Disciplinary action for sick days

Chloesmammy

Hi guys

Can anyone advise here , If you missed 3 days in a 12 month period from work can you been issued a verbal warning , Colleague missed 2 days in Feb 2017 and 1 then in Nov 2017 , nothing was said to her then Jan 29th 2018 was issued with what the company call a file note , on the 7th an investigating meeting a review of this on the 21st and now today has been issued with a verbal warning.

wondering if the dates she was out happened in 2017 can warning be issued in 2018 and also how can they take so long to issue warning has she any legal rights on this

bobbysands81

Chloesmammy wrote: »

Hi guys

Can anyone advise here , If you missed 3 days in a 12 month period from work can you been issued a verbal warning , Colleague missed 2 days in Feb 2017 and 1 then in Nov 2017 , nothing was said to her then Jan 29th 2018 was issued with what the company call a file note , on the 7th an investigating meeting a review of this on the 21st and now today has been issued with a verbal warning.

wondering if the dates she was out happened in 2017 can warning be issued in 2018 and also how can they take so long to issue warning has she any legal rights on this

Most employers would be absolutely delighted if staff members only missed 3 days sick in any given year.

A couple of questions come to mind.

1. Is the staff member full time or part time?

2. Were the absences certified by a Doctor?

3. How many sick days or uncertified absences does the worker have in the previous three years?

Could it be possible that the person is being pulled up as they have gone over some company threshold for sick days or uncertified days over a set amount of time?

For instance in the Civil Service after 7 uncertified sick days in 2 years you’ll be pulled into a meeting with HR and won’t be paid for further uncertified sick days. Could something similar be at play here? Also, a person working a part time pattern of 50% means that a sick day is counted double and accounts for two days.

Chloesmammy

She is full time coming up on 4 years
Not certified by doc days days in Feb were a Friday and then the next rostered day day for work which was a Sunday , 3rd day then was in Nov( so had 8 moths in between the absences .

Dunno in ref to previous 3 yrs But she has just checked and advised 3.5 in total in 2016

3 then in 2017 and issued with warning but not issued it when it happens issued it 3 months later

Company will pay you for 5 sick days per yr

Blacktie.

Chloesmammy wrote:

Company will pay you for 5 sick days per yr

Wait what? So they pay for 5 sick days but give you a warning after 3?

amcalester

Tell your friend to check the company policy on this.

Last place I managed in had an investigation after 3 absences is a 6 months period and a verbal warning was the usual outcome with a further meeting if there were any absences in the next 3 months.

Mickeroo

Seems very unusual to give a warning for so few sick days.

davo10

It's not the number of days absent, it's the number of absences. One absence of three days is different from three absences of one day. The employment handbook/contract will usually outline company policy, a warning is often triggered after a third absence in a year.

Chloesmammy

Yeah they will pay us for 5 sick days in a 12 month period

She also had 4 days out after a fall ( but has been advised these days are not been counted as were certified) if you include these days it was 7 in total for the year and 3 occurrences but they are only mentioning 3 days and 2 occurrences

in the investigation meeting was clearly told the issue was the 3 uncertified days so the 2 in Feb and 1 in Nov.

Shes also wondering should this have been dealt with in 2017 and not 2018

Ohmeha

So her last absence was Nov 2017, did any of her 3.5 days of absences in 2016 occur in the months Nov or Dec 2016?

Many, if not all companies base total certified/uncertified absences on a rolling 12 month period, not a calendar 12 month period. Say if you are allowed 3 absences in a 12 month period and your first absence day is on 1st March 2018 then you would be allowed two more absences up to 28th February 2019 - this is done because with a calendar basis ''unused'' sick leave days would be through the roof towards the end of every calendar year

STB.

davo10 wrote: »

It's not the number of days absent, it's the number of absences. One absence of three days is different from three absences of one day. The employment handbook/contract will usually outline company policy, a warning is often triggered after a third absence in a year.

I doubt it.

Whilst an employee has no divine right to sick pay, most companies have a policy. The terms and conditions of a sick leave policy must be provided to employees.

Most employers would require a medical certificate rather than something self certified if its more than 2 consecutive days.

Which gets to the point. The OP says that 2 of the days in February were on a Friday and then a Sunday when the person was next rostered on. Thats 3 days. You cannot hand pick days and say I was sick Friday and Sunday. The Saturday counts too regardless of whether you are off as the illness would be continuous.

And its also quite likely that a calendar year is not how a number of sick days are calculated but rather 12 months from the most recent illness.

However, I still fail to see how they would be called into a disciplinary scenario if they are within the limits they have set. The OP needs to clarify that.

cml387

Chloesmammy wrote: »

Yeah they will pay us for 5 sick days in a 12 month period

She also had 4 days out after a fall ( but has been advised these days are not been counted as were certified) if you include these days it was 7 in total for the year and 3 occurrences but they are only mentioning 3 days and 2 occurrences

in the investigation meeting was clearly told the issue was the 3 uncertified days so the 2 in Feb and 1 in Nov.

Shes also wondering should this have been dealt with in 2017 and not 2018

It can happen that HR get a kick when absenteeism rates are perceived to be too high by management. Then they go on a trawl to see if correct procedures have been followed in absenteeism tracking and so give a kick to supervisors to follow up on absenteeism, who in turn kick their reports.
Maybe this is why action is only being taken now.

beauf

People should be aware of their companies HR polices and the person under discussion doesn't seem to know them.

Average sick days per year in the private sector is something like 4-5 days.

Zero tolerance is fine if something is abused. On the flip side though. If someone is a good worker, but was sick 10 days would it make sense to lose them due to a HR policy.

Yes it can be abused. But people get sick too.