Employee Rights: Sickness At Work
Everyone gets sick, especially during flu season or periods of cold weather. However, navigating employee sickness as an employer or HR manager can be tricky. While you must do everything in your power to protect your organisation and ensure your business runs as normal, your employees also have rights that cannot be breached.
If you’re unsure how to handle an employee sick day, accident at work, or extended sick leave, here is a quick guide.
Sick days
If an employee is too unwell to attend work, they will usually have to let their line manager know in advance of their regular start time. Every organisation has different procedures when it comes to taking sick leave, and the terms of which should be laid out in your employees’ contracts. However, all businesses in the UK have to abide by government regulations. The government stipulates that employees can take up to seven days off sick without a note from a doctor.
If an employee is absent from work and off sick for more than seven days in a row, including non-working days, they must give their employer a doctor’s ‘fit note’ (sometimes called a ‘sick note’). In this case, you must take a copy of the certificate and leave the employee with the original for their records. If any employee takes less than seven days off sick, they can fill out a ‘self-certification’ form for you to keep on file.
After seven days, if an employee is deemed ‘may be fit for work,’ by a healthcare professional, employers should discuss any changes that might help the employee return to work, such as different hours or tasks. If there is no agreement on these changes, then the employee must be treated as ‘not fit for work.’ Some employees may be too sick to attend the GP surgery, or the GP may not be offering face-to-face appointments. All is not lost however, as your employees are able to make an online appointment online and can obtain a doctors certificate online as proof of their illness, which is now becoming increasingly common practice.
Accidents
If an employee gets sick or injured as the result of an accident, they may be unable to attend work. In this scenario, employees should follow normal sickness practices to the best of their ability, obtaining a ‘fit note’ from their doctor if they need more than seven days off. If an employee is hospitalised, you will need to ask for a medical report from an occupational health specialist. For further information, you can consult the ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures.
If an accident happens at work, your company should have procedures in place to protect both the organisation and the employee. It would be helpful to read up on the legal ramifications of accident at work claims to understand the rights of the employee, as well as how the company could be implicated if you fail to meet them.
If you work in an environment where safety is paramount and where mistakes can result in injury or the loss of human life you may need to ensure your employees receives a Safety Critical Medical before starting work and certainly before returning to safety critical work after an accident or serious illness.
Longer periods of absence
Employees who are off work sick for more than four weeks at any one time may be considered “long-term sick.” When this is the case, employees must present a note from their doctor every seven days. An employee can ask to take their paid annual leave entitlement for the time they’re off work sick. Employees might do this if they do not qualify for sick pay, for example.
Dismissing a long-term sick employee might be considered as a last resort, but there are certain procedures you must follow first. For example, you must consider if an employee can return to work part-time or work more flexible hours. You should also consult with the employee to find out if and when they can return to work and if they expect their health to improve.
Note that an employee can take their case to an employment tribunal if they think they have been unfairly dismissed as a result of sickness.
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