ALL WALES SICKNESS ABSENCE POLICY

Transcription

1 ALL WALES SICKNESS ABSENCE POLICY Frequently Asked Questions To be used in conjunction with the All Wales Sickness Absence policy issued in September 2015 Q1. What happens when an employee is on medical suspension but still has not been seen by their GP after 7 days? Medical suspension as described in section 3.6 of the Sickness absence policy is a period of suspension enforced by the manager for a short period of absence no longer than 7 days. As soon as an employee has been medically suspended their manager must make an immediate referral to OH if they have not already sought OH advice. The employee must be advised that they should see their G.P. and provide a self certificate as soon as possible. If a self certificate (effective from the 8th day after the suspension takes effect at the latest) is not submitted, this will result in the employee not receiving pay for any uncertified period. Where the advice of the employee s GP conflicts with that of Occupational Health, the NHS organisation will rely on and accept its OH advice following discussions between the GP and OH (section 3.6 of policy). Q2. What happens if the absence is pregnancy related? Pregnancy related absence does not count towards the trigger. However, a risk assessment must be undertaken to ensure the appropriate support is in place for the employee. It should be noted that pregnancy related sickness during the last 4 weeks before the expected week of confinement may instigate the start of maternity leave. If a pregnant employee is absent with a non pregnancy related illness this will count towards the triggers as set out in section 12.4.of the Sickness Absence Policy. A Return to Work interview must always take place whether the absence is pregnancy related or not. Q3. What happens if an absence relates to an accident at work, a serious condition acquired at work or D and V associated with a hospital outbreak? Where an employee is absent and they report their absence as being related to: an Industrial Injury, incident or accident at work, a serious condition acquired at work, or D and V associated with a hospital outbreak,

2 The circumstances of such an absence must be discussed at the Return to Work interview and support offered where necessary. It will be necessary to establish that the absence was genuinely associated with one of these causes. If it is an Industrial Injury, the manager must confirm that it was reported and investigated at the time it occurred. If it is an episode of D and V the manager should seek advice from Infection Control /Occupational Health to confirm if there was an outbreak at the relevant time etc. If the employee feels that the absence is wholly or mainly associated with their work the circumstances must be investigated by their manager before it can be confirmed as an injury at work. The investigation must be completed as soon as possible. No enhancements can be paid during the period of sickness absence until such time as this confirmation is received. Each organisation will ensure that they have a local process in place and employees believing that they are entitled to make a work related injury claim will be advised of the process on application. Q4. Should backdated Fit notes be accepted? Self certificates and fit notes must be consecutive and continuous. Any gaps in certification will result in the employee not receiving pay for the uncertified period. Fit notes must be received by the manager within 3 days of being due or this will result in non payment of salary unless there are exceptional circumstances notified to the manager at the time the Fit note became due. Employees are advised to maintain a copy of their Fit note to be used in the unlikely event that it is mislaid. If the manager mislays the Fit note or submits it to payroll in an untimely manner, this will not result in non payment of salary. Q5.How do the triggers and the review period relate to each other? When an employee has an episode of sickness the manager must look back over the previous 6 and 12 month rolling period to see if within that time any of the triggers have been breached. If one or more of the triggers have been breached this will mean the employee will be asked to attend an Informal Discussion. This will usually take place immediately after the return to work meeting. At the Informal Discussion the employee will be notified that a 12 month review period will be set in accordance with the policy. This is the period which runs forward from the last day of the last period of absence which occurred before the meeting took place. The next time the employee has a period of sickness absence the manager must again look back over the previous 6 and 12 month rolling period to see if any of the triggers have been breached within the review period.

