absence and attendance guidance - dec 10 amended

A t t e n d a n c e M a n a g e m e n t – G u i d a n c e f o r M a n a g e r s

Version 34 April 2011

1. Introduction

Introduction

2. Policy Principles

Policy Principles

3. Support to Managers

Support to Managers

4. Managing Attendance Checklist

Managing Attendance Checklist

5. Sickness Reporting and Certification

of 41Electronically held and controlled document - Printed and locally saved copies are UNCONTROLLED

Sickness Reporting and Certification

6.Contact during Sick Leave, Return to work interview and Phased ReturnContact during Sick Leave, Return to work interview and Phased Return

7. Occupational Health

Occupational Health

8. Attendance Management

Attendance Management

9. Termination of Employment due to Ill Health

Termination of Employment due to Ill Health

10. Payments during Sickness Absence, Expenses and Annual Leave Accrual

Payments during Sickness Absence, Expenses and Annual Leave Accrual

11. Recording, Monitoring and Control

Recording, Monitoring and Control

12. Role of Personnel

Role of Personnel


13. Role of Trade Unions

Role of Trade Unions

Appendices

Appendices

1. Introduction

These guidelines have been produced specifically for the Council's managers/supervisors to ensure the consistent practical implementation of the Council's Attendance Management policy but will also provide employees with guidance, particularly on notification and certification and their responsibilities relating to their return to work.

The guidelines are not intended to be an exhaustive statement of terms and conditions which are contained within the National Conditions of Service for different categories of employees e.g. Teachers and Associated Professionals, Chief Officers, and employees within the scope of the Red Book, but aim to support managers/supervisors in the management of employee attendance.

Managers/Supervisors in the Council have a responsibility to manage their employees effectively. The management of employee absence and attendance is particularly important because:

it will ensure consistency and equality for all employees while treating each case individually and on its merits

early intervention may prevent long term or disruptive absence patterns from developing

a personal or work related problem may be identified for which the employee requires help, e.g. in the form of signposting to relevant support facilities, mediation, etc

it lets the employee know that their attendance is important

a satisfactory level of attendance is crucial to the Council's success in delivering high quality services

The Attendance Management Policy does not cover specifically annual leave, special leave or maternity, adoption or paternity leave, which are covered in the Council's special leave and flexible working policies, and in National Conditions of Service.


Process flowcharts can be found in appendix 1.

All parts of these guidelines apply to all Council employees, including Teachers and Associated Professionals, unless where overwritten by the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) Conditions of Service, which are regularly updated by SNCT Circulars.

Managers/Supervisors of Teachers and Associated Professionals must read these guidelines in conjunction with the SNCT Handbook of Conditions of Service, particularly Part 2 Section 6.

2. Policy Principles

The Council's wish to secure a high level of attendance, and consistency in its management, is based on the following principles:

The Chief Executive, Service Directors, managers/supervisors are accountable for the management of employee attendance.

Employees can expect to receive fair and consistent treatment in the management of their attendance.

The provision of guidance and training to all managers/supervisors on the dealing with absence and attendance is done in a consistent way.

The Council is committed to the maintenance of the health, safety and welfare of staff and the promotion of occupational health.

The Council makes use of records and information systems to monitor levels of absence.

The Council recognises the importance of fair and non-discriminatory attendance management practices.

Employees are expected to attend work and perform effectively, and if they are unable to attend work, follow notification and certification procedures.

Employees are aware of the need to maximise their attendance and minimise their absence.

3. Support Available to Managers

Personnel Advice

Advice is available from our Personnel Advisers and their teams, assisting managers/supervisors in dealing with specific cases and in implementing the Attendance Management Policy in a fair and consistent way.


Occupational Health

Professional occupational health and occupational medical advice is available from Occupational Health through the management referral process. Advice can be provided about fitness to work and workplace adjustments that could enable employees with physical or mental impairments to undertake their work effectively.

Staff Development and Training

Management training on the Attendance Management Policy is available. The session offers practical advice on implementing the policy and gives managers/supervisors the opportunity to explore ways of dealing with a variety of cases. Details of all courses offered are available on the Council’s Intranet.

Health and Safety Advice

The Council’s Health, Safety and Wellbeing team provides health and safety advice at all levels, safety training to Services, and guidance on risk assessments. If an employee has an injury or accident at work, an Accident Form must be completed in accordance with the Guidance Notes for the Reporting of Accidents, Incidents and Occupational Ill Health. Referral to Occupational Health should be considered if there is any concern about the impact of the injury or accident on the employee's ability to work.

4. Managing Attendance Checklist

Ensure there is a local arrangement in place to record and monitor sickness absence, and that all sickness absence is recorded and forwarded appropriately.

Arrange with the Employee Development team for attendance management training to be given to managers/supervisors and supervisors within your Service.

Apply the Attendance Management Policy consistently and fairly to all employees.

Advise all employees within each Service of the Council's Attendance Management Policy and Procedures, clearly stating their responsibilities regarding sickness absence.

Ensure that all employees are inducted in the health and safety requirements of their job, and that risk assessments have been undertaken where necessary, and the findings communicated to the relevant employees.

Ensure that all employees know the accident/injury reporting system, and ensure that you investigate all


accidents under this procedure.

Discuss any problems with an employee’s attendance or performance at an early stage, offering support and advice where necessary.

Make contact with employees who are off sick as soon as you have received a Statement of Fitness for Work (referred to as Fit Note in the remainder of the document). See appendix 2 for a sample Fit Note.

Keep in touch with employees who are absent due to ill health on a regular basis, normally not less than fortnightly, in order to reduce feelings of isolation, to keep them in touch with major developments in the workplace and to remain informed about the likely duration of their absence and the support they may require.

Conduct return to work interviews with all employees on the day they return to work following each episode of sickness absence or as soon as possible thereafter, including after absences lasting one day (or even half a day).

Take into consideration any suggestions on adjustments to work contained in the Fit Note, to assist employees in returning to work.

Refer employees to Occupational Health, when advice is required on fitness to work and workplace adjustments that could enable employees with physical or mental impairments to undertake their work effectively, or when advice is required on rehabilitating staff to work who have been absent.

Ensure proper consideration is given to the advice obtained when making any decisions regarding the employee and that the employee is fully informed and consulted about this advice.

Consider other employees who may be affected by return to work arrangements and inform them of the arrangements.

Ensure strict confidentialilty is maintained at all times.

5. Sickness Reporting and Certification

5.1 Reporting Sickness Absence

Teachers and Associated Professionals' notification requirements are covered in Part 2, Section 6 of the SNCT Handbook of Conditions of Service, which should be read in conjunction with this part of the guidelines.


On the first day of sickness absence, an employee must notify his/her manager/supervisor as soon as possible after commencement of normal working hours and certainly within 1 hour of normal start and provide the following information:

The nature of illness - if the employee does not wish to reveal the exact nature of the illness the manager/supervisor should have a confidential discussion to agree an appropriate description of the cause.

The anticipated length of absence (i.e. an estimated indication is expected, e.g. "I'll be back tomorrow" or "I don't expect to be in for the rest of the week") ;

If the absence is expected to be of 7 calendar days or more, any steps he/she is taking in relation to it e.g. details of any doctor's appointments arranged;

Details of any outstanding or urgent work that needs to be dealt with during the absence;

Details of how he/she can be contacted if necessary, especially where the employee is staying at a different address during their absence.

This also applies to employees who work shifts, irregular hours, part-time or job share. Notification of sickness absence to the supervisor must be done without delay and should not be delayed until the next day.

Employees should not normally ask anyone else to make contact on their behalf unless it is not possible for them to do so.

Where Services have specific alternative arrangements for reporting absences, these should be communicated to employees within that Service on a regular basis and must be observed by all employees.

For those Services with early start employees operating alternative arrangements which permit early notification to ensure Service delivery, e.g. Waste Collection Services, these should continue. If the manager/supervisor is not available then either the next person in line or someone of equivalent status in the Service to the manager/supervisor should be informed.

