Absence management procedure Absence Management Procedure
At Brookdale Day Nursery we encourage all our employees to
maximise their attendance at work while recognising that employees will, from
time to time, be unable to come to work due to sickness. By implementing this
policy, we aim to strike a reasonable balance between the pursuit of our
business needs and the genuine needs of employees to take occasional periods of
time off work because of sickness. This policy and procedure establishes a
framework to support individuals and the organisation in times of sickness
absence. It ensures that appropriate and consistent advice is provided and that
assistance and support is offered to employees and, where necessary, action is
taken.
Principles
We aim to provide a healthy working environment and
demonstrate commitment to health, safety and the welfare of staff in order to
maximise attendance.
Management is responsible for regularly monitoring and
taking appropriate action in connection with sickness and other unplanned
absence.
Exclusion periods for contagious illnesses
Working with children means that you are in contact with
illnesses which can be highly contagious. We take the health of children and
staff very seriously therefore if you have any contagious illness you must
adhere to the same exclusion periods as children. This will ensure that you are
able to recover appropriately and that this illness is not passed on to other
staff, children or parents. The manager will advise you of any exclusion times
required (see the sickness and illness and infection control policies).
Sickness absence reporting procedure
Reporting sickness absence should be done using the
following guidelines. Failure to follow these guidelines could delay any sick
pay due to you and could possibly result in disciplinary action.
On your first day of
absence, you must: ·
Telephone the nursery and speak to the manager
·
Give brief details of your illness and your
expected length of absence.
·
Telephone and speak to someone yourself. Text
message and emails are not an acceptable form of communication for this
purpose. Contact someone within one hour of your normal start time. If you are
due to start at 7:30 then please contact the manager at least half an hour
before your shift is due to start.
If you have been unable to determine how
long the absence will last, and it exceeds the third day, you must contact
your manager again on the fourth day.
For absences of more than
seven consecutive days, you must provide a ‘sick note’ completed by a
qualified medical practitioner for the period of absence.
After returning to work from
any sickness absence leave, a ‘return to work’ interview may be undertaken
by the employee and manager. This will not happen in all circumstances, and
we may hold such meetings at our discretion. However, such meetings will normally be held in the following circumstances: ·
Where the absence has exceeded 14 days
·
Where the nature of the illness means that
duties on return to work may need to be altered and clarification and/or
consultation is required
·
Where a member of staff has had two or more
absences in 12 weeks.
During the return to work interview the following will be
discussed:
The reason for absence Whether adjustments to the
role (on a temporary or more permanent basis) are required and what they
are. These might include adjusted work patterns, start and finish times
and changes of duties Future requirements and
expectations, e.g. improved attendance The return to work
interview should be recorded and signed by both the manager and employee
and a copy attached to the employee’s file.
Where an employee’s attendance record gives cause for
concern because of the duration or frequency of absence, this should be brought
to the attention of the employee through a discussion with the manager.
Throughout any stage of discussions on sickness absence, employees
may be accompanied by a work colleague.
The abuse of sick leave and pay regulations may be
classified as misconduct and will be dealt with through the disciplinary
procedure.
Frequent and/or persistent short-term sickness absence
Short-term absence may be short periods of one or two days
occurring frequently.
Absence of this nature can be identified by one of the
following indicators and should be classed as a trigger:
Four self-certified spells
of absence in one calendar year A total of 10 working days
or more of self-certified absence in one calendar year Patterns of absence over a
period, e.g. an individual regularly taking Mondays or Fridays off Where an employee’s
attendance record is significantly worse than those of comparable
employees, or absence problems have gone on for a considerable length of
time.
Long-term sickness absence
For the purposes of the policy, long-term sickness absence
is defined by the nursery as absences lasting over one month.
Where absences have lasted over 14 calendar days or more the
manager should contact the member of staff concerned to obtain an initial
assessment of the problem and to offer any further help or assistance. This
informal contact may be maintained with the employee’s agreement until one
month’s continuous absence.
At this point and where felt appropriate after further
assessment of the problem, the manager will arrange a face-to-face meeting or
telephone conference between themselves and the member of staff. The meeting
should:
Seek to confirm the
reasons and nature of the absence and its likely duration Ensure that the member of
staff is aware of the nursery’s concern regarding their health and
necessary absence from work Consider offering
alternative duties or a shorter working week if this would enable a
quicker return to work subject to medical advice Give consideration to any
personal problems being encountered and discuss possible ways of helping
the individual resolve these Advise the member of staff
that in their best interests they may be asked to see a registered medical
practitioner or occupational health provider appointed by the nursery to
enable a medical report to be prepared Alternatively, and if
appropriate, gain agreement from the member of staff to contact their doctor
or specialist in order to establish the likely length of absence and the
long-term effect on capability in relation to job performance and
attendance at work.
