Colleagues absent from work due to sickness for less than 3 consecutive days do not need to submit a certificate. Colleagues absent from work due to sickness for more than 3 consecutive days but less than 8 consecutive days should submit a Self-Certified Sickness Absence Notification. See Appendix 1 Colleagues absent from work due to sickness for more than 7 consecutive days should submit a Statement of Fitness for Work (fit note) which should be submitted to the manager within 3 calendar days of the 8th day of sickness absence. Any subsequent fit note issued must be submitted within 3 calendar days of the expiry of the previous note. When determining consecutive days of absence, all days including weekends and off-duty days should be included. If a colleague anticipates difficulty in submitting a fit note they must communicate this to their manager. Where a colleague fails to follow the sickness reporting procedure, including submission of fit notes within the specified timescales without reasonable cause they will be regarded as unauthorised absence and further action may be considered by the manager in accordance with the Trust’s Disciplinary Policy and Procedure. The colleague will not receive pay for any periods of unauthorised absence. Where late submission of fit notes results in pay being withheld, the colleague will only be reimbursed statutory sick pay and not occupational sick pay, except in exceptional circumstances. Process for Short Term Absences The Colleague must call to report their sickness, in accordance with the Supporting Attendance Policy. An email or text is not deemed as an acceptable method of contact for reporting an absence. The day of the sickness, the manager, must email the divisional email in box to inform them of the absence of a colleague. PA’s/Admin support can contact the HR Officer to report this, but any correspondence from the HR Officer will be sent straight to the manager. If there are technical difficulties and the email system is down, please call the HR team within your division and ask to speak to the HR Officer to report the absence. Continue to record all sickness absences on your Staff Variation Lists (SVL)/Health Roster/Electronic Staff Record (ESR). This is crucial as it links to staff pay.
Medical Appointments Managers have the discretion to agree appropriate time off for colleagues to enable them to attend medical appointments and our Staff Support Services. Please refer to policy HR04 – Leave for Personal and Family reasons - section 6.8 Medical/dental/counseling appointments for further details. Pregnancy Related Absence Sickness absence arising as a direct result of a colleague being pregnant will be monitored as with all sickness absence, but will not be counted in respect of the sickness absence ‘trigger’ points. A colleague 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. Terminal Illness* The Trust recognises that Terminal Illness requires support and understanding as it is a worrying and stressful period therefore support will be put in place following diagnosis. The Trust recognises that safe and reasonable work can help maintain dignity and offer a valuable distraction and be therapeutic in itself. We will provide colleagues with the security of work, peace of mind and the right to choose the best course of action for them and their families which helps them through this challenging period with dignity and without undue financial loss. A Manager will keep in touch and visit colleagues at home with prior arrangements made with the colleague to ensure support is in place throughout the absence. *This is in line with the TUC Dying to Work Voluntary Charter Cosmetic or Non-Medical Surgery For colleagues having cosmetic or non-medical surgery or cosmetic medical appointments for non-medical reasons annual leave must be taken. NB: Gender reassignment is classed as a medical reason. Part-day sickness absence Colleagues who become ill during work will be recorded as being absent from work due to sickness if less than half of the rostered shift/ working day has been completed. Colleagues who complete more than half the rostered shift/working day will not be recorded as absent from work due to sickness. However, where there is evidence that over a rolling 12 month period a colleague has requested to go home due to being ill on a number of occasions, having worked more than half their rostered shift/working day, then consideration should be given to reviewing this in line with the procedure for the management of short term sickness.
Details of previous sickness absence of days Reason for absence Work related (Non recordable shown in green) Date of Review under Short Term Sickness(STS) Comments / Action (Import letters, Return to Work reports, OH referrals / reports, Health & Wellbeing assessments, etc) Stage 1 STS review: Stage 2 STS review: 3 STS review: 4 STS final hearing: Appendix 3 Date Private & Confidential Colleague Name Colleague Address Dear Colleague Name, Re: Absence – Stage 1 meeting I am sorry to hear you have been unwell/in hospital/absent recently. I am writing to invite you to meet with me to discuss your absence and the support that may be required in the workplace or to help you manage your attendance in the future. I have arranged a meeting for {date} at {time}. The meeting will be held at
Private & Confidential Colleague Name Colleague Address Dear Colleague name, Re: Long Term Absence – Stage 3 meeting As you are from your Stage 2 meeting held on insert date of Stage 2 meeting you were advised at the time that we would continue to monitor your absence and if no return to work was planned within 5 months of the start of your absence that this may lead to progression to Stage 3 of the Supporting Attendance Policy. Your absence during the monitoring period has met the trigger levels for Stage 3 and I am writing to request you attend a meeting with me on date at time. The meeting will take place at insert venue. If you are not well enough to attend at this venue and would prefer the meeting to take place at another venue closer to your home, or at your home please let me know. The purpose of this meeting will be to discuss your continued absence and to discuss any supportive measures the Trust can put in place to assist your recovery and return to work. You are entitled to be accompanied to the meeting by a Union representative or workplace colleague. You should make the necessary arrangements should you wish to be accompanied. However, if you require a postponement of this meeting due to difficulties in organising representation, you and/or your representative are required to suggest an alternative time/date within 5 working days of the proposed meeting date above. Please can you confirm your attendance at the meeting to me/my secretary/other person. A copy of the Trust’s Policy for the Supporting Attendance can be found on the Trust’s Website, Policies & Procedures HR07. The Staff Support Service is available should you wish to discuss any matters in confidence. They can be contacted on 0151 330 8103. Yours sincerely Manager Name Manager Job Title cc: Divisional HR Officer Appendix 22 Stage 3 Long Term Absence Colleague: Date:
In following the principals of the Injury Scheme Section Insert number of Section and extract – to be provided by the attending HR Advisor. Having considered all the information available to us, taking into account advice given by Occupational Health and (delete if no OH report was available) your manager, it was agreed that your current episode of sickness is not deemed as wholly or mainly attributable to your NHS employment. As a result your enhancements will not be protected during your absence and your absence will be recorded as none Work Related Absence. You have the right to appeal on this decision within 15 days of the date of this letter. You should outline your reasons for appeal, in writing, by post or email to; Name of HR Manager. The support service is available for you should you wish to discuss issues in confidence. The telephone number is 0151 330 8103. If you wish to contact me to discuss the content of this letter, or any other matter, please do not hesitate to do so. Additionally, you may wish to contact your staff side representative for additional support in relation to the appeal process. Yours sincerely Managers name Job Title Appendix 32 Annual Leave, Other Employment and Absence Sickness occurring during annual leave Where sickness occurs during annual leave, so long as there has been compliance with the requirements for notifying and certificating sickness and where a medical certificate is provided, this will be treated as sick leave. Colleagues will not be entitled to an additional day off if sick on a Bank Holiday that they would otherwise have been required to work as part of their basic week. Further detail is included in HR G2: Annual leave Procedure. In accordance with current legal requirements, colleagues on sick leave who have taken less than 4 weeks statutory annual leave entitlement (i.e. 20 days for a full time colleague and pro rata 4 weeks equivalent for part timers) and on return to work have been unable to take this due to service need, will be entitled to carry over the balance up to 20 days into the next leave year. Taking annual leave whilst on sick leave Colleagues who are off on long term sick leave, are still able to request annual leave in accordance with HR G2: Annual Leave Procedure. Managers must ensure that this is discussed with colleagues at sickness review meetings. Payment in lieu of annual leave