A message left with a receptionist, or someone who is not a manager/supervisor, or sending only a text or email message is not normally acceptable unless there is an accepted and proven to work process already in place, e.g. informing an office manager/supervisor who will pass on the message to the appropriate manager/supervisor without delay or there is a "duty employee" in attendance to receive and handle such matters.

It is important that the manager/supervisor receives this information timeously as it allows cover arrangements to be made, diaries checked, offers of help made etc.

As soon as the manager/supervisor receives the notification of


5.2

5.2.1

absence due to sickness, he/she must inform the appropriate administrative officer, who will then record the absence on the absence return for Payroll form (please refer to appendix 3), and on the individual's absence card.

In cases where an employee has not turned up for work and has not informed the manager/supervisor within 1 hour of their normal starting time that they are off due to sickness the manager/supervisor must try and make contact with the employee. This is predominantly to ensure that the employee is safe. If contact can not be established the manager should consider other means of trying to find out about the employee’s wellbeing, e.g. home visit or contacting next of kin.

Where a member of staff becomes ill while at work and feels too unwell to continue working, he/she must speak to his/her manager/supervisor who will give permission for the individual to leave their work (either temporarily or for the day) and for him/her to seek medical advice where appropriate. Absence from work for part of a working day, which is less than half their normal working day, is not recorded as sickness absence but a note should be made by the manager/supervisor so that it may be taken into account when discussing patterns of absence.

For example if an employee whose normal daily working hours are 7 leaves after 4.5 hours, the absence of 2.5 hours is not counted as sickness absence, however, if the employee left after 2 hours, the absence of 5 hours would be recorded as 0.5 days sickness absence.

Certification of Sickness Absence

Teachers and Associated Professionals' certification requirements are covered in Part 2, Section 6 of the SNCT Handbook of Conditions of Service, which should be read in conjunction with this part of the guidelines.

On receipt of notification of absence the relevant administrative officer will arrange for a self-certification form to be sent to the individual at his/her home address, or other suitable arrangements can operate which will enable the form to reach the employee without delay.

Day 1 to 7 (Self Certificate)

Where an individual is absent for one to seven days inclusive (including Saturday/Sunday, public and general holidays) not only must he/she report that absence, but he/she must complete and sign the self certificate form, and on return to work pass it to the Service’s identified administrative officer without delay. In some instances the employee may seek help to complete the form. Please refer to appendix 4 for Self-Certified Sickness Form.

Please note that teachers and associated professionals are


5.2.2

currently required to provide a self certification for any sickness absence lasting between 4 and 7 days.

Failure to complete and to return a self certificate form must be dealt with by the manager/supervisor, who should discuss the hold up in submitting the form with the employee.

If a self certificate was sent to the employee and the absence continues beyond 7 days, the employee must forward the completed self certificate covering the first 7 days of their absence to their manager/supervisor as soon as possible.

An employee may also submit a Med 10 form, which provides details on the period of time he/she has spent as a hospital in-patient. 8 Days or more (Fit Note)

From the eighth day of any sickness absence the employee must obtain from their GP and submit without delay to their manager/supervisor a Fit Note.

If the absence continues, subsequent fit notes should be sent by the employee without delay to the manager/supervisor, who will dispatch these certificates to the administrative officer for data input and filing.

It may be that a Fit Note has been produced from day one of the absence in which case self certification will not be necessary.

The Fit Note can be used by the GP to advise the employer that an employee is unfit to work or can also indicate that he/she may be fit to work under certain circumstances, including for example a phased return, altered working hours, amended job duties or workplace adaptations.

It is important that the employee contacts their manager/supervisor without delay to ensure early discussion about the practicalities of the doctor’s recommendations, particularly when the doctor’s advice is that the employee may be able to return to work.

On receipt of a Fit Note, and if the employee has not yet been in contact, the manager/supervisor should normally contact the employee and discuss the doctor’s advice, even if the advice is that the employee is unfit to return to work.

If the doctor is recommending a return to work subject to certain conditions being met, e.g. reduced hours, light duties, phased return programme, etc, the manager/supervisor should discuss these recommendations with the employee and agree an appropriate plan, including clear timescales. Please refer to Section 6.3 for further guidance on return to work.

The same applies if an employee wishes to return to work prior


5.3

to their Fit Note expiring. There is no requirement to obtain confirmation from the employee’s GP that they are fit to return. However, if the manager is concerned about an employee returning to work without having fully recovered they may wish to consider a referral to Occupational Health.

There may be a need to carry out a risk assessment before the manager/supervisor can agree all or some of the recommendations made by the GP or the employee’s request to return early. The manager/supervisor, having considered the options, may also come to the conclusion that a return to work under the circumstances may not be possible.

The GP’s advice is not binding on the Council, however, if changes to allow a part or full return to work cannot be implemented the employee continues to be considered unfit for work until they are fully recovered.

It may also happen that the employee does not agree with the doctor’s view that they may be fit to work and does not wish to return to work despite the doctor’s recommendation and the manager/supervisor’s decision that this could be accommodated.

In this case the manager/supervisor should discuss the employee’s reasons in order to establish whether the employee’s refusal to return to work is reasonable and whether anything else, which had not previously been considered, requires to be done. If no agreement can be reached, the manager/supervisor may consider consulting with Occupational Health, or if they have reason to believe that this is a conduct issue, they may invoke the Council’s Disciplinary Procedure.

While the dispute continues the employee will be on sickness absence to the end of the period the GP has indicated on the Fit Note. The manager/supervisor may wish to discuss any of the above with Personnel before going ahead with their plan.

Sickness during Annual Leave and Public Holidays

Teachers and Associated Professionals' conditions relating to sickness during school holidays are covered in Part 2 Section 6 of the SNCT Handbook of Conditions of Service, which should be read in conjunction with this part of the guidelines.

If an employee falls ill during annual leave, then he/she must endeavour to inform his/her manager/supervisor, failing whom an appropriate alternative manager/supervisor, at the earliest practicable opportunity of such illness. A doctor's Fit Note (or equivalent if abroad; obtained at the employee’s cost) must be provided if the period of sickness is to be treated as sick leave and thus attracting sick pay. The employee will be held to be on sick leave only from the date of a doctor's Fit Note (or


5.4

5.5

equivalent if abroad) covering that sickness.

The employee will be allowed annual leave at a later date, but only for those days covered by a doctor's Fit Note and taken with the manager/supervisor's approval. A public/local holiday falling in a period of sickness absence will not be granted as a day off at a later date.

A self certificate can be submitted but the period it covers will not be treated as sick leave but annual leave.

Managers/Supervisors of Teachers and Associated Professionals should make sure that their employees are made aware of the need to notify sickness during holidays to secure sick pay benefits.

Annual Leave during Sickness Absence

An employee on sick leave is not prevented from applying for and taking annual leave. He/She may have already had such leave approved before sick leave started. The employee cannot, however, receive both sick pay and holiday pay at the same time.

If an employee on sick leave wishes to take annual leave, then he/she must follow the Council’s normal procedures and obtain the manager/supervisor's approval.

The employee will have to make sure that the annual leave will not affect his/her health or prolong their recovery period. In certain circumstances the manager/supervisor may consider a referral to Occupational Health before approving an annual leave request.

The employee can return to sick leave and receive sick pay (if still entitled) on return from annual leave, provided he/she satisfies certification requirements.

Hospital, Doctor and Dental appointments

Hospital, doctor or dentist appointments should be arranged out of working hours if at all possible or so as to give minimal disruption to the working day.

The Council’s Special Leave Scheme allows employees to apply for paid special leave for attendance at hospitals or clinics for either out-patient treatment or examination.

When requesting leave, the individual should provide their manager/supervisor with appropriate documentation confirming the appointment where appropriate.

Time taken during working hours for appointments should be recorded by the Service but not classified as sick leave and therefore not counted for statutory sick pay.


5.6

5.7

Please refer to the Council’s Scheme of Flexible Working Hours and Special Leave Scheme.

