LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE & TROPICAL MEDICINE POLICY AND PROCEDURE ON SICKNESS ABSENCE MANAGEMENT This Policy will be applied in a non-discriminatory way, in line with the School s Equality and Diversity policies. 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Some absence due to sickness is inevitable within any large organization and sickness absence needs to be dealt with in a fair, understanding and sympathetic way. Absence is costly; it has an adverse effect upon colleagues and on the level and quality of service that the School can provide. Effective monitoring of all forms of absence, and a consistency of approach, are essential if absence levels are to be maintained at, or below, sector standards/averages. 1.2 This document sets out the School s procedures for reporting and recording sickness absence and confirms entitlement to sick pay. It also provides guidelines for managers on managing attendance and aims to put procedures in place to encourage good attendance among all employees. Clear attendance management policies that are consistently and fairly implemented will convey to staff that their manager is concerned about their attendance and wellbeing, that management genuinely wishes to remove or reduce any work-related factors that might discourage reliable attendance, and that taking time off work without good reason will not be tolerated. 1.3 This document is not a disciplinary procedure. Absence not due to genuine illness will be dealt with under the appropriate School s Disciplinary Procedure. 2. POLICY ON TIME OFF WORK FOR MEDICAL AND DENTAL APPOINTMENTS 2.1 The School recognises that staff will from time to time need to attend medical, hospital, dental and other similar appointments. Whenever it is possible to do so, staff (both full-time and part-time) should endeavour to arrange such appointments in their own time or, if this is not possible, then at times that will cause the minimum amount of absence from work or inconvenience to the School. 2.2 However, because it is recognised that it is not always possible or practical to arrange medical and other similar appointments outside working hours, it is School policy to permit reasonable time off work for such appointments. 2.3 Provided that a member of staff gives their line manager reasonable notice of the date and time of an appointment, time off with pay will normally be granted. Staff must obtain approval from their line manager in advance of any appointment. The line manager reserves the right to ask the member of staff to reschedule an appointment if its timing would cause major disruption to the School s operations. The line manager may also, at their discretion, and in strict confidence, ask the employee to produce an appointment card.
2.4 There are separate statutory arrangements covering antenatal appointments for staff who are pregnant, and these are set out in the School s Maternity Pay and Leave Procedure. 3. SICKNESS ABSENCE DURING ANNUAL LEAVE 3.1 A member of staff who falls sick during the course of annual leave must provide a Doctor s Certificate (fit note) and will be regarded as being on sick leave from the date specified on the Certificate. Any balance of annual leave resulting from this must be taken by the end of the calendar year following the return to work. 3.2 Entitlement to annual leave will accrue during any period of sickness. Any outstanding annual leave resulting from a period of extended sickness absence (defined as six weeks or more) must be taken by the end of the calendar year following the return to work. 4. SICKNESS REPORTING PROCEDURES 4.1 All staff have a responsibility to contact their department as early as possible on the first day of absence. This is important as alternative arrangements (to ensure that all necessary work is covered) may have to be put in place. 4.2 Staff who are away from work due to sickness or accident must therefore contact their line manager or other designated individual (hereafter referred to as the line manager ) to give details of their absence by 10.30 am on each day of uncertified absence. Contact should be by one of the following methods (in order of preference): - telephone; - email; - voicemail; or - text message, with prior agreement from the line manager. If staff in the department are unavailable, a message may be left with a member of Personnel Office staff. Line Managers are requested to pass all information on sickness absence to their Departmental Administrators, who will ensure it is formally reported to the Payroll Manager. 4.3 Until such time as a Doctor s Certificate (fit note) is received, it is the member of staff s responsibility to inform the line manager on a daily basis of any continuing absence. 4.4 Staff who are absent for up to 3 working days are not required to provide any evidence of incapacity. 4.5 If the absence extends to a fourth working day, and lasts up to one week, a selfcertificate form, attached at Annex A, must be completed. The self-certificate form must be handed to the line manager on return to work, or sent by post if the period of sickness continues for more than one week. Self-certificate forms are available on the Personnel & Payroll web pages at http://intra.lshtm.ac.uk/personnel/payrollforms/sickness_absence_recording_form.pdf 4.6 It is a condition of employment that staff who are absent for longer than five working days must submit a signed Doctor s Certificate (fit note). On the expiry date of each medical certificate, the individual must follow the reporting procedure detailed in 4.2 above.
