For SSP purposes an 'employee' is classed as someone who attracts liability for Class 1 National Insurance Contributions, or would do so if their income was high enough.Įligibility begins on the first day of employment - although the employee must have actually started work - on a contract that is to last for at least three months. Do trial shifts need national minimum wage?Īll employees, irrespective of age, are entitled to claim statutory sick pay as long as they have average earnings of at least £123 per week.Changes to National Minimum Wage/National Living Wage bands.What is needed for a gender pay gap report?.Gender pay gap, trans and non-binary staff.Differences between equity and equality.Diversity, equality, equity and inclusion.Time off for dependants and Carer's leave.Working in HR within the Police Service.Right to time off for those with dependants.Information and consultation on health safety.Information and consultation on collective redundancies.Marriage and civil partnership discrimination.National minimum wage, real living wage and pay.Right to work checks and employing foreign nationals.If you need further employment relations support, call our free Advice Line on 0800 675 700. While serial sick days can be a frustration for employers, you do have options and tools to make sure your business isn’t unnecessarily impacted. While policy and procedure give you a framework to follow, sometimes a more personal and gentler approach can do the trick. In those cases other leave options could be made available to them, or even flexible working arrangements that could allow them to manage their workload and hours differently without taking sick leave at all. Perhaps there is a mental health or relationship problem they haven’t felt comfortable raising with you. Perhaps they are caring for someone, or going through a treatment that leaves them feeling unwell. There may be legitimate underlying reasons for the employee taking such frequent sick days. With a sentence as simple as that, you can start an honest and open conversation with an employee about their sick leave, and their health more generally. “Hi John/Jane, I noticed that you’ve been taking a lot of time off sick lately. Keep records of sick days, any documents the employee provides, take notes of any conversations and keep any correspondence so you can identify any patterns in behaviour and build evidence to take legitimate action. If your aim is to potentially take action against an employee who is taking frivolous sick days, then suspicion alone isn’t enough. Need a hand developing and delivering a Sick Leave Policy for your workplace? Give us a call. And for staff who genuinely need the time off, meeting these parameters shouldn’t be a problem. Making employees accountable for their sick days makes them think twice about misusing it.

In many cases, it might be appropriate to have staff verbally inform their managers if they intend to take a sick day (texts or emails don’t cut it) and explain when a medical certificate may be required. The stronger your policies around sick leave, the less likely staff are to misuse it. A dependant is typically a dependent child, or anyone who genuinely depends on the employee for care.

The provision of five days a year, in most cases, is for your employees to be able to care for themselves, their spouse or partner, or their dependants should they fall ill. Know Your Current ObligationsĪll of your employees are entitled to sick leave once they complete six months of current and continuous employment with you, or if they have worked for you for six months with an average of 10 hours per week and at least one hour in every week or 40 hours in every month. Let’s take a look at Sick Leave, and what you can do to make sure it’s being used properly. Sick leave misuse can become a serious business issue if left unchecked. Statistics from the Wellness in the Workplace Report conducted by BusinessNZ found that an absent employee typically costs their employer $600 to $1,000 per year, and ‘sickies’ typically account for 303,000 lost days of work each year. In those cases employees should be fully supported via the applicable employment entitlements.īut what if you suspect an employee is misusing their sick leave? Sick leave is a legitimate entitlement, and many people genuinely need that time to manage their health or chronic conditions - both mental and physical. In some cases it can get to the point where they are no longer reliably showing up to work. It’s part of New Zealand working folklore, and while most people can honestly admit to ‘chucking’ the occasional sickie, others can stretch the limits of their employers by frequently taking sick days for vague or elusive reasons. An employee keeps calling in sick, what should I do?

Employees calling in sick too often