Appointments relating to surgery or dentistry for cosmetic purposes should normally be arranged outside working hours or taken as annual leave.

Pregnancy-related Sickness Absence

Pregnancy-related sickness absence should be recorded separately and should not be taken into account when looking at an employee’s sickness absence record for the purpose of attendance management.

Pregnant employees have rights to paid time off for antenatal care, which can include medical examinations, relaxation and parenting classes.

An employee who is absent due to a pregnancy-related illness during the four week period prior to her due date will be required to start her maternity leave, and will be entitled to maternity pay and not sick pay. Odd days of pregnancy-related illness during this period, however, may be disregarded if the employee wishes to defer the start of her maternity leave period, and a risk assessment does not indicate that carrying out work will endanger her pregnancy.

Although there is no statutory entitlement to time off for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or other fertility treatment employee requests for time off to undergo such treatment should be treated sympathetically and may require allowing annual leave or unpaid leave.

After a fertilised embryo has been implanted, a woman is legally pregnant and from that point is protected from unfavourable treatment because of her pregnancy, including pregnancy related sickness absence and entitlement to time off for antenatal care. Please refer to the SJC National Conditions of Service, SNCT Conditions of Service and the Council's Maternity Provisions Guidance Notes for further details.

Disability-related Sickness Absence

Disability-related sickness absence will be managed in accordance with the Equality legislation (Equality Act 2010) and related Codes of Practice, and advice on specific cases can be sought from Occupational Health in consultation with Personnel. General advice can be obtained from the Council’s Equal Opportunities Officer.

Equality legislation makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against a disabled employee. A disabled person is someone having a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on his/her ability to


5.8

5.9

5.10

carry out normal day to day activities.

A long term impairment is one which has lasted for at least 12 months or is likely to be of that period or to last the rest of the person's life or may have ceased to have a substantial effect, but is likely to recur.

An employer must make reasonable adjustments for a disabled employee which might well include allowing him or her to be absent during working hours for rehabilitation, for assessment or for treatment, or disregarding some or all of the absences by way of an adjustment if this is reasonable.

Seek advice from Personnel if you are unsure. It is important to recognise that disability is not the same as illness, though illness can lead to disability and a disability may lead to other health issues.

Absences related to Gender Reassignment

If a transsexual person is absent from work because they propose to undergo, are undergoing or have undergone gender reassignment, the absence should be treated in the same way as any other absence due to illness or injury.

Absence due to Alcohol and/or Drugs

Where it becomes known or there are firm grounds for believing that an employee's absence is due to alcohol or drug misuse then reference should be made to the Council's Substance Misuse Policy, which applies to all Council employees.

Critical and Terminal Illness

Employees who suffer from a critical or terminal illness may not always inform their manager immediately once a diagnosis has been made.

When a member of staff tells his or her employer about an initial diagnosis it is usually difficult for all concerned. Managers/Supervisors need to handle the conversations with care and sensitivity and ensure strict confidentiality.

The individual may have fears and concerns such as: the effects of the illness and the treatment,

including their life expectancy being able to talk about it to colleagues being able to take time off guilt at taking time off not being able to do his or her job financial difficulties

People react differently to the subject, some being much less able than others to talk about their illness. The most important thing a manager/supervisor can do is listen. Consideration


5.11

should also be given to the impact this could have on close colleagues if they become aware of an employee’s terminal illness.

Managers/Supervisors should keep in touch with Personnel to discuss options available for employees suffering from critical or terminal illness.

Injuries caused by Accidents in the Workplace

Teachers and Associated Professionals' conditions relating to absence due to accidents are covered in Part 2 Section 6 of the SNCT Handbook of Conditions of Service, which should be read in conjunction with this part of the guidelines.

It is the responsibility of managers/supervisors to ensure that all workplace accidents are investigated thoroughly and that remedial action is taken to prevent a recurrence. These investigations can be undertaken by managers/supervisors or on their behalf, to determine the causes of accidents and remedial measures which require to be taken.

Please refer to the Council’s Accident Reporting and Investigation Policy and the Guidance Notes for the Reporting of Accidents, Incidents and Occupational Ill Health.

6.Contact during Sick Leave, Return to work interview and Phased Return

6.1

This section of the guidelines applies to all employees of the Council, including Teachers and Associated Professionals.

Contact during Periods of Sickness Absence

Both managers/supervisors and employees have a responsibility to keep in touch with each other, particularly during periods of long term but also during short term sickness absence. In occasional circumstances, the contact will be between another supervisor and the employee.

The recommendation is for the manager/supervisor to make contact on receipt of a Fit Note (unless the employee has already made contact to discuss) and at least fortnightly thereafter. Additional contact arrangements can be agreed between the employee and the manager/supervisor.

The manager/supervisor should ensure that any briefing notes, newsletter and any other communication are forwarded to absent employees.

Such contact helps the employee to keep up to date with what is happening in the workplace, and assists with the smooth


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6.2

return to work by the individual. The manager/supervisor can discuss referrals for medical reports and explore whether any temporary adjustments would help the employee return to work early. The employee can also provide an indication of his/her likely return date, which will assist the manager/ supervisor decisions on cover arrangements.

However, the manager/supervisor should be mindful of the particular circumstances of the absence, e.g. there will be cases such as traumatic injury or sudden serious illness, when contact may have to be made via carers or relatives first or in cases involving depression or stress related illness the employee is unlikely to be ready to discuss a return to work.

Managers/Supervisors must ensure that employees are being treated equitably and consistently, however, each absence must be treated on an individual basis. Where a period of sickness absence is likely to be long term you may consider a home welfare visit. This is normally after approximately 28 days, to enquire about the employee’s wellbeing, recovery progress and any assistance that may be required to support a return to work.

This should not be an unexpected or unannounced surprise visit. The employee must be contacted beforehand and he/she must agree to the meeting taking place and its venue. It may be beneficial to involve the employee’s union representative. In certain circumstances it may be more appropriate for the employee to come into the workplace or to be met at another location.

It is important that the contact to arrange a visit or meeting is handled with sensitivity and care and that reasonable notice is given to the employee as to its purpose, in order to avoid the employee becoming alarmed or agitated, e.g. particularly in cases involving stress or other mental health issues.

A letter is not the most appropriate way of making contact; a more personal, less formal approach is normally always preferable. (Should a letter be required, however, a style is in appendix 5).

The meeting may be followed up with a letter to confirm any agreements that you made with the employee. As a minimum you should prepare a file note summarising your discussions.

Return to Work Interviews

Where an employee has been away for one or just a few occasional days due to illness, then a brief discussion with what has happened at work over that period should be all that is needed, plus enquiring about the employee’s wellbeing and consideration of whether he/she seems well enough to return.

However, if a pattern of similar absences becomes clear, or the


absence was for a prolonged period then the discussion would normally be longer and more formal.

Importantly, you are demonstrating that you do care about your employee’s health and welfare and their attendance. It may be that there are particular rehabilitation needs that you should be aware of, e.g. follow up doctor's appointment, physiotherapy, and you should take the opportunity to inform the employee of any support that may be available in his/her particular circumstances.

Normally the immediate manager/supervisor should conduct return to work interviews with the employee. In some instances, however, the return to work discussion will involve such personal sensitivity that the immediate supervisor may not be the best person to conduct it, e.g. a male to male, or female to female arrangement may be better. However, be guided by your employee.

