Attendance Management Policy and Review Procedure - Employers Federation Northern Ireland

ATTENDANCE MANAGEMENT POLICY AND REVIEW PROCEDURE

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

This policy is designed to help us meet our attendance objectives, which are:

for employees to have high attendance standards
to deal positively and sympathetically with employees who have medical conditions or injuries which affect their ability to work normally
to avoid operational difficulties and maintain effective staffing levels
to deal fairly and reasonably with employees who have either frequent periods or extended periods of absence

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

This policy [is in force from (date), and it] applies to all employees in the company except for the attendance review procedure (see below), which does not apply to employees in their probationary period.

RULES FOR NOTIFYING US OF YOUR ABSENCE AND KEEPING IN CONTACT

On the first day of any absence, you must telephone [your line manager] [HR] [the absence reporting line] by [9.00am] [within an hour of your normal start time]. You should explain your reason for the absence, i.e. sickness, how long you think you may be absent for and whether you are intending to seek medical advice. You should also confirm a telephone number on which you can be contacted. [If you do not wish to discuss the reason for your absence with your line manager, you can provide this information to [HR] instead].

[In the exceptional circumstance of your line manager or another applicable manager not being available to speak to you, you should instead telephone [HR], who will arrange for your line manager to phone you back].

You should make the call notifying us of your absence yourself, where at all possible, rather than asking someone else to do so on your behalf. It is not acceptable to leave messages with colleagues or reception. You must not send a text message or email instead of calling.

If you leave work early because you are unwell, the time lost will be treated as sickness absence and you must inform your line manager that you are leaving work.

It is our policy to keep in touch with employees during all absences, whatever their length. Unless [your line manager] [HR] tells you otherwise, you should telephone [your line manager] [HR] [the absence reporting line] by [9 am] [within an hour of the start of your shift] on each and every day of your absence.

If it becomes clear your absence is likely to become longer-term, [your line manager] [HR] will agree with you how frequently you need to contact the company to keep us informed of your progress. [You will normally be asked to telephone once a week]. [Your line manager] [HR] may also arrange to meet you periodically, either at work or at home, to discuss your on-going absence.

Certificates explaining why you are absent

You must provide your [line manager] [HR] with a medical certificate for periods of sick leave of more than two days, stating the nature of the illness, and subsequent certificates are required to be sent at weekly intervals thereafter.

[SICK PAY POLICY [delete as appropriate]

Statutory sick pay

You may be entitled to statutory sick pay (SSP) if you are absent due to sickness and if you satisfy the relevant statutory requirements from time to time in force. Qualifying days for the purpose of Statutory Sick Pay are Monday to Friday, unless stated otherwise in your [contract of employment] [statement of terms and conditions]. The rate of SSP is set by the government each year and you will be notified of the appropriate rate during your sickness absence.

The entitlement to SSP is due to increase on an annual basis, in accordance with government legislation, as set out below.

2023 – 3 days SSP
2024 – 5 days SSP
2025 – 7 days SSP
2026 – 10 days SSP

SSP is paid at a rate of 70% of normal wages up to a maximum of €110 per day. To qualify for SSP, you must have at least 13 weeks’ continuous service and provide a medical certificate from your GP certifying you as unfit to work for each day of statutory sick leave.

If you are not eligible to receive SSP, you may be entitled to payment of Illness Benefit from the Department of Social Protection, subject to criteria (see below).

Illness Benefit

You may be entitled to payment of Illness Benefit from the Department of Social Protection, subject to eligibility criteria. The first 3 days are waiting days for the purposes of making a claim. For more information on illness benefit, including the eligibility criteria and how to make a claim, please contact Citizens Information or your local social welfare office.

[Company sick pay] [delete as applicable]

Details of any entitlement to receive company sick pay will be set out in your [contract of employment] [statement of terms and conditions]. Any company sick pay you receive in accordance with your [contract or employment] [statement of terms and conditions] will be inclusive of any SSP due for the same period.

If your absence extends beyond the period in which statutory sick pay is payable and you are entitled to illness benefit, we will pay you the difference between your basic salary and any illness benefit you are in receipt of. It is a condition of payment of company sick pay that you must provide us with appropriate evidence any social welfare cheques/entitlements if requested. If the Company is not satisfied with the evidence provided, you will be ineligible for company sick pay.