If necessary, additional Doctor s Certificates (fit notes) should be forwarded to cover subsequent periods of absence. Failure to provide Doctor s Certificates may lead to pay being withheld. 5. RECORDING SICKNESS ABSENCE 5.1 In order to operate a fair and transparent attendance management policy, it is essential that absences should be consistently and accurately recorded. 5.2 Academic departments and administrative/academic services sections must complete a weekly sickness return form signed by the Head of Department or administrative/academic services section as appropriate, or their representative, listing all staff sickness absences during the previous week. A sample sickness return form is given at Annex B, and may be found at http://intra.lshtm.ac.uk/personnel/payrollforms/sickness_absence_recording_form.pdf Where no sickness absence has occurred a nil return must be submitted. This form must be sent to the Personnel & Payroll Office every week. Electronic copies with a scanned signature are acceptable. 5.3 Self-certificate forms, Doctor s Certificates (fit notes) and sickness return forms must be forwarded to the Payroll Manager at the earliest possible opportunity. 6. ENTITLEMENT TO SICK PAY 6.1 A member of staff who is absent from duty by reason of illness will be granted sick leave as set out below: During the first 3 years of service 13 weeks full pay 13 weeks half pay After 3 years of service 26 weeks full pay 26 weeks half pay, with discretion for the Planning and Finance Committee to increase the 26 weeks half pay to full pay following a recommendation from the appropriate Head of Faculty. 6.2 The entitlement to sick pay is calculated on a rolling year basis, so that when an employee starts a period of sick leave, all sickness absence accumulated over the previous year is taken into account. 6.3 Once an employee has used their entitlement to full pay, they will be paid at half their normal rate. In certain circumstances, statutory sick pay may be payable in addition to half pay. The total amount of half pay and statutory sick pay will not exceed the full normal weekly earnings. Information about Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is attached at Annex C. 6.4 Information about early retirement on ill-health grounds may be obtained from the Personnel & Payroll Office. 7. ATTENDANCE MANAGEMENT 7.1 Return-to-work interviews 7.1.1 Line managers should arrange to hold a return-to-work interview with a member of staff following the first period of sick leave where the total absence during that period of
sickness ten days or more, and subsequently following any period of sick leave of three days or more, or where the total exceeds twenty days. The interview is an informal discussion which will provide the manager with an opportunity to identify any possible underlying cause of frequent non-attendance at an early stage, and demonstrate to an employee that their manager notices their absences and is concerned with their welfare. Return-to-work interviews are informal but should be held in private. The purpose of the interview is to: - welcome the member of staff back to work; - ensure they are fully fit to return (have they been signed off by their doctor); - identify the reason for the absence; - confirm the length of the absence; - discuss and/or identify any adjustments to the work place, duties or hours which may help to reduce or eliminate absences in the future; - identify and address any problems (work-related or otherwise) that may be causing or contributing to the absence, and - agree priorities for the post-absence period. 7.1.2 The line manager should keep a detailed record of each return-to-work interview. If appropriate, the line manager can discuss with the Personnel Office whether it would be useful at this stage to arrange a consultation with the School s Occupational Health Doctor. 7.2 Attendance Management Procedure 7.2.1 An attendance management procedure will be triggered when an employee is absent on six separate occasions within the previous year. Heads of Department will be advised when this point has been reached by the Personnel & Payroll Office. Absence due to sickness or family or personal reasons and unauthorised or unexplained absences should all be counted, subject to the following exceptions: - absence which has been dealt with under one of the School s family friendly policies; - absences due to a pregnancy-related condition; - absences related to an employee s disability and, - absences due to a single long-term illness. Where a decision is taken to discount a particular absence, the reason for this should be clearly recorded. 7.2.2 Line managers must follow the procedure detailed below once a member of their staff has reached the trigger point defined at paragraph 7.2.1. 7.2.3 The line manager will invite the employee to an informal attendance review meeting. The invitation will be in writing and should state that the meeting will be held under the School s attendance management procedures. The letter will include a statement summarising the employee s periods of absence during the defined time period. If an employee has particular issues in discussing their absence with the line manager, they should seek advice from the Personnel Office or a trade union representative. 7.2.4 At the meeting the employee should be invited to put forward the reasons for his/her absences and highlight any mitigating factors. A discussion should take place about whether there is anything that the School can do to facilitate an improvement in the employee s attendance levels. The manager will explain the expected improvement in attendance
