Location: Northern Ireland
Rep.of Ireland
Location: Northern Ireland
Rep.of Ireland

First Tuesday Q&A

The claimant was dismissed by reason of gross misconduct and in particular.

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What can an employer do if an employee goes out sick with stress during a disciplinary process?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 07/01/2014 Sickness absence during a disciplinary process on grounds of stress or anxiety is not uncommon, however, an employee who is unfit to work may nevertheless still be fit to attend a disciplinary hearing if, for example, the stress is related to the employee’s day to day work, or indeed, if other arra...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Absence and Sickness Discipline and Grievance

I would be grateful if you could give me some guidance on the following issue - If an employee who is on sick leave wants to carry out some work from home in order to not fall behind, how would this impact on his sick pay?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 01/10/2013 From the point of view of statutory sick pay (SSP), if the employee is fit to work from home I doubt very much that HMRC would view them as eligible for SSP. The test under the legislation is whether he is incapable by reason of some specific disease or disablement of doing work which he can reason...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Absence and Sickness

What is the current state of law in relation to disability absences being taken into account by an employer for disciplinary action?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 06/08/2013 Disciplinary action against an employee for absences that are a consequence of a disability could constitute discrimination arising from disability under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. If persistent or long-term absence affects the employee’s ability to carry out the job, you should addres...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Absence and Sickness Discipline and Grievance Discrimination and Equality

What happens if there is conflicting advice from a GP & occupational health professional? i.e. OH advises us the employee is fit to work and the GP advises against the fitness; what should a company do?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 02/07/2013 Where an employer obtains more than one medical opinion and the two opinions conflict, a reasonable employer would usually take steps to resolve this conflict by obtaining a third report or by seeking further clarification. However, there may be cases where an employer is entitled to prefer the opi...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Absence and Sickness

An employee has been absent sick for over two years. He is not covered by sick pay and insurers deem him fit to work. His own doctor deems him unfit for work. Is company obliged to keep job open, and if so for how long?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 05/03/2013 An employer is not required to keep an employee’s position open indefinitely if he or she is no longer fully capable, competent or available to undertake the duties attached to the role. However, where an employee is dismissed for reasons connected with his/her ability to perform the duties require...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Absence and Sickness

Following two referral appointments to our company Occupational Health Physician (in accordance with agreed policies in place), we received a written recommendation, on both occasions, that employee was fit to return to work on lighter duties for a phased period of time and that this employee’s local GP was in agreement with the Occupational Health person's opinion. The employee was informed on both occasions of the recommendations but maintains that, in his opinion, he remains unfit to return to work and intends to be guided only by his local GP, who subsequently issued him with a further cert for a further extended period of time after the 2nd appointment date. What is the company’s legal entitlements in such a situation? Is it appropriate for an employer to make a decision to discipline and/or withdraw entitlement to sick pay solely based on the opinion of its Occupational Health physician's recommendations due to their expertise in this area? Or would it be best practice to seek a third party opinion before any action is taken?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 05/03/2013 It is likely that the occupational health adviser has a better understanding of the employee’s role and responsibilities. Any advice given by a GP will usually rely entirely on the employee’s version of events. In cases of conflict it is worth asking the employee if occupational health can speak to...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Absence and Sickness

Payment of performance based bonuses - How do we stand for those employees off on maternity leave during the year ? Also can we pro-rata an employee off on sick leave?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 05/02/2013 A performance related bonus can measure “performance” in many different ways, for example, on the employer’s performance as a whole, the individual’s/team’s performance against certain criteria or on the employee’s attendance record.(a) Maternity Where a contractual bonus is paid in recognition of ...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Absence and Sickness Working Time Policies and Procedures Pay

An employee does not wish to disclose her illness. 9 weeks of certificates stating, “unfit for work” have been received. Can a company doctor disclose the illness to the employer or can we insist on knowing the nature of the illness or move to dismissal or some other action?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 08/01/2013 Under the Access to Personal Files and Medical Reports (NI) Order 1991 (the Order) an employer cannot request a report from an employee’s own doctor without the employee’s consent, which should be recorded in writing. While referring an employee to a company doctor (which we assume to be the case h...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Dismissal Absence and Sickness Contracts of Employment Data Protection and Freedom of Information Act

Is it usual for an employee on a phased return after a critical illness to be paid only for the hours worked? In addition, should the employee be asked to use their untaken holidays to bridge over the gap in salary? Would this not contravene Working Time Regulations?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 04/12/2012 An employer must always firstly consider the contractual provisions which apply to the employee in these circumstances, as the employment contract or handbook may contain provisions about phased return. The recent case of Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v Mrs Bagley (2012) consid...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Absence and Sickness Working Time Pay

We have three members of staff who are currently on fixed term/specific purpose contracts to cover for career break, long term sick leave and an ongoing role that we have not been able to recruit for a while. It has been suggested that once they have been with us for over two years they are entitled to a redundancy payment when their contract finishes. If the post is not made redundant, then does their contract finish as stated e.g. the fixed period or the specific purpose with no redundancy payment?

Posted in: First Tuesday Q&A NI on 06/11/2012 If you don’t want to renew these employees’ contracts, this will amount to a dismissal and if they have more than one year’s service they will have unfair dismissal rights. The question to ask, therefore, to help mitigate against the risk of an unfair dismissal claim, is what is the reason for the ...
This article is listed under the following topics:
Redundancy Absence and Sickness Contracts of Employment Working Time