The return to work interview is informal and has important purposes:

it is an opportunity to have a positive, supportive, one-to-one conversation between manager/supervisor and employeethe cause of the absence can be confirmedthe genuine interest in the employee's welfare can be expressed it re-introduces the employee to the workplace, e.g. what has happened, is happening, about to happen, prioritiesit provides the opportunity to remind the employee of the need for good attendance and share their absence record for previous 12 monthsit allows an assessment to be made as to whether stress or other mental health issue may be a factor and whether a referral to Occupational Health may be required (if that has not already been done)it allows for a discussion about the employee’s continued additional support requirements, including counsellingit allows time for the employee to raise any niggling worries they may have, including job satisfaction issuesit provides the opportunity to help build the employee’s confidence, particularly when returning after a long absence periodthe manager/supervisor can confirm whether all appropriate certification has been submitted, and remind the employee of the notification and certification process, as requiredthe manager/supervisor can be assured about the employee’s fitness and capability for work and check for workplace adjustments which may require to be made the manager/supervisor can raise any observations regarding the employee’s absence record, e.g. frequent short-term absence, Mon/Fri sickness, how this affects the team and inform the employee of required improvements


6.3

6.3.1

the manager/supervisor can inform the employee of their intention to refer him/her to Occupational Health

It is important that the return to work meeting is not being carried out in an intimidating but a supportive and constructive manner and is applied consistently across all employees of your Service.

Return to work interviews should be held in private, and conducted as soon as possible after the individual's return to work. The checklist in appendix 6 can be used as a guide, and you may wish to use the proforma to record your discussions, which should be placed in the employee's file, with a copy to be provided to the employee.

You should record any agreed action, including additional requirements, workplace adaptations, assistance offered and/or given, expected improvements plus concerns which either party has raised. It may be that the circumstances are such that you also need to confirm the nature and outcome of the discussion in a letter to the individual.

It is likely that in the vast majority of cases, no further action beyond the return to work interview is necessary. Managers/supervisors should, however, continue to monitor both absence and the conduct of the individual, to identify problems at an early stage, to offer help and to take appropriate action.

Return to Work

Following a period of sickness absence an employee may return to their normal duties and normal hours of work, however, there will be instances when an employee’s doctor or Occupational Health makes specific recommendations with regards to the return to work. These can include the following:

Phased return programmeAltered hours of work Amended dutiesWorkplace adaptations

You will find examples here.

Phased Return Programme

This is normally recommended when the doctor believes that the individual may benefit from a gradual increase in the intensity of their work duties or their working hours over a specified period of time until they are able to carry out all their normal working duties and/or normal hours again, e.g. following an operation an individual could return to work on reduced hours, gradually increasing to their normal hours.

Once you have received such recommendation by the doctor it is important that you contact the employee to discuss this and


6.3.2

to consider any suggestions that are being made. You may, depending on the job or work environment, need to carry out a risk assessment before coming to a decision.

If you can accommodate a phased return to work it is advisable to confirm the arrangements, including timescales and review arrangements, in writing to the employee.

The length of a phased return programme will depend on the particular circumstances and the nature of the condition the employee is recovering from, and you need to be guided by the GP and Occupational Health’s recommendations. Please liaise with Personnel if you require guidance.

During the phased return and while the employee works less than their normal contractual hours the employee will, normally for a period of up to 4 weeks, be eligible to receive their full pay. This may only be extended in exceptional circumstances; although consideration should be given to the pay an employee would have received during continued sickness absence (i.e. full/half/no pay). Please note that varying this may also be considered a reasonable adjustment for an employee suffering from a disability, who may otherwise not be able to return to work for some time.

If the employee can not return to their normal contractual working hours after a period of 4 weeks, the manager must discuss the options available as follows:

Use of annual leave to cover extended phased returnUse of flexi-time to cover extended phased returnTemporary variation in contractual working hoursPermanent variation in contractual working hours

Temporary and permanent variations in contractual working hours must be confirmed to and accepted by the employee in writing and will decrease the employee’s salary.

Altered Hours

The employee’s GP or Occupational Health may recommend altered hours if they believe that an individual will benefit from a change to the hours that the employee normally works, in order to return to work.

This does not necessarily mean working fewer hours, e.g. allowing more flexible hours could support someone who is still receiving treatment to return to work and attend treatment sessions during working hours.

You need to be guided by the GP and Occupational Health’s recommendations with regards to the length of time the arrangement should last for.

Where normal hours of work are being reduced the employee will be eligible to receive their full pay for a period of up to 4


6.3.3

6.3.4

6.3.5

weeks. This may only be extended in exceptional circumstances.

If the employee can not return to their normal contractual working hours after a period of 4 weeks, the manager must discuss the options available as follows:

Use of annual leave to cover additional periodUse of flexi-time to cover additional periodTemporary variation in contractual working hoursPermanent variation in contractual working hours

Temporary and permanent variations in contractual working hours must be confirmed to and accepted by the employee in writing and will decrease the employee’s salary.

Amended Duties

Amended duties will normally be recommended for a specified period if the medical professional believes that the employee may be able to return to work if their duties are amended to take into account their condition, e.g. removing heavy lifting from the job of someone who has a back injury could help them return to work whilst recovering from their injury.

Amending duties on a temporary basis will normally have no bearing on the employee’s pay.

Workplace Adaptations

Workplace adjustments will normally be recommended where it is believed that the employee may be able to return to work if their workplace is adapted to take into account their condition, e.g. provision of a specific chair for someone who has joint/ musculoskeletal problems may be required to aid them back into the workplace.

Workplace adaptations can be temporary or permanent and require to be reviewed regularly to ensure that the support provided is still adequate.

Risk Assessment

As a manager/supervisor you may be required to carry out a workplace risk assessment prior to making a decision and depending on the action you are wishing to take. This should be discussed with the employee and kept under review. Please refer to appendix 7 for a Risk Assessment Sheet.

For further advice on carrying out workplace assessments contact the Health, Safety and Wellbeing team.

7. Occupational Health


7.1


Role of Occupational Health

Ill health, of whatever nature, may affect an employee’s work performance and may also have an impact on his/her colleagues. If a manager/supervisor has concerns relating to the wellbeing of an employee, these should be discussed with the employee and a management referral to Occupational Health may be made.

Occupational Health has an understanding of the workplace, the environment and its link to employee health and is available to give professional advice on a range of matters. Use of Occupational Health can promote a productive relationship between you and the employee.

Advice is available on (list is not exhaustive but provides examples):

preventative and remedial measures regarding an employee’s medical condition;

the need for a doctor's report to establish whether or not frequent short-term absence is due to a medical condition;

the assessment of an employee’s health before and after hospitalisation;

the impact of a health problem on the employee's ability to carry out the duties of their job role;

recovery timescales and potential long term rehabilitation needs, particularly in cases of long term sickness absence;

temporary and/or permanent adjustments to the work place or job duties that would assist in maintaining the employee’s health and reducing the effects of the health problem on attendance and performance;

potential implications of the Equality Act, particularly with regards to disability related sickness absence;

the employee’s suitability for redeployment; proposals for managing the particular case.

In order to fully respond to a referral Occupational Health may also seek a medical report from the employee’s GP or specialist.

There will be occasions when it is particularly appropriate to seek a medical opinion, for example where:

an employee has frequent short-term absences due to illness and the manager/supervisor wishes to establish whether there are underlying medical reasons;

an employee provides insufficient information regarding the reason for sickness absence;

ill-health retirement is being explored.


7.2

7.3

7.4

Further situations which may require Occupational Health involvement include:

There is an indication that the employee’s sickness absence is due to a reason that is protected by the Equality Act.

The employee is absent due to a chronic or permanent health condition such as cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, epilepsy, hearing loss, HIV, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, schizophrenia, visual impairment or following back surgery.

The required work place adaptations are likely to cost £1,000 or more, in which case additional funding could be applied for from Access to Work.

The GP has recommended a return to work, however, the employee refuses without providing reasonable explanation.

There is an indication that the employee is suffering from a condition that the manager finds difficult to understand and too complex to manage without Occupational Health involvement.

Musculoskeletal Disorders

Where the absence is related to a musculoskeletal disorder, the manager/supervisor should arrange an early referral to Occupational Health in order to assist the recovery process and return to work.

Mental Health

Particular challenges arise for a manager/supervisor when an employee develops or exhibits signs of mental health problems. It is not easy to confidently identify whether or not an employee is suffering from a mental health problem.