Company sick pay is provided to employees on a discretionary basis. Your right to company sick pay (and in some cases your right to SSP) will be lost:

if you fail to follow the rules of this policy on notifying us about your absence and keeping in touch with us during your absence
for any day not covered by an applicable certificate
where such certificates are not provided on time
if your absence is not genuine
if the illness or injury was sustained in the performance of other employment undertaken you
if you fail to co-operate with us in implementing any suggestions for temporary adjustments made by your GP or other medical adviser, or our company doctor, other health professional or occupational health provider (OHP)
if you fail to co-operate in providing further medical information or attending for further medical or occupational health assessment, if requested
you fail to provide evidence of social welfare entitlement/or non-entitlement

Any sick pay that has been overpaid may be deducted from any future pay.

If the reason for your absence (and consequent receipt of company sick pay) is as a result of actionable negligence, nuisance or breach of any statutory duty on the part of a third party in respect of which damages are or may be recoverable, you shall immediately notify the Company of that fact and of any claim, settlement or judgment made or awarded in connection with it and all relevant particulars that the Company may reasonably require.

You shall, if required by the Company, co-operate in any related legal proceedings.

You shall refund to us from any damages or compensation recovered by you, a sum equal to the company sick pay you received during the period of incapacity.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION

The Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015 set out an obligation for employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities. The Company recognises its responsibilities and obligations under the Acts and will give particular consideration to whether there are reasonable accommodations that could be made to the requirements of a job or other aspects of working arrangements that will provide support at work and/or assist a return to work for a disabled employee.

The Company will consult with you about any accommodations.

The duty on the employer is to make ‘reasonable’ accommodation. If any proposed changes are not deemed to be viable, they may not be made. It may also be the case that no reasonable accommodation can be made to facilitate a return to work. In the event that there is no alternative role or employment available, and there is no reasonable prospect of you being able to return to work in the near future, the Company may have to consider ending your employment.

SICKNESS ABSENCE AND HOLIDAYS

This paragraph should be read with the company’s holiday procedures and the provisions of your [contract of employment] [statement of terms and conditions] on the taking of holidays.

Sickness during holiday

If you fall ill during a period of annual leave and this period of sickness is supported by a medical certificate, the period of annual leave will be converted to sick leave if you make an application to do so. However, you can only do so if you provide an applicable medical certificate/fit note to cover each day of sickness absence. You must also comply with the other sickness absence reporting requirements contained in this policy. These requirements apply even if you are abroad, so for example, you should use a hotel fax/internet to send/scan applicable certificates obtained from a local doctor to us.

Days converted from a period of holiday to sickness absence will count in the normal way for the purposes of the attendance review procedure, (see below ‘Attendance Management)).

Company notification of holiday during sickness absence

If you have exhausted your entitlement to [company sick pay and/or] [SSP]), and it is clear to us that you are unlikely to return to work before the end of the company’s holiday year, we may nominate days of your sickness absence to be taken as a period of outstanding holiday entitlement.

If we choose to do this, we will give you advance written notice of at least twice the number of days of holiday we are nominating. If you do not wish to take the period of holiday at the nominated time, you should let us know within 7 days of receiving our letter of notification.

MEDICAL REPORTS/ASSESSMENT

We may ask you to attend our company doctor, other health professional or occupational health provider (OHP) for assessment. The Company will meet the costs of any examination. We may ask you to give us permission to seek a medical report or medical records from your own GP or other medical adviser, to assist in the assessment of your medical condition. In such circumstances, we will give you details on the reason for the examination, what the Company intends to do with the data obtained, and the lawful basis for processing the data in line with data protection legislation.

The circumstances in which we may make such requests include, (but are not limited to):

to explore whether there is an underlying medical condition causing your sickness absence
to enable us to get a clearer picture of the way your health is affecting your ability to work and how long this is likely to last
to explore whether there is anything the company can do to help you return to full normal working
to make decisions about your future employment

If you fail to co-operate in obtaining such information/reports, your case will be considered on the basis of the information we have available at the applicable time. This could include a decision as to whether or not your employment should be terminated. A failure to co-operate with such a request will also result in your loss of eligibility for company sick pay.

INJURY AT WORK

All accidents and any injury, however minor, which occur whilst on company premises, or on authorised company business, must be reported as soon as possible to [your line manager] [HR] [Health and Safety officer]. Full details must be given as to how the injury happened, together with its nature and extent. This information must also be recorded on an accident form, which can be obtained from (specify).

