Guidance for Employees on the University’s policy and procedure for:
Sickness Absence Management
Summary of the University’s Sickness Absence Policy & Procedure
The University’s Sickness Absence Management Policy and Procedure sets out guidelines for
managers and staff in relation to sickness absence. The full Policy is available on the University’s
intranet http://policy.newport.ac.uk/Policy/Sickness%20Absence%20Management.pdf.
The purpose of this document is to summarise elements of the Policy and aspects of its
implementation so that staff understand the University’s approach to sickness absence
management and their responsibilities.
The University supports staff who are absent through sickness, but also wishes to ensure that
there are effective procedures in place to monitor and effectively and fairly deal with long term
sickness absence and frequent short term absence, which in total costs the University circa £921
per full time equivalent employee. Therefore it has put in place a Key Performance Indication (KPI)
which is:
2.3c Staff sickness: annual average number of days lost per FTE to reduce year on year and
always to be no more than the public sector average (9.6 days in 2010). The targets are:
< 8.7 days in 2012/13
< 8.0 days in 2016/17
(2010/11 rate was 8.7 days per FTE)
Sickness Absence Reporting Procedure
If you are unable to come to work due to ill-health or injury, you should follow the following
procedure:
First Day of Absence
a) On the first day you are absent from work, you should telephone your line manager. This
should be done as soon as possible after your normal start time, but in any event, by within 2
hours of your normal start time.
b) You should always make the telephone call yourself. If you’re unable to do this, for example, if
you are in hospital, you should try to make arrangements for someone else to call on your
behalf.
c)
If your line manager is not available, you should speak to his/her Deputy or the next most
senior member of the department/School. If no-one at a management or supervisory level is
available, you should speak to a member of the Human Resources Department.
d) You should expect to tell your line manager (or whoever you speak to) the following:
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)
the general nature of your illness or injury;
if the cause of illness or injury is work related;
the date the illness began/injury occurred;
the likely date of return/length of absence.
Sickness Absence Policy and Procedure – Guidance Notes for Staff v1 December 2011
e) Academic members of staff may wish to provide this information to a member of the Faculty
Office administrative team, as your immediate priority is likely to be to inform students of the
cancellation of any classes or tutorials. However, you should then arrange to speak to your
line manager.
Third Day of Absence
On the third day of absence, you should telephone your line manager (or another appropriate
person, as outlined above) to notify him/her of your continuing sickness absence and the likely
date of return.
Absences of up to 7 days
If you are absent for 7 days or less, you will need to complete a self-certification form on your
return to work, unless you are covered by a medical certificate. If your medical certificate covers
you for part of the absence, you will need to complete a self-certification form for the remaining
days you were absent.
Absences of more than 7 days
If you are absent for more than 7 calendar days (include weekends in calculating the 7 days), you
need to get a medical certificate from your GP to cover you from the 8th day of absence.
At this point you should again contact your line manager (or another appropriate person, as
outlined above) to advise him/her of the situation.
If your absence continues, you should contact your line manager each time your medical certificate
is due to end to advise him/her of the situation.
All medical certificates should be sent as soon as possible to your line manager. You should
continue to send them even after your occupational sick pay has ended, as a copy is kept for
record purposes, and the original is sent to the Department for Work and Pensions so that state
benefits can be claimed, if you are eligible.
Payment during absence
Your contract of employment will detail your entitlement to Occupational Sick Pay. Please make
sure that you follow the procedure for reporting sickness absence and for providing medical
certificates to ensure that your entitlement to sick pay is not affected.
Return to work
Your line manager will meet with you on your return to work to make sure you are well and to see if
there is any help or support that can be provided to you. If appropriate, they may discuss a referral
to the Occupational Health Adviser.
Phased returns to work following long term sickness absence
Phased returns can be an effective way of supporting a member of staff in their return to work
following a period of absence. It is a short term measure, the period for which is agreed on an
individual basis, and can cover changes such as flexibility in how the contractual hours are worked
or a temporary reduction in working hours. Guidance on the period of a phased return is given
below:
a) The period for a phased return will be agreed on an individual basis, based on the condition,
length of absence, etc. Occupational Health advice will be sought to identify the most
appropriate period.
Sickness Absence Policy and Procedure – Guidance Notes for Staff v1 December 2011
b) A phased return period can be from a number of days up to the general maximum period of 4
weeks, extended to 6 weeks in exceptional circumstances. However, there is no
automatic/normal expectation that the 4 weeks applies in all cases.
c) If an individual wishes to extend the period of phasing in beyond that recommended, they will
be given the option to use outstanding annual leave or to reduce their hours on a medium term
basis which will mean a reduction in pay.
Sickness absence whilst on annual leave
Short term absence and annual leave already booked
If you are on annual leave and fall seriously ill, or suffer a serious injury, and you are provided with
a medical note certifying that you would have been unfit to work had you not been on annual leave,
you will be regarded as being on sick leave from the date of the medical note. Any further annual
leave will be suspended for the period of the medical certificate. This policy excludes minor
ailments and illnesses and injuries due to sporting activities.
A ‘serious illness’ is one that would require admittance to hospital (not just a visit to A&E) and you
will need evidence of the hospital admittance – this can be either a yellow Med 10 note or Fit Note
issued by the hospital, or you should ask their GP to provide a Fit Note which covers the full period
of illness and which must state that hospital admittance was required.
You will need to make a request to your line manager to amend/reschedule your annual leave and
this should be done before or during the annual leave, not after. The period for which annual leave
may be rescheduled is the date of hospital admittance and any days immediately following that
required for recovery, etc.
Long term absence and annual leave
1. Long term absence where annual leave is already booked
Your line manager will discuss with you whether you wish to take the booked leave or to cancel
it.
a) If you wish to take the leave, this will generally be permitted if it would not adversely impact
on your health/condition. If agreed, the absence is recorded as annual leave rather than
sickness absence.
b) If you do not wish to take the leave you will be advised that the leave is cancelled and can
be taken at an alternative date within the same leave year.
2. Long term absence where you request to book leave
a) Such requests should be raised with your line manager who will generally permit it if it
would not adversely impact on your health/condition. If agreed, the absence is recorded as
annual leave rather than sickness absence.
Sickness absence monitoring
The University records and regularly monitors sickness absence, whether it be long term absence
or frequent short term absence. The Sickness Absence Management Policy & Procedure outlines
how the University deals with such situations.
Sickness Absence Policy and Procedure – Guidance Notes for Staff v1 December 2011