Sickness Policy

You are required to telephone your Line Manager on the first day of sickness absence, stating why you are absent, and when you expect to return. If your absence continues, you must contact them regularly to update on your continuing absence.
You must provide the appropriate documents as referred to below at the relevant times, and complete any absence recording documentation as required on your return to work.
Please note that personal contact is required at all times when contacting the Company. The sending of text messages, WhatsApp messages, email or notification by social media will not be accepted as valid notification.
Failure to notify the Company as set out may result in disciplinary action being taken.

You must notify the Company if you are suffering from or have symptoms of a notifiable infectious disease, e.g. mumps, measles, or food poisoning, or where you have been in close contact with someone with such an illness.  Where you have been off work with this type of illness, you must contact the Company and your G.P. prior to returning to work to ensure that it is safe to do so.

You should produce the following written evidence of absence and ensure that appropriate documents are provided for the whole of your absence:
•    Self-Certificate - 
o    for absence of up to and including 7 calendar days.
•    Statement of Fitness for Work - 
o    for absence of more than 7 calendar days; or,
o    when requested, where more than 3 periods of self-certificated absence occur in any 12 month period (this may have to be obtained at your own expense); or,
o    for absence before or following an annual or bank or public holiday.
You should forward the relevant documents and any correspondence to your Line Manager as soon as possible. Failure to do so may result in sick pay being delayed or withheld, and action under the Disciplinary Procedure being taken.
Where your G.P. or medical advisor has issued a Statement of Fitness for Work indicating you may be fit for some work, you must notify your Line Manager at the earliest opportunity so that a return to work may be considered.
The Company reserves the right to require you to undertake a medical examination by a medical practitioner and/or specialist of the Company's choice, and/or to seek a report from your G.P.
Where the Company wishes to seek a report from your G.P., you have rights under legislation. A summary of these rights is included later in this Handbook, under 'Access to Medical Reports'.

If you have been absent due to sickness and are found not to have been genuinely ill, you may be subject to action under the disciplinary procedure, which could include dismissal. In addition, we will take a serious view if you are found to be undertaking any activity during sickness absence which we reasonably believe is inconsistent with being incapable of work at that time despite the presence of an illness, injury or medical condition. Disciplinary action will be taken in this instance. 

Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) will be paid when you are absent from work due to sickness, provided that you have complied with the requirements and conditions attached to its payment.
When SSP is Payable
SSP cannot be paid for the first 3 days of sickness. Therefore, payment usually starts on the 4th day of absence and continues for as long as you are absent, up to a maximum of 28 weeks in any one period of sickness. SSP will be paid from the first day of absence where the periods are linked.
SSP is paid at the rate currently applicable, via the same method as normal earnings.
The qualifying days for Statutory Sick Pay purposes are your normal working days.
When SSP is not Payable
SSP is not payable in certain circumstances, the principal ones being:
•    if your average weekly earnings are less than the figure set by the Government for the payment of National Insurance Contributions;
•    for absence of less than 4 days (unless a linked period);
•    if you have failed to follow the sickness notification procedure;
•    if your employment has terminated;
•    where Statutory Maternity, Adoption, Paternity or Shared Parental Pay is being paid to you;
•    for days on which you do not normally work, for example if you work Monday to Friday and not at weekends, SSP will normally apply to those 5 days only.
The rules on SSP are very complex and you should not hesitate to raise any query you may have with the Company.

Having regard to its duty of care to its employees, the Company will complete a return to work interview after any sickness absence. This will ensure that you are fit for work and will explore whether you anticipate any further absence relating to your illness. This will also give you an opportunity to discuss any concerns you may have regarding your illness with your Line Manager.
Absence Management
The Company operates an absence trigger system in line with our disciplinary procedure. The following triggers apply to any sickness absence in a rolling 12 months:
•    3 separate periods of absence- informal warning
•    4 separate periods of absence- verbal warning
•    5 separate periods of absence- written warning
•    6 separate periods of absence- final written warning
•    7 separate periods of absence- potential dismissal
Each individual circumstance will be dealt with on its own merits and the Company may vary the sanction given as it sees fit. More harsh sanctions may be imposed if it is found that the absence is not genuine. 
Access to Medical Reports
In certain circumstances it may be necessary for the Company to obtain a medical report from your Doctor, Specialist or Occupational Health Provider in order to establish:
•    the reason for and likely duration of absence;
•    when you will be able to return to work, and whether the problem will recur;
•    what, if any, treatment is being prescribed;
•    whether you can carry out all the duties of the job, and;
•    what, if any, reasonable adjustments are recommended.
This will enable the Company to plan workloads. It is in the interests of both yourself and the Company to establish, with the benefit of expert medical opinion, your ability to work. You have certain rights under the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988.
Your Doctor, Specialist or Occupational Health Provider cannot submit the report to the Company without your consent. You may withhold consent to the report being sought or can request to see the report prior to it being forwarded to the Company.
If you indicate that you wish to see the report in advance, the Company will inform you when the Doctor, Specialist or Occupational Health Provider has been written to, and the Doctor, Specialist or Occupational Health Provider will also be notified that you wish to see the report. You then have 21 days to contact the Doctor, Specialist or Occupational Health Provider regarding arrangements to see the report.
Should you indicate that you do not wish to see the report before the Company, you still have the right to write to the Doctor, Specialist or Occupational Health Provider if the report has not been provided to the Company, and you have 21 days to contact the Doctor, Specialist or Occupational Health Provider regarding arrangements to see the report. You have the right to ask the Doctor, Specialist or Occupational Health Provider for a copy of the report for up to 6 months after it has been supplied. There may be a charge for this.
You may ask the Doctor, Specialist or Occupational Health Provider to amend any part of the report which you consider to be incorrect or misleading. If the Doctor, Specialist or Occupational Health Provider is not in agreement, you may attach a statement of your views with the report. If the Doctor, Specialist or Occupational Health Provider thinks that you or others would be harmed by the report, or any part of the report, it can be withheld from you.
No decision will be made that could affect your employment without careful consideration of all the circumstances.
Where the Company wishes to obtain a medical report, you will be asked for your written consent. Should you withhold such consent the Company will take a decision regarding your continuing employment without the benefit of medical opinion.

You have the right to make a written request to view our tipping record for a period dating back up to three years, provided you were engaged by us for the full duration of the requested period. You may make one written request to view our tipping record per three month period. 
 

You are entitled to view the total amount of qualifying tips received by us at our place of business, and the amount paid to you. You are not entitled to view the amount paid to any other worker. Requests to access these records should be submitted to your Line Manager, which will be handled in accordance with current data protection legislation.

If you feel you have not received the share of tips that you expected to receive, you should contact your Line Manager to raise your concerns in the first instance. This applies equally to directly recruited workers and agency workers.

In some cases, it may be appropriate to follow our grievance procedure. Further information on this is available in the Employee Handbook under grievance procedure.