RETURN TO WORK INTERVIEWS

Before returning to work from a sick leave absence of three days or more, you may be required to provide a certificate of Fitness to Work from your medical practitioner, confirming that you can safely return to work.

On the day that you return to work your line manager will meet with you to discuss the reason for your absence, your current fitness to work and what has happened at work in your absence. If there are any underlying problems or reasons that have caused you to take time off, which you have not already informed the company about, this is a good opportunity to discuss them. If you have not already sent us your self-certification form or certificate of Fitness to Work you should hand these in at this meeting.

We recognise that there may be circumstances where you would prefer not to discuss the reason for your absence with your line manager. If this is the case, you can have the return to work interview with [an HR representative] [member of the occupational health team].

DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURE

If the company has reason to believe that you have taken or are taking sickness absence when you are not unwell, we may invoke our disciplinary procedure. We may also treat other actions and failures under this policy as misconduct for the purposes of the disciplinary procedure, such as a failure to maintain regular contact and/or notify us of your absence or supply fit notes/medical certificates as stipulated.

ATTENDANCE REVIEW PROCEDURE

See ‘Management of longer-term absence and underlying medical conditions’ for the application of the attendance review procedure where an employee has an underlying medical condition.

Our procedure has the following stages:

informal counselling or caution
first formal written caution
final formal written caution
dismissal

Please note that we may start the Attendance review procedure at any stage where, in our view, an employee has an unacceptable pattern of attendance.

Informal counselling or caution

We may informally counsel or caution you where we are concerned about your level or pattern of absence, but this has not reached the trigger levels for formal action. We may discuss necessary actions such as considering a referral to a medical practitioner, implementing any possible reasonable accommodation that may be necessary in relation to a disability, or any possible formal disciplinary action.

Formal action

Before taking any formal action under this procedure we will carry out the following steps:

We will write to you to advise you of our concerns about your attendance record, and invite you to an attendance review meeting to discuss the matter. The letter will confirm the time, date and location of the meeting as well as the possible outcomes. Additionally, the letter will inform you of your right to be accompanied at the attendance review meeting. If you do not understand the letter, you should ask [HR] [or] [your manager] for an explanation;

We will provide you with any relevant supporting information before the review meeting, which will include your attendance record, and we will give you, together with any permitted companion that you may choose, a reasonable opportunity to consider your response to that information prior to the review meeting (see clause “Right to be accompanied in formal meetings”);

At the attendance review meeting we will discuss your attendance record and the impact it is having on the business. You will be given the opportunity to explain the reason for your absence/pattern of absence.

Trigger levels for formal action

We have set ‘trigger levels’ to help us identify unsustainable patterns of absence. It is important that you understand that a trigger level is not an entitlement to sickness absence and we may take formal action for any level of absence. We reserve the right to change the trigger levels at any time.

First written caution

The first ‘trigger level’ is:

[ten working] days’ or [three] or more occasions of absence during a rolling period of [twelve] consecutive months

pattern of absence otherwise considered unacceptable by the company, e.g. a pattern of absences on Mondays and/or Fridays

If your attendance record reaches the first trigger level, you will be invited to a review meeting to discuss your attendance record and the reasons for it. If appropriate in the circumstances, you will be given a formal caution. You will be informed that, unless your attendance record can be improved and maintained at an acceptable level, a final written caution may follow. If your attendance record improves and is maintained at an acceptable level, the caution will lapse after [six] months from the date it is issued.

Final written caution

You will be invited to a further review meeting if, during the period of your first written caution, you:

are absent again for [five] or more days or on [two] or more occasions in the following [six]-month period

have a pattern of absence otherwise considered unacceptable by the company

If appropriate in the circumstances, you will be given a final written caution. You will be informed that, unless your attendance record can be improved and maintained at an acceptable level, dismissal may follow. If your attendance record improves and is maintained at an acceptable level, the final written caution will lapse after [12] months from the date it is issued.

Dismissal

We will write to you asking you to attend a further review meeting if, during the period of your final written caution:

you are absent again for [five] or more days or on [two] or more occasions

your pattern of absence is otherwise considered unacceptable by the company

You should be aware that, if you reach this stage, you may be dismissed (with notice).

[A decision to dismiss you will only be taken by a [Director]].