3 If the employee does not breach any of the triggers during the review period they will come out of the Informal/Formal review process. However, monitoring of absence in line with the triggers will still apply and any further breach of any trigger will mean that the employee will again be called in for an Informal Discussion. If the employee does breach any of the triggers during the review period, they will be progressed to the next stage of the review process. Examples of the way in which the triggers are applied are attached at appendix 1. Q. 6 How is the review period set? The review period, set at the Informal or Formal sickness reviews, is from the last day of the last episode of sickness that occurred before the meeting took place. This will be the case even if this is an absence that occurred after the meeting was triggered but before it had taken place. At the meeting all the absences must be discussed. However, any absence occurring after the meeting was triggered cannot be used to escalate beyond the stage being considered at that meeting. E.g. Mr X has an episode of sickness, which results in a trigger being reached and a First Formal meeting is required. Before the First Formal meeting can take place, Mr X has a further episode of sickness absence. When the First Formal meeting takes place, all episodes will be reviewed and the review period will be dated from the last day of the last episode of absence which occurred before the meeting. However, on this occasion this further episode would not escalate the process but Mr X would be notified that had the meeting occurred prior to the further absence, the matter would have been escalated if that absence had triggered the next stage. If it appears that a pattern is developing with staff taking additional periods between triggering a meeting and attending the meeting, this must be referred to an HR advisor. Q 7 Will an employee receive payment of unsocial hours payments whilst undertaking alternative duties prior to their return to their substantive post following a period of sickness absence in accordance with section of the Sickness Absence Policy? Unsocial hours payments will be made if the hours worked whilst undertaking alternative duties attract this form of payment. The unsocial hours payment paid will be based on hours worked. If the hours do not attract unsocial hours payments but the sickness absence was as a result of a confirmed Industrial Injury then unsocial hours payments would be paid based on the working hours of the substantive post.

4 Q8. How is carryover of leave calculated as per section Where staff have been off on long term sickness absence and have not taken the opportunity to utilise their contractual annual leave entitlement during the current financial year, they are able to carry over some annual leave into the new leave year. The maximum amount of carry over allowance changes from their contractual allowance to the minimum statutory allowance of 20 days (pro rata) less any annual leave or bank holidays the staff member may have already taken before they went off sick or any leave they took during the course of their sickness absence. For example, if a full time member of staff had taken 10 days leave (including bank holidays) prior to going off on long term sick and then took 5 days during the course of their sick leave, their carry over would be( 20 days 15 days already taken) resulting in 5 days carry over. Q9. Can sick leave be converted to other types of leave ( e.g. annual leave) Whilst staff are on long term sick leave they can take annual leave. This may be of benefit to them as a means of topping up their pay when they go into half pay. Staff will be required to continue to submit Fit Notes to cover any period of annual leave taken during their sickness. Whilst employees are off sick they are expected to be available to attend meetings/appointments in relation to their absence and consequently if they go away on holiday (either abroad or in the U.K.) they will be expected to take this as annual leave and notification and authorisation by their manager must follow the usual process. For short term absences, sick leave cannot be converted into annual leave. If the employee is unfit to attend work, this must always be recorded as a sick leave. Q10. What must a manager do if one of their employees is on long term sick? A manager must maintain contact with the employee. They should agree with them at an early stage how and when this contact will be maintained and make a note of any conversations they have with them. If the employee is of the view that the illness/injury is work related, the manager should undertake an investigation in line with their local procedure to establish if this is the case. They should arrange to meet with the employee as soon as they become aware that it is likely to be a long term period of absence. It is important that the employee is offered any help and support the organisation is able to give, through the Health and Wellbeing Service/Occupational Health department in order that the employee can be supported to return to work as soon as possible.

5 It may be possible to facilitate an earlier return to work by means of a period of rehabilitation or alternative duties as described in section and of the policy. If the employee is suffering from a life threatening or terminal illness it will also be important to meet with them at the earliest opportunity. The manager will need to consider whether it will be appropriate to expedite an application for their pension or commuted lump sum and the manager should take advice on this from their HR Advisor and Pensions department. When an employee returns to work after a lengthy period of absence the manager must still conduct a Return to Work interview with them. This is very important as they will need to be fully updated on work issues and may need help and support in resuming their duties. Q11. What are the transitional arrangements between the previous policy and this revised policy? After the implementation date the new triggers will apply immediately. Q12. Following section of the revised policy, there is reference to a pause of the review period, should this pause be agreed by all parties and does it apply to maternity leave and industrial injuries? The pause is appropriate in all cases of extended absence (more than 28 days), including maternity leave and industrial injuries. The pause would be automatic and would not need to be agreed, however, there is an expectation that managers, following advice from W&OD staff if required, advise employees of the nature of the pause either before in cases of planned absences or as soon as possible after the beginning of the extended absence, as appropriate. Q13. With reference to section 10.1 Attending GP, dental and hospital appointments, is there flexibility to give staff paid time off to attend hospital appointments? Yes, there is scope to give employees paid time off to attend hospital appointments. It is recognised that appointments of this kind are more difficult to schedule at the beginning and end of the day as these appointments are beyond the control of the employee. Appointments with Consultants, Physiotherapists, or other Hospital Outpatient Clinics etc. are often subject to long waiting lists and to ask for alternative dates and/or times can often result in the employee being put back further on the list. Therefore, these appointments should not generally require the employee to have to work back the time and managers should normally grant time off for them. The options highlighted in the policy, particularly, any other arrangement agreed with the manager were included in the policy to allow managers flexibility in relation to granting time off for this type of appointment.