If all other avenues have been investigated, the absence
continues or, following return to work, the attendance record does not improve,
a subsequent meeting should be arranged. At this point, unless there are
reasonable grounds to believe there will be an improvement in the foreseeable
future, the manager should inform the member of staff that long-term sickness
absence due to ill health may put their employment at risk and the possibility
of termination by reason of capability or suitability to work with children
might have to be considered, taking into account any medical information
available.
The position will be reviewed periodically and ultimately it
may become necessary from a business perspective to consider termination of
employment. In these circumstances, the nursery will:
Review the employee's
absence record to assess whether or not it is sufficient to justify
dismissal Consult the employee Obtain up-to-date medical
advice through occupational health Advise the employee in
writing as soon as it is established that termination of employment has
become a possibility Meet with the employee to
discuss the options and consider the employee's views on continuing
employment Review if there are any
other jobs that the employee could do prior to taking any decision on
whether or not to dismiss Allow a right of appeal
against any decision to dismiss the employee on grounds of long-term ill
health Arrange a further meeting
with the employee to determine any appeal Following this meeting,
inform the employee of its final decision Act reasonably towards the
employee at all times.
Any decision to terminate employment will be taken by Susan
Walker and Keith Cody making sure the capability procedure has been exhausted.
Occupational health
The nursery will engage the services of an independent
Occupational Health Advisor in situations where expert medical opinion is
required and work with them to identify the best course of action in
circumstances of sickness absence.
Access to medical records
The Access to Medical Records Act 1988 gives individuals the
right of access to medical records relating to themselves which have been
prepared by a medical practitioner for employment purposes. The Act provides
that:
Employers must gain the
consent of employees before requesting reports from medical practitioners Employers must inform
employees of their rights in respect of medical reports The employee has the right
of access to the report before the employer sees it, provided appropriate
notification is given The employer is
responsible for notifying the medical practitioner that the employee
wishes to have access The employee may ask for a
report to be amended or may attach a statement to the report Having seen the report,
the employee may wish to withhold consent to it being supplied.
Where the nursery requests further medical information about
the health of staff from an individual’s General Practitioner or Specialist, or
its own occupational health provider, the provisions of the Act will be
followed.
Throughout any interviews regarding sickness absence, staff
are entitled to the support of and/or representation by a colleague or union
representative.
The nursery reserves the right to request employees see a
medical advisor (e.g. consultant, GP or Occupational Health Advisor) during
their employment, if it is reasonably deemed necessary due to sickness absence,
changes in health or the role, or where it is necessary to seek expert medical
opinion as to whether or not the employee can fulfil their job role.
Sick Pay
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will be paid in accordance with
Department for Work and Pensions requirements and no payment will be made for
the first three working days in a period of incapacity for work.
Annual leave and sick pay
Where an employee falls sick or is injured while on holiday,
the nursery will allow the employee to transfer to sick leave and take
replacement holiday at a later time. This policy is subject to the following
strict conditions:
The total period of
incapacity must be fully certificated by a qualified medical practitioner The employee must contact
the manager as soon as he/she knows that there will be a period of
incapacity during a holiday The employee must submit a
written request no later than five days after returning to work setting
out how much of the holiday period was affected by sickness and the amount
of leave that the employee wishes to take at another time Where the employee is
overseas when he/she falls ill or is injured, evidence must be produced
that the employee was ill by way of either a medical certificate or proof
of a claim on an insurance policy for medical treatment received at the
overseas location.
Where the employee fulfils all of the above conditions, we
will allow the employee the same number of days replacement holiday leave as
the number of holiday days lost due to sickness or injury.
Sickness or injury shortly before a period of planned holiday
If an employee is ill or is injured before the start of a
period of planned holiday, we will agree to the employee postponing the holiday
dates to another mutually agreed time. Any period of sickness absence will then
be treated in accordance with the employer's normal policy on sickness absence.
The employee must produce a letter from his/her doctor
confirming that he/she is unfit to take the holiday.
The employee must submit a written request to postpone the
planned holiday and this must be accompanied by a letter from his/her doctor
confirming that he/she is unfit, or is still likely to be unfit to take the
holiday.
Replacement holiday dates
Where it is agreed that an employee can take replacement holiday
leave at a later time, the employee should nominate replacement holiday dates
as soon as possible, with the dates being subject to the agreement of the
employee's line manager in the usual way.
Employees should endeavour to take any replacement holiday
within the same holiday year as the days lost as a result of sickness or
injury. In the event that part or all of the holiday is lost due to incapacity
towards the end of the nursery’s holiday year, and there is insufficient time
left during that year for the replacement holiday leave to be taken, the
employee will be permitted to carry over the replacement holiday to the next
holiday year. However, this leave must be taken as early in the new holiday
year as possible.
This policy was
adopted on
Signed on behalf of
the nursery
Date for review
May 2016
Esther Meechan
May 2017