If you are of the view that the employee may be experiencing mental health problems which are affecting his/her work performance, behaviour and/or conduct, you should discuss your concerns with the employee and arrange an early referral to Occupational Health. This should be done whether or not the employee is off sick.

Stress

The Council is committed to the management of stress at work. Whilst stress may not be caused by the workplace, it is recognised that managers/supervisors can use various strategies to identify, remove and minimise the potential sources of stress at work. These strategies are detailed in the Council's Stress Management policy and include good job design; risk assessment, which recognises individual employee’s different personal capabilities; induction and training.


7.5

Managers/supervisors should pay particular attention to employees who may be suffering from stress or who are absent for a stress-related reason and should make a referral without delay to Occupational Health while liaising with Personnel.

Referral Procedure

If you believe that a referral to Occupational Health is necessary, you should normally meet with the employee to discuss your intention to refer and provide reasons prior to the referral being made.

Similarly, if an employee believes that his/her condition may be related to an activity at work he/she should inform his/her manager/supervisor, who may as a result consider a referral to Occupational Health.

There is no option for employees to make a self referral directly to Occupational Health but they may wish to approach their manager.

Referrals to Occupational Health should be done using the Occupational Health Referral form, which can be found in appendix 8, and which, once completed, should be forwarded to Personnel.

It is not advisable to wait until someone has reached the "half pay or no pay" stage to pursue concerns about the absence or to seek a referral to Occupational Health.

Just because fit notes and/or self-certificates are being submitted, it does not mean that the manager/supervisor cannot seek further information on the employee’s condition.

Each case must be treated individually and the following is an indicative but not exhaustive list of some of the information you should be providing as part of the referral:

the purpose for which the Council is seeking information on the employee's condition, e.g. advice on likely return date; information on future rehabilitation needs; a request from the employee for ill-health retirement

a description of the current duties and responsibilities. (This is essential. In some cases a description of future duties and responsibilities may be necessary.)

information provided by the individual on the current absence, including the reasons for the absence and possibilities of improvement

information on sickness absence over 24 months prior to current or last absence

information on any external influences, for example travelling arrangements, night time working, shifts

information on the availability of alternative employment information on the opportunity to adjust the workplace/

working conditions to facilitate the employee's return. any risk assessments relevant to the job role/duties


7.6

7.7

Occupational Health should also be asked for a view on whether the sickness absence is likely to be work related.

Employee Responsibilities

Employees are required to attend Occupational Health appointments and medical examinations arranged by the Council. However, if the employee has reasonable grounds for not attending he/she is expected to cancel the appointment by contacting Personnel at least 48 hours in advance. If an employee fails to attend an appointment without reasonable cause he/she will be charged for the cost incurred.

If an individual does not attend their occupational health or medical appointment arranged through the management referral process, a further appointment will be made. If an appointment is missed for a second time, the manager/supervisor will arrange a review meeting with the individual at which a Personnel representative may be present.Any decisions made following the meeting regarding the on-going management of the individual's absence will be based on the information available at that time and in the absence of advice that would have been available had the employee attended the Occupational Health or medical appointment as requested.

Occupational Health Reports

On receiving a report, the manager/supervisor should discuss the content of the report and the proposed course of action with the employee. Employees should also be provided with a copy of the report.

Clearly, as each circumstance is different, the content and advice contained in the report will be particular to that employee. Possible conclusions drawn from the report could be:

that the employee is not fit to undertake the full duties of the present post and should be considered for alternative duties or alternative posts

a definitive view or conclusion cannot yet be reached because of the particular circumstances, and the situation will be reviewed in a few weeks or months

the employee is fit or will be fit to return to his/her existing job and may or may not require ongoing support

the employee should refrain from undertaking particular aspects of the job, either temporarily or permanently, but can return to employment

that the employee's health condition is to be treated as a disability

that the employee returns to work in another capacity for a temporary period

that the employee returns in some phased way that retirement or dismissal on the grounds of ill health

may be appropriate


7.8

These are common responses, they are, however, not exhaustive.

However, it may be that continued absence will prompt consideration of whether the manager/supervisor can reasonably be expected to wait any longer for the employee’s attendance record to improve, bearing in mind the interests of the organisation, the length of absence to date, the impact on other employees, the position which the employee holds, and the need to be fair to him/her. In other words has the stage been reached where early retirement or dismissal on grounds of medical capability should be considered?

Particular regard will need to be given to requirements of Equality legislation. It may be that the individual's condition comes within the scope of the legislation and that the Council may have to make “reasonable adjustments” before they can return to their job. The types of adjustments you may be required to consider include:

making physical adjustments to the workplace allocating some of the disabled employee’s duties to

another employee transferring the disabled employee to another vacant

post, with or without reasonable adjustments being made altering the disabled employee’s working hours through,

for example, part-time working, job sharing or other flexible hours arrangements

providing special equipment to assist the disabled employee with performing his or her tasks, and giving/arranging training in the use of the equipment.

Counselling

There may be situations when a referral to Occupational Health is not required, however, the manager/supervisor has established that the employee may benefit from counselling.

In this case the manager/supervisor would normally make initial contact with a counselling service to inform them and to set up the payment arrangements. Thereafter, the employee will phone the counselling service to agree an appointment.

The Council will normally cover the cost of up to 6 counselling sessions. If more sessions are required, the employee must discuss this with their manager/supervisor.

Personnel will be able to provide the manager with contact details.

8. Attendance Management


8.1

8.2


Unauthorised Absence

Unauthorised absence is any period of absence which is not reported or certificated according to the Council’s Procedure.

If the individual has not followed the notification or certification procedure, it should initially be discussed with the employee at his/her return to work interview. If the employee has a continuing absence and does not produce certificates or produce them timeously, then contact must be made to remind the employee. It is important to emphasise the importance of adhering to the sickness notification and certification procedure.

If the employee continues to ignore the procedure this should normally be dealt with as a conduct issue and a disciplinary hearing arranged in accordance with the Council’s Disciplinary Policy and Procedure.

The employee should not be paid sick pay for any period which is not covered by a self certificate or a Fit Note.

Please refer to appendix 9 for a style letter to employee informing that sick pay will not be paid.

Sickness Absence Not Regarded as Genuine

An employee’s behaviour may lead to the manager/supervisor questioning the genuineness of the sickness absence. Examples include:

Frequent short-term absence with no plausible explanationUndertaking paid work or as a volunteer while on sick leaveRecurring absence pattern, eg. Fridays/Mondays, sickness linked to holiday periods

If there are absences which you feel may not be genuine, and therefore the self certification process may be abused then your concerns must be carefully and informally investigated.

Firstly, you should take the return to work interview as an opportunity to explore your concerns with the employee. It is important not to jump to conclusions, but clearly, employees when absent through illness, must not act in such a way as to prejudice recovery.

If the manager/supervisor considers that there are no good medical reasons for the absences, this should be discussed with the employee and he/she should be told what improvement is


8.3

expected and informed of the consequences if none is seen. If no improvement is made you should deal with it as a conduct issue in accordance with the Council’s disciplinary procedures.

The outcome of the disciplinary hearing, depending on the circumstances of the case, may include:

Withdrawal of sick pay for non-genuine periods of absence and/or A formal oral warning (provided there is no other warning on the employee’s file)

It is important to specify what improvements are expected and to detail the review period and arrangements. The employee will have a right of appeal.

Frequent Short term Absence

It is important that managers carry out return to work interviews as these are a vital part of effective attendance management and allow for emerging absence patterns to be dealt with informally initially. Please refer to Section 6.2. Follow up informal or formal meetings may be required.

In addition, some sickness absence patterns normally require to be investigated more fully and may have to be dealt with as an unacceptable attendance issue in accordance with the procedure detailed below.

Managers are provided with some assistance on whether or not an employee’s attendance record requires further action through the figures provided by the Sickness Absence SPI spreadsheet for their Service, which are based on the Bradford factor. However, it should be noted that these figures only consider the current financial year, and are only one tool for attendance management.

