Absenteeism due to sickness

Martin Brewer - Mills & Reeve
Online advisor - 84 posts

Blossom, there is nothing to prevent you dismissing an employee who is off sick. You should do so by giving contractual notice, in this case one week. The employee will not have the right to claim unfair dismissal having less than 1 year's service (although there are a number of areas where this requirement is not necessary so you may need to take advice on this). If you want to give a specific reason I suggest 'poor absenteeism'.

Martin Brewer

Brian Webster
Member - 1 post

What is 'poor absenteeism'?

Anonymous

I would urge caution, although there have been several successful cases of employees being dismissed for excessive absenteeism. In this case the employee doesn't have a proverbial leg to stand on, unless there has been a history of discrimination of any shape or form. You could end up in quite lengthy and costly litigation over such a minor item. Make sure you have documented evidence for whatever path you chose.

Martin Brewer - Mills & Reeve
Online advisor - 84 posts

'poor absenteeism' is shorthand for a poor record of attendance.

I'm not entirely sure why Paul urges caution. There is no suggestion of allegations of discrimination in the question and even if there was, the fact is that with an absence record of this sort there should be no implication from a tribunal that the reason for dismissal relates to race/sex etc. rather all the evidence would suggest that it's related to absenteeism.

Anonymous

How typical! Look for any old excuse to get rid of an employee because she's not worked there long enough. I'm glad I don't work for your firm if it sacks punctual workers who do their job competently.

2 months is not a long time for someone to bed in at a new employer. Why doesn't someone have a review meeting with her to discuss the issue and aim to encourage her to interact more with the others. If, say, after a further three month period she still doesn't come up to scratch then the "caring" lawyer above will no doubt still say you can dismiss.

Give her a chance!

Martin Brewer - Mills & Reeve
Online advisor - 84 posts

Kieran, I think that personal attacks are not what these forums are about. I am a specialsit employment lawyer commenting on a simple question-what would the reason for dismissal be. I was not commenting either on the appropriateness or 'reasonableness' of that dismissal. The fact is that this individual can be dismissed. Whether she should be is an entirely different question and one which Blossom did not ask and upon which I did not comment.

Anonymous

Spot on Kieran,

If new employees have difficulty 'fitting in' I find it is generally because the group they are working with have formed a clique . This is often due to poor supervision and management turning a blind eye to whatever goes on because they don't want to get involved. They have their handful of 'favourites' who don't seem to have a life other than at work and anyone who actually has a life outside work will always have difficulty fitting in and be accused of not being a team player. In many of the instances I have come across, being a team player has nothing to do with team work, more to do with being a robot with no mind of your own.

Anonymous

Well said Kieran and David.

Also Blossom, what training has this employee been given. Does her sickness relate to the fact that she is finding the job difficult because she hasn't been trained and that this along with the poor communication with the team makes her want to stay at home ?

This employee should have had an induction and follow up process to ensure that she was fitting in. Regular appraisal during her first few weeks would make her feel more wanted.

Employers are too ready to blame the employee when some of the blame may actually be at their own feet.

Anonymous

In Local Government establishments it is impossible to dismiss an employee while they are "Signed off" by a doctor.

Even if that person has been off for over a year.

This has happened in my workplace several times and it causes a lot of problems.

Anonymous

Thanks for all your feedback, some of the comments I thought were a dig at me and the company I work for and not actually anserwing the question that I asked. Just to clear a few things up. The company is not unsympathetic to people's problems but we do need reliable staff, and she has proved on several occasion to be unreliable.

I would like to say few things to the ones who thought the decision to dismiss the staff in question was unreasonable.

When two people worked in a department and every other week one phoned in sick leaving a message on voicemail saying they won't be in was not acceptable. Also reference was taken from previous employers and her attendance was very poor. I am glad this happened during her probationary period, because if she had completed her probationary period it would have been difficult to act upon the decision we had to take.

Sarah Lee-Boone
Member - 3 posts

This is the first forum of this type that I have followed and I was very surprised to see some of the comments that were raised. As HR professionals we are under pressure to support our businesses by making sound commercial decisions whatever our personal feelings about a particular situation. I have to sympathise with Blossom, it is always difficult to take this action but better to deal with it promptly than avoid the issue until it becaomes a major problem for the business. Some employees do seem to lose sight of the fact that they are paid to attend work every day unless they are genuinely too ill to do so.

Christine Allen
Member - 2 posts

Having read all of the comments I think it is clear that we need to review and think about what we are using this type of 'help' for and the dangers of becoming emotive when the reality of facts appear harsh.

Perhaps for the future we could all remember if you are asking for advice and it is given as factual no professional in the HR industry/employment law has underestimated the background emotional issues.

I am the first one to consider the reasons behind 'issues' but as Sarah points out the sickness absence policy and procedures should be properly used to cover genuine absences. All employers should consider the greater picture of why issues like this become an issue and what can/has been done before jumping to the extreme. Poor selection is not an excuse for getting rid of people when things go pear shape whether inside or outside the probationary period.

As a footnote I would urge that if references show someone has a poor absence record this informtaion should be carefully considered, withoout discriminating, before the job is offered. It is too late to shut the stable door etc.

Please I urge everyone to make proper use of this valuable tool before we lose sight of its value to those who may not have a structured path of help within their company.

Thank you.

Anonymous

Maybe I am missing something here?

On re-reading Blossoms' original mail the complaint is that the employee does not inter act with members of her team ?

The sickness is only mentioned as an incidental extra. Blossom does not say how many occasions of absence the employee has had, only that she has had 5 days. Now ,all of a sudden, sickness absence is the issue.

Make you mind up. It seems that someone is going to great lengths to find a reason to get rid.

If sickness absence is the issue, then say so , not some fudge about not fitting in.

David Merrill

Anonymous

can anyone tell me if the statutory disciplinary procedures under the employment act 2000/2 have to be followed even during the probationary period?.

thanks

Anonymous

Looked at from a strictly legal point of view, this employee has been with the company less than a year. The question of needing a reason to dismiss her is therefore irrelevant under the UKs disgraceful employment laws.

However, to dismiss her for taking 5 days sick seems very unfair from a moral standpoint. If she was taking 5 days every three months OK but she hasn't been there long enough to tell if this will be the case. A random virus could easily knock anyone out for 5 days.