6 Appendix 1 Examples of Trigger Process: Triggers as set out in section 12.4 of the All Wales Sickness Absence Policy Three episodes of sickness absence of any length in any rolling six month period OR Four episodes of any length in any rolling twelve month period OR Two or more absences totalling 10 calendar days in a rolling 12 month period OR Recognisable patterns of absence, including any in previous years, which cause concern but may not meet other triggers The rolling period is the six month and twelve month period counted backwards from the first day of the episode of sickness. The review period is 12 months from the last day of the last period of sickness that occurred before the meeting and is the time period within further breach of triggers would lead to escalation through the stages of the policy. Example A Rolling periods - count back 6 months and 12 months to: Period of absence Number of days Trigger met? April days No Trigger met January days No Trigger met Action /Review period applied 4 August February November May June December December June March September February day No Trigger met May days Trigger (3 in 6) Informal Discussion. Review period 16 May May December days Trigger (4 in 12) within review First Formal interview. Review period period 16 December December June days No trigger met 4 September day No trigger met

7 28 May November September March November days Trigger ( 3 in 6 and 4 in 12) within review period March days Trigger (4 in 12 and 2 or more absences totalling 10 days ) within review period Second Formal interview. Review period 29 November November 2017 Third and Final Interview Example B Rolling periods - count back 6 months and 12months to: Period of absence Number of days Trigger met? 1 2 April days No Trigger met June days No Trigger met Action /Review period applied 14 January July March September January July April October September March October April January June February August January July July day Trigger (3 in 6) Informal discussion. Review period from 14 July July September days Trigger (3 in 6 and 4 in 12) within review period July days No trigger met October days No trigger met 1 March day No trigger met April days Trigger (4 in 12, 2 or more absences totalling 10 days) June days Trigger (3 in 6 and 4 in 12 and 2 or more absences totalling 10 days) within review period 2-3 August days Trigger ( 3 in 6 and 4 in 12 and 2 or more absences totalling 10 days) within review period 1-3 July days No trigger met First Formal interview. Review period set from 8 th September th September 2014 Informal discussion. Review period from 25 April April 2016 First Formal interview. Review period 30 June June 2016 Second Formal interview. Review period 3 August August 2016

8 10January July January July 2015 Example C Rolling periods - count back 6 months and 12months to: July days No trigger met 30 July day Trigger (3 in 6 and 4 in 12) within review period Period of absence Number of days Trigger met? 3-4 May days No trigger met 3-5 August days No trigger met 2 December day No trigger met Third and Final interview Action /Review period applied 14 December June January July June December January July June days No trigger met 1-2 July days Trigger (4 in 12) Informal Discussion Review period from 2 July July December days No trigger met 26 31July days Trigger ( 2 or more absences totalling 10 days ) NOT within review period Informal Discussion Review period from 31 July July 2016 Example D Rolling periods - count back 6 months and 12months to: 10 June December 2013 Period of absence Number of days Trigger met? 1-3 January days No trigger met 5-7 June days No trigger met December day Trigger ( 2 or more absences totalling 10 days) Action /Review period applied Informal Discussion Review period 14 December December 2015

9 2 August February February August June December February day No trigger met August days No trigger hit at this point December days Trigger ( 2 or more absences totalling 10 days) NOT within review period Informal Discussion Review period 30 December December 2016