The Bradford Factor is calculated as follows:

S x D

S = number of spells of absence in a specified periodD = number of days of absence in that same period

Example:

An employee A, who has been off sick for 4 days and 5 days on two occasions would have a Bradford factor of: 2 x 2 x 9 = 36

An employee B who has been off sick on three occasions with a total of 9 days would have a Bradford factor of: 3 x 3 x 9 = 81

Employee B’s sickness absence would require further investigation and potentially a formal attendance review meeting, while employee A’s absence should be monitored closely.


8.3.1

8.3.2

As a means of guidance the following sickness absence patterns would normally trigger an initial attendance review meeting:

4 separate occasions of sickness absence in a rolling 12 month period or10 days of sickness absence in a rolling 12 month period

First Attendance Review Meeting

The manager/supervisor should contact the employee and arrange a formal attendance review meeting, when absence levels have become unacceptable. Please refer to appendix 10 for a letter style. The meeting should be carried out in a supportive and constructive manner and the employee has a right to bring along a work colleague or person of their choice to accompany him/her.

The manager/supervisor should inform the employee that their absence level is unacceptable and that you are seeking to identify practical steps to increase future attendance levels.

The aim of the meeting is also to identify whether there are underlying reasons, which may require additional support. You should agree an improvement and absence review plan and this should be confirmed in writing. Please refer to appendix 11 for a style letter and appendix 12 for an improvement plan.

The manager/supervisor should inform the employee that failure to improve their attendance may lead to termination of their employment.

At this point the manager/supervisor should also arrange for a referral to Occupational Health to establish whether or not any underlying medical condition may be a factor.

On receipt of the report from Occupational Health the employee should be provided with a copy of the report and the contents discussed.

Second Attendance Review Meeting

At the end of the agreed review period the manager/supervisor should meet with the employee to discuss progress against the improvement plan and their attendance. It is also an opportunity to discuss any Occupational Health report that the manager/supervisor may have received following a referral. It may be advisable to have Personnel attend this meeting. Again, the employee has a right to be accompanied.

Where, during the review period, absence has continued then the manager/supervisor will agree a further improvement plan, which will provide the employee with a further opportunity to improve their attendance levels.


8.3.3

The manager/supervisor must inform the employee that any further absence may lead to the termination of their employment.

Third Attendance Review Meeting

At the end of the second review period the manager/supervisor together with Personnel should meet with the employee, who has a right to be accompanied, to discuss progress against the agreed improvement plan.

If the employee’s attendance levels have not improved the manager/supervisor will normally inform the employee that a recommendation to terminate their employment with the Council due to capability will be put to the Director/Head of Service.

Before considering a recommendation to dismiss due to capability the manager/supervisor should consider the following:

Are there adequate and accurate records of absence and the reasons for it?Has the employee previously been informed of the effect of persistent periods of absence?Has the situation been discussed with the employee so that he/she knows that termination of employment is a possibility?Is the decision to dismiss consistent with treatment of employees in similar situations?Is the use of this procedure appropriate in this case, e.g. if absences were due to domestic problems which are now resolved how likely is it that the level of absence will continue?Does the employee need support, e.g. debt counselling?Is there any action which can be taken to alleviate the problem, e.g. do you need to look at flexible working arrangements to support with domestic circumstances?Have earlier improvement agreements been documented?Has the employee been encouraged to visit a doctor, particularly if each occasion of absence has been self-certificated only?Has there been a referral to Occupational Health? (This may sometimes be necessary to rule out/in an underlying health condition, which may display various symptoms)?Has the possibility of drugs or drink related absence been explored?If there are medical reasons for the absence, have you asked Occupational Health whether there are likely to be any links to Equality legislation, i.e. does the absence relate to a protected characteristic, e.g. hospital appointments or treatment required because of a disability? If this is the case, the Equality Act requires an employer to make reasonable adjustments which


8.4

includes allowing time off for treatment, or disregardng some of the absences for attendance management purposes.Can the Council reasonably be expected to wait any longer for the employee's health attendance record to improve bearing in mind the position which the employee holds, the need to be fair to him/her and the impact the absence has on other employees?If no medical or other acceptable reasons could be established is the dismissal therefore on the grounds of misconduct (and not capability)?Is the decision a reasonable response by a reasonable employer in the circumstances?

Long Term Sickness Absence

Long term sickness absence is any absence due to ill-health lasting 28 days or longer.

It is particularly important to keep in touch with employees on long term sickness and the manager/supervisor should keep a record of the contact that has been made.

The manager/supervisor should normally arrange for a referral to Occupational Health once an employee has been off sick for a period of 3 weeks, unless an acceptable return timescale has already been provided by the employee’s doctor and the return does not require Occupational Health involvement.

The manager/supervisor should be guided by the report(s) provided by Occupational Health when considering the employee’s long term sickness absence. The employee should be provided with a copy of medical report(s) and the manager/supervisor should discuss the contents of each report with the employee. This could be done over the phone but will require a meeting at some point. A letter such as one that can be found in appendix 13 would be suitable to use. A letter would normally be sent following the meeting confirming the discussion.

Please refer to Section 6.3 for return to work options.

The aim of effectively managing long term sickness absence is to facilitate an employee’s return to work at the earliest reasonable point.

The employee must be kept fully informed of developments, particularly if their employment is at risk and their job can no longer be kept open for him/her or medical advice confirms that they are unable to return to their post. In this case the manager/supervisor in consultation with the employee must try and identify suitable alternative employment elsewhere in the Service or the wider Council.

It is, however, possible that in some extreme cases, an employee may be unable to return to work.


9.Termination of Employment due to Ill Health

9.1

9.2

This part of the guidelines applies to all employees of the Council, including Teachers and Associated Professionals.

Before You Consider Dismissal

Dismissal on the grounds of capability due to ill health is clearly a serious decision and must involve consideration of the following questions:

Have alternative employment opportunities, training, adjustments, support been considered?Has the employee been engaged throughout the process and been made aware that dismissal is a possibility?Has the employee been advised to take advice e.g. from a Trade Union?Has advice been sought from Occupational Health about the employee's condition and the likelihood of improvement, so the nature of the illness is clear?Has the employee been sufficiently consulted about his/her ill health problems and given an opportunity to give his/her views on the matter since the medical report(s) were received and have those points put forward by the employee been considered?Have the employee’s views been balanced with medical opinions?Has the employee or his/her representative had the chance to put forward any other points before deciding whether or not to dismiss, what was the consideration, and response to these points?Can the Council reasonably be expected to wait any longer for the health attendance record to improve, bearing in mind the interests of the Council and the Service, the position the employee holds, and the need to be fair to the individual?What is the need for the work to be done? Is there an impact of the absence on others, and how can it be overcome?Do you, as a responsible manager/supervisor, genuinely believe that the circumstances render the satisfactory performance of the employee's contract unlikely and how do you sustain that belief?Would the decision to dismiss, be considered a reasonable decision by a reasonable employer?

Procedure

If a dismissal is being considered discussion must take place with Personnel before any action is taken. It must follow careful procedures which are fair, sympathetic


9.3

9.3.1

and demonstrate an understanding of the employee's condition.

Managers/Supervisors considering dismissal must follow the following procedure:

invite the employee in writing to a face to face meeting outlining the reason for the meeting (Please see appendix 13 for a style letter.)inform the employee of their right to be accompanied at the meetingat the meeting offer opportunity for employee to state his/her opinion and views on their condition, likely return, and level of capabilityconfirm discussions in a letter to the employee (Please see appendix 14 for a style letter.)arrange for a follow up meeting to discuss the options that have been explored and whether or not alternative opportunities can be identified, including redeployment and workplace adjustments (Please see appendix 15 for a style letter.)confirm discussions in a letter to the employee (This may be the point were ill health retirement is being explored or were you will require to consider recommending the termination of the employee’s employment with the Council.)

Depending on the circumstances of the particular employee, and whether or not the employee is a member of a Council pension scheme dismissal on the grounds of capability will or will not be on the basis of ill-health retirement.

