately preceding the first day of a further period of absence will be taken into account.

Other Conditions

• All payments made include SSP
• As with SSP, the notification procedure must be followed in order to qualify for payment
• The organisation reserves the right at its discretion at any time to withdraw or amend this benefit if your absence, or that of employees generally, is excessive and to take action under the Disciplinary Procedure where appropriate
• Where payable, sickness or industrial injury benefit must be claimed from the appropriate Government Agency and any benefit received must be notified to the organisation; such benefits will be deducted from the above payments
• If you are absent due to sickness during the course of disciplinary proceedings or during investigations into alleged breaches of rules, procedures or contractual obligations you will not be entitled to sickness payment from the organisation (other than SSP)
• If you are absent from work due to injury or illness caused by a third party, any payments made by the organisation as sickness payment will be classed as a loan; this will be repayable to the organisation by you if compensation for loss of earnings is recovered from the third party
• Eligibility for sickness payment will not prevent the organisation from terminating your employment prior to the expiry of the above maximum benefits

• Organisation sick pay is not payable during the notice period.

Return To Work Interviews

Having regard to its duty of care to its employees the Organisation may complete a return to work interview after any sickness absence. This is to ensure that you are fit for work and whether you anticipate any further absence relating to your illness. This will also give you an opportunity to discuss any concerns you may have regarding your illness with your line Manager.

If you have been absent due to sickness and are found not to have been genuinely ill, you will be subject to action under the Disciplinary Procedure, which could include dismissal.

Changes to Health and/or Medication

Where there are changes to your state of health during the course of employment, including changes to prescribed medication, that may have an impact on your capacity to undertake your role both safely and to the best of your ability you must inform your line manager immediately.

Failure to do so may render your liable to Disciplinary action.

Appointments

You are normally expected to ensure that appointments to visit the doctor, dentist, hospital, etc. are made in your own time and outside normal working hours. In the event that this is not reasonably practicable, time off work will be permitted to attend such appointments providing that the appointment is substantiated with an appointment card or letter (if requested) and the timing of the appointment causes as little disruption as possible i.e. at the beginning or end of the working day.

You will ordinarily be paid for attending such appointments.

Access to Medical Report

In certain circumstances it may be necessary for the Organisation to obtain a Medical Report from your Doctor/Specialist in order to establish:
- reason for and likely duration of absence
- when you will be able to return to work, and whether the problem will recur
- what, if any, treatment is being prescribed; and
- whether you can carry out all the duties of the job; and
- what, if any, reasonable adjustments are recommended.

This will enable the Organisation to plan workloads. It is in the interests of both yourself and the Organisation to establish, with the benefit of expert medical opinion, your ability to work.

No decision will be made that could affect your employment without careful consideration of all the circumstances.

Where the Organisation wishes to obtain a medical report, you will be asked for your written consent. Should you withhold such consent, the Organisation will take a decision regarding your continuing employment without the benefit of medical opinion.

Lateness

If you are going to be late you are required to telephone the Organisation as soon as reasonably practicable, stating why you are absent or late and when you expect to attend work.

Persistent lateness may result in action up to and including dismissal for gross misconduct under the Disciplinary Procedure.

Any time lost due to lateness will result in your wages being pro rata’d to reflect your actual hours of work.

Leaving the workplace

If you have a need to leave work prior to your normal finishing time or to have time away during the normal working period, you must not leave without first obtaining permission from your immediate Supervisor.

In such circumstances, you must report to your immediate Supervisor upon leaving and, where appropriate, returning to work.

Where you leave work early you may be required to have your wages pro rata’d to reflect your actual hours of work.

Leaving your place of work without authority will lead to disciplinary action and, if the circumstances warrant it, lead to dismissal without notice for gross misconduct.

Absence levels

We monitor absence levels and unacceptable levels or patterns of absence may lead to disciplinary action. Each case will be assessed on its merits and will normally be considered within the disciplinary procedures.

Sickness absence and other work

If you are absent from work due to sickness or injury, you must seek our permission before you carry out any form of paid alternative or additional employment, self-employment or voluntary work.

A breach of this rule may lead to disciplinary action and could result in your dismissal without notice for gross misconduct.

Extreme Adverse Weather and Public Transport Difficulties

In the event of extreme adverse weather conditions, e.g. heavy snow and flooding, or if your journey to work on public transport is affected by industrial action, engineering works etc, you are expected to make every reasonable effort, including the use of alternative means of transport, to arrive at work at your scheduled start time.

If the weather conditions or public transport difficulties are sufficiently severe to prevent you from travelling to work and arriving safely at work you may ask to either:

- Take the day as annual leave; or
- Where you have no annual leave available, take the day as authorised unpaid leave of absence;

In either case, you must contact us in the manner discussed above for lateness to review the difficulties you are having and the options that are available to you

Employees who abuse the above procedure may be subject to action under the Disciplinary Procedure.

This policy will be applied in a spirit of common sense and reasonableness, balancing the needs of the business, continuity of care for our residents, and the safety of employees.

Jury service

If you are called for jury service or mandatory witness duty, you should present the Notification Slip to your line manager.
Although the Organisation is not legally obliged to pay you for this time off, the Organisation may pay the difference between expenses and compensation for loss of earnings claimed from the Court and basic earnings.

You will be asked to submit evidence of what loss of earnings have been recovered from the Court. Payments, if any, will be entirely at our discretion].

You will be expected to return to work on the days that adjournments make this practicable.

If the timing of the jury service or mandatory witness duty conflicts with your work needs, you must let management know as soon as possible.

Public duties

If you require time off for any other public duties, please discuss the requirements with your line manager.

No payment is made in respect of any time off for public duties.