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Dealing with Sickness Absence

Sickness absence can cause employers a great deal of lost time and money, and can cause low morale, resentment and stress for employees who have to cover for those off sick.

Sickness falls into two main categories:

1.       Short-term sickness absence

2.       Long-term sickness absence

Short-term sickness absence

The types of short-term sickness absence which tend to cause problems may come in different forms:

1.       Genuine, frequent but unrelated illness/injury

2.       Genuine, frequent illness/injury which has an underlying medical cause

3.       Suspected malingering/abuse of sickness absence system

 

Depending on which of these it is- it will be necessary to be treat each situation in different ways. Employers should also check whether sickness is exacerbated by factors such as stress, bullying or harassment where the employer must investigate further if there is any chance that this may have happened in the workplace.

Long-term sickness absence

It is advisable to seek a medical report when dealing with an employee who is off work due to a long-term sickness absence, and sometimes also in the case of short-term sickness absences. There are specific legal requirements to be followed in how such a report may be obtained, depending on whether the report is from a doctor appointed by the employer or from the employee’s own doctor. In either case, the employee’s consent is required.  It may also be advisable to obtain an Occupational Health report to assist an employer ease an employee who has been off work for some time more smoothly.

We recommend there should be a clause in every employment contract requiring an employee to consent to such a report where it is reasonably requested. The request for a report must also be carefully drafted to ensure that all the relevant questions are asked.

Dismissal for long-term sickness absence

Having obtained the medical report and consulted fully with the employee, the employer will have to consider a number of factors to determine whether dismissal is appropriate and reasonable in each case.

The dismissal of an employee on grounds of ill-health should be a last resort after all other options have been considered and tried where appropriate. Before deciding to dismiss, consideration should also be given to any potential risks if the employee’s entitlement to contractual sick pay has not yet been exhausted.
Employers are advised to ensure their policies and procedures are up to date.

ActifHR advises businesses on a day to day basis on managing absence to ensure it is carried out properly and reasonably.

For more information on other HR Policy support from ActifHR, click on another employment topic from the list on the left of this page.