Dismissal on the Grounds of Capability

Please note that authority to dismiss an employee lies with Directors and Heads of Service, i.e. senior managers only, who have Level 4 authority as detailed in the Designated Officers List, which is in appendix 16.

Ill Health Retirement

This section of the guidelines applies to all employees of the Council, including Teachers and Associated Professionals, but should be read in conjunction with the Scottish Teachers’ Superannuation Scheme rules, which can be found on the Scottish Public Pensions Agency’s website (www.sppa.gov.uk) and the Local Government Pension Scheme rules, which can be accessed on the Highland Council’s intranet.

If no suitable alternative employment can be found for the employee or workplace adjustments be made then the manager/supervisor should discuss the remaining options with the employee and explore whether the employee would qualify for ill health retirement.


http://www.sppa.gov.uk/

9.3.2

You should first establish whether or not the employee is a member of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) or the Scottish Teachers Pension Scheme (STPS).

Members of the Scottish Teachers Pension Scheme can apply for ill health retirement, once all other avenues such as redeployment and workplace adjustments have been explored, by completing the relevant forms. Following receipt of the relevant Pension Scheme’s assessment of whether or not ill health retirement is an option, a meeting should take place with the individual and, if they wish, their representative, to discuss the position.

If the conclusion is that the individual qualifies for retirement on the grounds of permanent ill health, a range of information will be discussed with the individual, for example, likely date of retirement, notice period, annual leave entitlement, pension benefits the employee may be entitled to, if available.

Personnel, or in the case of teachers and associated professionals the Staffing Unit, must be involved in the discussions with the employee to ensure that the individual accepts the decision that he/she be retired on the grounds of ill health. Personnel or the Staffing Unit will cover with you the procedure to be followed in this instance.

The employee’s ill-health retirement and its reasons should be confirmed in writing. Personnel will send the relevant termination of employment letter.

Medical Capability

Ultimately, if there is genuine sickness but there is no resolution to the sickness problem, and the employee does not qualify for ill health retirement, any dismissal will be on the grounds of medical capability.

Dismissal by reason of medical capability must have the illness as the reason for dismissal and must follow a fair procedure.

Following receipt of the Pension Scheme’s assessment, if the conclusion is that the individual does not qualify for ill health retirement, a further meeting should take place with the employee and, if they wish, their representative, to discuss the implications.

Following that meeting a further letter should be sent confirming the dismissal and its reasons in writing. Personnel will cover with you the procedure to be followed in this instance and will provide you with a style letter which terminates the employment.

A manager/supervisor, who is not authorised to dismiss may recommend a dismissal to a Director or Head of Service within their Service who has the relevant authority.


9.4

9.5

Conduct – Poor Attendance

Where no medical explanation can be found to explain absence levels, any dismissal will be on the grounds of misconduct arising from the employee’s poor attendance record. In this case the Council’s disciplinary procedure must have been followed.

Appeal

Employees have a right of appeal against their dismissal. The appeal should be submitted in writing to the individual identified in the dismissal letter within 10 working days of receipt of the letter.

Appeals will be considered by the Appeals Sub-Committee and the appeal will end at this level within the Council.

10. Payments during Sickness Absence, Expenses and Annual Leave Accrual

10.1

10.2

This part of the guidelines applies to all employees of the Council, including Teachers and Associated Professionals.

Statutory Sick Pay and Sickness Allowance

When absent due to illness an employee will normally receive "sick pay" or a "sickness allowance" made up of two parts, subject to satisfying certain criteria.

The first part is Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). The second part is sickness allowance (commonly known as sick pay or occupational sick pay) from the Council.

Some employees may not receive SSP; they may, however, be entitled to State Benefit. Payroll will advise managers/supervisors of this, who in turn will advise the employee.

Where an employee has more than one job there may be circumstances when a GP will assess the employee as unfit to carry out one of the job roles but fit for work in another. In this case, subject to qualifying criteria, the employee would be entitled to receive SSP for one of their jobs and continue to receive normal pay for the other. The same applies to sickness allowance.

Payment and Period of Entitlement

Teaching and Non Teaching Staff of the Council have different conditions with regards to the payment of entitlements during sickness absence.


10.2.1 Non Teaching Staff

Entitlement to sickness allowance depends on the employee’s length of continuous local government service.

Continuous Service at Commencement of sickness absence

Full Allowance For

Half Allowance For

Less than 26 weeks Zero weeks Zero weeks

26 weeks but less than 1 year

5 weeks 5 weeks

1 year but less than 2 years

9 weeks 9 weeks

2 years but less than 3 years

18 weeks 18 weeks


22 weeks 22 weeks

5 years or more 26 weeks 26 weeks

Sickness absence is calculated on the basis of a rolling 12 month period.

Sick pay over and above SSP is at the Council’s discretion and employees may be excluded from receiving sickness allowance as outlined above.

Payroll will write to your Service when an employee is about to go from full to half sickness allowance and again when the employee's entitlement to half sickness allowance is about to cease. You should inform the employee in a sensitive way that this stage has been reached.

Payroll will also give you advice on aspects of Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) which is quite separate from sickness allowance and has its own rules.

An employee is not entitled to receive sick pay if he/she: has less than 26 weeks continuous local government

service goes sick during a work stoppage due to a trade union

dispute unless he/she has not taken part in the trade union dispute and has no direct interest in it

has exhausted their sick pay entitlement on first day of sickness is in legal custody, or

subsequently taken into legal custody is on maternity leave


10.2.2

10.3

terminates their contract or their contract of employment is terminated by the Council

Teachers and Associated Professionals

Teachers and Associated Professionals' conditions relating to qualification and entitlements are covered in Part 2 Section 6 of the SNCT Handbook of Conditions of Service, which should be read in conjunction with this part of the guidelines.

The sickness allowance is complementary to the statutory payments which a teacher and any associated professional may receive and is subject to accrual of at least 18 weeks continuous qualifying service.

Continuity of qualifying service is broken if a break exceeds two weeks. However, a newly qualified teacher will have until 1 November of the year following entry to the Induction Scheme to secure a first teaching appointment, without having broken their service for the purpose of entitlement to sickness allowance.

Teachers and associated professionals returning from maternity leave will have their previous service taken into account for the purpose of entitlement to sickness allowance provided that the break in service does not exceed 8 years and that no paid employment has been undertaken during the break.

A teacher or associated professional absent from duty on account of sickness or injury will normally receive, in any one period of 12 months, sickness allowance in accordance with the following table:-

Accrual of Annual Leave during Sickness Absence

Teachers and Associated Professionals' conditions relating to accrual of annual leave during periods of


Service at Commencement of Absence from Duty

Full Salary for a period of

Half Salary for a period of

Less than 18 weeks Nil Nil

18 weeks but less than 1 year

1 month 1 month

1 year but less than 2 years

2 months 2 months


4 months 4 months


5 months 5 months

5 years or more 6 months 6 months

10.4

10.5

sickness absence are covered in Part 2 Section 6 of the SNCT Handbook of Conditions of Service, which should be read in conjunction with this part of the guidelines.

An employee who is absent on paid or unpaid sick leave will continue to accrue their minimum statutory holiday entitlement as set out in the Working Time Regulations. However, additional contractual annual leave entitlement will not accrue during any paid or unpaid period of sick leave once the employee has been continuously off for 3 months or more.

The Council will allow an employee to take their annual leave entitlement while on a period of sickness absence.

Please refer to the Council’s guidance document on Annual Leave Entitlement Following Extended Sickness Absence.

Suspension of sick pay scheme

Sick pay can be suspended for a period of time if the employee:

abuses the sickness scheme or continues to disregard notification procedures or continues to disregard certification procedures or is absent on account of the sickness being due or

attributable to deliberate conduct prejudicial to recovery; due to the employee's own misconduct or neglect; or due to active participation in professional sport; or due to injury while working in the employee's own time, on their own account for private gain or for another employer.