Appeals

You may appeal against any decision made under this procedure. If you wish to appeal you should do so in writing, stating the full grounds for your appeal to, (appropriate job title/level of management) within [5] days of receiving our written confirmation of the decision.

We will then invite you to an appeal hearing, which will normally take place within [5] working days of receipt of your appeal, or as soon as is reasonably practicable thereafter. The appeal hearing may take place after the attendance review decision has taken effect.

You have the right to be accompanied at the appeal hearing (see clause [13] “Right to be accompanied in formal meetings”).

Wherever possible, your appeal will be heard by someone more senior than the person who conducted the attendance review meeting. [If this is not practicable, another manager, who has not previously been involved in the matter, will hear the appeal.] [If you have been dismissed, the appeal will be heard by (appropriate job title/level of management).]

Management of longer-term absence and underlying medical conditions

If we are aware that you have an underlying medical condition or injury that is causing you to have frequent short-term absences or results in a long-term period of absence, we will consider how best to take this condition into account when dealing with your absence. Therefore, we encourage you to tell us as soon as you are aware of any underlying condition which may be impacting on your attendance.

Where appropriate, we will also look at whether the company can take any measures to help you improve your attendance or return to work.

Depending on the circumstances of any frequent short-term absences, where there is an underlying medical condition, we may at our discretion choose to manage your attendance outside of the attendance review procedure described above or adapt certain elements of the procedure. For example, we may alter trigger levels in your case, or choose not to give you a caution in circumstances where you would have otherwise received one.

If your condition or an injury causes longer term absence, we will generally manage your absence outside of the attendance review procedure.

Whether we manage your condition within or outside the attendance review procedure, we will usually obtain medical advice, consult with you and consider how your condition is preventing you returning to work (and consider possible adjustments that can be made to assist you in returning to work), as well as seek advice on your prognosis for recovery.

We will keep in touch with you throughout your absence and will expect you to co-operate fully in our absence management measures, including enabling us to receive medical reports and co-operating with any arrangements or measures to enable you to return to work, such as temporary adjustments to working arrangements.

There are limits to the amount of absence which the business and your co-workers can sustain and there may come a point when we will consider ending your employment, for example when, taking into account the circumstances, we believe that:

we cannot reasonably hold your job open any longer

we cannot reasonably sustain your level or pattern of absence

there is no reasonable prospect of you resuming full duties.

[The company would not generally hold your job open beyond 6 months of long-term sickness absence except in unusual circumstances.]

[The company may terminate your employment before your sick pay entitlement has been exhausted.]

Where it is possible, we will meet with you formally before a decision to dismiss you is made. [A decision to dismiss you will only be taken by [a director]]. Before the meeting we will send you a letter setting out the circumstances and informing you of the possible outcome of the meeting. The letter will also tell you that you have the right to be accompanied at the meeting by a fellow worker or trade union official. We will give you, together with any permitted person that you may choose as a companion, reasonable time to prepare for the meeting. If you are dismissed, you have the right to appeal against your dismissal by stating the full grounds for your appeal in writing to (appropriate job title/level of management) within [5] working days of receiving written confirmation of the company’s decision.

[If the appeal hearing takes place after the dismissal takes effect, and your appeal is upheld, you will normally be treated as having continued employment pending a hearing and will be reinstated with back pay. However, if your appeal is not successful, the original date of your dismissal will stand].

RIGHT TO BE REPRESENTED IN FORMAL MEETINGS

In any formal attendance review meetings under the procedure, including appeals, you have the right to request to be represented by a fellow worker or trade union official of your choice. A representative is allowed reasonable time off from their duties without loss of pay, but nobody is obliged to act as a representative if they do not wish to do so. You should let the person organising the meeting know who will be representing you, if anyone, in advance of the meeting.

HEALTHCARE SUPPORT AVAILABLE

(Specify any support the company can provide, such as occupational health support, employee assistance programme).]

PHASED RETURNS TO WORK

If you return to work on a phased basis with temporary adjustments to your hours or duties [for a reasonable period, you will be paid a normal day’s pay [(inclusive of normal shift premia)] for any day that you work, even if it is not a normal full working day.] OR [you will be paid your normal pay for the hours that you work]. [If you are eligible for it and you have not yet exhausted your entitlement, you will be paid company sick pay for the days or part days when you are not working.]

STATUS OF THIS POLICY

This policy does not give contractual rights to individual employees. The company reserves the right to alter any of its terms at any time although we will notify you in writing of any changes.