7.2.5 Where appropriate, the line manager should ensure that the employee understands that a possible consequence of a continuing unsatisfactory level of attendance might be disciplinary action. 7.2.6 If appropriate, the line manager can discuss with the Personnel Office whether it would be useful at this stage to arrange a consultation with the School s Occupational Health doctor. 7.2.7 The manager may choose to review the position on a monthly basis to determine whether further support from the Department or Faculty is required, or whether disciplinary action might be warranted. HMJA 08.07.2010
LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE & TROPICAL MEDICINE ANNEX A IN CONFIDENCE PERSONAL SICKNESS CERTIFICATE This form should be completed and sent to the Personnel & Payroll Office on your return to work after a period of absence of 4-7 days. Periods of sickness of more than 7 calendar days should be certified by a doctor. 1. SURNAME FIRST NAME NATIONAL INSURANCE NUMBER DATE OF BIRTH 2. ABOUT YOUR SICKNESS (please give brief details) 3. DATE OF FIRST DAY OF SICKNESS (including Saturday, Sunday, Bank holiday etc) / / DATE OF LAST DAY OF SICKNESS (including Saturday, Sunday, Bank holiday etc) / / 4. PART-TIME STAFF ONLY I would have expected to have been at work on the following dates (included above) had I not been ill.. 5. DECLARATION I declare that I have not worked during the period of sickness stated above and that the information given is correct. Employee s signature Date
LONDON SCHOOL OF HYGIENE & TROPICAL MEDICINE ANNEX B REPORT ON ABSENCE DUE TO SICKNESS TO: Nirmala Dheermojee Payroll Manager FROM (Department)... Week ending:... Please mark with a cross the appropriate columns against the name of any members of staff who were absent due to sickness on any working day(s) in the week, including absence from day-release classes. Name Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Details of sickness Please tick if sickness is work-related Signed: Head of Department/Faculty Administrator:... Date:....
Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) ANNEX C 1. Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is a payment made to a sick employee by an employer acting as agent for the Government. The right to receive SSP is subject to the employee fulfilling certain prescribed conditions as to the formation of a period of incapacity for work, a period of entitlement and qualifying days. These are summarized below. 2. SSP is payable at a fixed rate (currently 79.15 per week) to staff earning an average of 97 per week or over [figures effective as at 6 April 2010]. 3. SSP may be payable on any period of absence due to sickness of four days or more, including weekends and bank holidays, and ceases after twenty-eight weeks of continuous sickness, including linked periods (see paragraph 9) or at the end of three years if a linked period of absence exceeds that time. 4. A period of absence could be linked to a previous period if both were for at least four working days, and the time between the end of the first period and the beginning of the next was not more than eight weeks. 5. When entitlement to SSP is coming to an end, the Payroll Manager will send notification to the member of staff, with details on how to claim sickness benefit direct from the local office of the Department of Social Security. 6. While a member of staff is on full pay under the provisions of his/her conditions of service, SSP is shown on the payslip as a notional payment, included within the salary payment. If a member of staff goes on to half pay, any SSP is paid in addition to the salary, to the extent that the total does not exceed the amount of normal full salary. 7. a member of staff will be excluded from the right to SSP if, on the first day of incapacity: i. his/her average weekly earnings are less than the lower earnings limit ( 97 per week from 06.04.10); ii. the period of sickness links with a claim for Social Security benefits (i.e. sickness benefit, invalidity benefit, severe disablement allowance or maternity allowance); iii. iv. A new employee has done no work at all under the contract; S/he is in legal custody; v. S/he is outside the European Economic Area and not liable to pay Class 1 National Insurance contributions; vi. S/he has already received 28 weeks SSP from any previous employer and there is a gap of 56 days or less since the last day of SSP; viii. She is within the disqualifying period relating to her pregnancy (i.e. for 39 weeks from the date she is first entitled to Statutory Maternity Pay from the School or Maternity Allowance from the Department of Social Security); 8. If no SSP is due, the Payroll Manager will issue a form explaining the reasons. This form also serves as a claim form for Sickness Benefit. 9. Any queries regarding sickness procedure or SSP should be directed to the Head of Personnel, Pay & Pensions (ext 2420) or the Payroll Manager (ext 2436).