In these circumstances an investigation in accordance with the Council’s Disciplinary procedures will be carried out and the employee may, as a result, be disqualified from payment of sick pay and/or other disciplinary sanctions may be imposed.

Teachers and Associated Professionals' conditions relating to Suspension of Allowance are covered in Part 2 Section 6 of the SNCT Handbook of Conditions of Service, which should be read in conjunction with this part of the guidelines.

Industrial Injury Allowance

Where an employee is absent due to sickness or disablement as a result of an accident at work, then, subject to continuous service requirements, an additional allowance -industrial injury allowance- may be payable. Payment of this separate allowance will normally only occur if the Council's accident reporting procedures have been followed. An employee cannot at the same time receive both a sickness allowance and an industrial injury allowance, though they are normally paid consecutively.

Industrial injury allowance is not the same as Incapacity Benefit or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) which is a state


10.6

assessed and paid benefit and which is subject to Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) rules.

Payment of industrial injury allowances to any employee must be discussed and agreed with Personnel (Personnel Manager) before any payment is processed.

If an employee subsequently receives compensation from a third party, reimbursement of sick pay received will be payable to the Council.

Expenses for Medical Appointments

If currently at work, the employee will be given time off to attend a medical examination arranged by the Council. He/she will receive travelling expenses from place of work to the place of examination, at public transport rates. If the examination occurs out with normal working hours, there will be no additional payments, excepting travel expenses. Travel claims should be made on the medical expenses claim form, which can be found in appendix 17. Subsistence payments may be payable in certain circumstances.

Where an employee is already absent through sickness, and required by the Council to attend an Occupational Health appointment, he/she will be expected to make himself/herself available either within, or out with normal working hours. In such cases travelling expenses from normal place of work to the place of examination will be payable at public transport rates. Subsistence payments may be payable in certain circumstances.

If it is the case that a report has been sought by the Council from the person's own doctor, who then requires the employee to attend a consultation/examination during working hours, the employee will be given time off with pay. Again travelling expenses at public transport rates will be paid. There will be no additional remuneration if the consultation takes place outside normal working hours. The same condition will apply to consultation at his/her doctor where the person is already on sick leave.

11. Recording, Monitoring and Control

11.1 Introduction

If attendance is to be managed effectively, absence needs to be carefully recorded and measured. It is for Services to maintain records, and for managers/supervisors to monitor and manage absence. The Council has a statutory responsibility to produce absence returns to Audit Scotland and it is essential that accurate records are maintained.

The effective control of absence can be achieved through:


11.2

11.3

recording absence, monitoring patterns of absence, analysing and acting on those records to encourage good attendance

effective supervision reasonable contact with employees who are absent for

lengthy periods making sure that employees know how and when to

report absence and what to report return to work interviews after each period of absence

Recording Absence

When the employee reports his/her absence, the manager/supervisor should inform the appropriate Service admin officer as quickly as possible. The admin officer then records the notification on the weekly, fortnightly or monthly return form (appendix 3) to Payroll and on the employee's absence record.

The admin officer arranges for the return to Payroll to be signed by an authorised officer, and sent to Payroll. A copy is retained by the Service, as are all certificates.

When the admin officer is notified by the manager/supervisor of the absence, that person either arranges for a self-certificate form to be sent to the employee's home address or for dispatch to the person in a way which enables them to receive, complete and sign it on return to work. When the employee returns to work, the manager/supervisor informs the admin officer who then makes the appropriate entry on the weekly return form. The admin officer also completes the employee's absence record which is kept in an absence record spreadsheet along with all the other absence records for ease of recording/monitoring.

Monitoring of Absence

On a regular basis, at least once a month, a designated officer in each area/unit must look at all employees’ absence records held to assess, as necessary:

"cost" and rate of absence to the Service patterns of absence absences which are a cause for concern absences where the employer might offer assistance

A simple measurement of cost of absence is to use "person days". For example a section may comprise 15 full-time employees, who each work 5 days per week. This means the total person work days per week are 75. If 2 employees are away for 5 full work days in the week, and 2 others are away for 2 days each in the same week, then the total person days of absence that week is 14.

In other words a 19% absence rate that week (14/75 x 100%).


11.4

11.5

This simple calculation can be compared with other weeks for that section; in the same Service with other sections; or throughout the Council. A simple financial costing is to take the daily salaries of each of the absent individuals (annual salary ÷365) and total them up. This gives a salary cost for the absentees for a day, which can be expressed as a percentage of the total salary cost for the section that day. This is a very basic costing. It does not account for temporary workers brought in, disruption of work schedules, postponed meetings, work not done, which can be expensive in actual cost to a Service. It does give a costing of work days lost.

The manager/supervisor should look at the duration and nature of absences. Is the absence long term or short term? Is it medically certified? Or do absences tend to be self-certified? Is there a distinct pattern of absence for example 2 or 3 days every month, or the same weekdays, or days following public or annual holidays?

Where there are patterns of absence or regular absences, even though each absence may be of short duration, it is appropriate for managers/supervisors to consider the implications, and to act to overcome the problem. Please refer to section 8.

Control at Service level

It is important to remember that each case must be considered on an individual basis and the action that you take will vary from case to case. In some cases there will be a clear reason for long term absence, e.g. broken leg and an anticipated date for return. Where there is cause for concern, then measures will need to be taken, such as return to work interviews, home visits, reference to Occupational Health, as covered in other parts of the guidelines.

It is important that monitoring and control takes place on a regular and at least monthly basis. It should not be left to the point at which an individual reaches the half-pay or the no-pay thresholds in the sickness absence scheme. The manager/supervisor must make an assessment as to when to act in the event of short-term or long-term absence. In the case of long term absence, if absence is likely to be longer, and there is no known return date, it is important to keep in regular contact via phone, email and face to face and to discuss progress.

Control at Organisation Level

The absence recording system is designed to provide statistical returns every quarter by Service and Area to provide the necessary statistical returns for the Council and as a statutory performance indicator for Audit Scotland.


12. Role of Personnel

The management of employee absence is the responsibility of the manager/supervisor. Personnel and Occupational Health, have a range of advisory and consultative functions.

The Service is there to help you in the management of employees, and the range of policies that have already been developed will assist the management of absence. These include:-

stress management mediation equal opportunities harassment grievance disciplinary early retirement redeployment occupational health

Personnel can be contacted as follows:

Based Town House, Inverness - Tel (01463) 724234Based Market Place, Wick - Tel (01955) 607716Based High Street, Dingwall - Tel (01349) 868588

13. Role of Trade Unions

Trade Unions also have a role in Attendance Management. Their officials may visit their members when they are off sick, and be involved in discussions on employees' absences. A trade union representative may be the first person to make managers/supervisors/supervisors aware of a problem.

Highland Council has found trade union representatives to be helpful in absence matters. Personnel recommend the involvement of trade unions as appropriate. Trade unions have substantial advisory and information services for members, which can be very useful to employees.


Appendices

Appendix 1 Process Flowcharts

Appendix 2 Sample Fit Note (Statement of Fitness for Work for SSP)

Appendix 3 Absence Return Form (Payroll)

Appendix 4 Self-Certified Sickness Form

Appendix 5 Letter to employee arranging home visit (style)

Appendix 6 Return to Work Interview Checklist/Record

Appendix 7 Risk Assessment Sheet

Appendix 8 Referral to Occupational Health form

Appendix 9 Letter to employee Failing to Comply with Notification/Certification Procedure - Suspension of sick pay (style)

Appendix 10 Letter to employee inviting to attendance review meeting (style)

Appendix 11 Letter to employee confirming outcome of attendance review meeting (style)

Appendix 12 Attendance Improvement plan

Appendix 13 Letter to employee inviting to consultation meeting to discuss medical report (style)

Appendix 14 Letter to employee following consultation meeting (style)

Appendix 15 Letter to employee inviting to follow up consultation meeting (style)

Appendix 16 Designated Officers List

Appendix 17 Medical Expenses Claim Form


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