Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act - 7157 Thank you for your email dated 19 April 2017 requesting copies of policies relating to staff sickness pay. Please find detailed below your original request and our response. Original Request: Please can you provide me the policies for work based injuries that forces a period of long term sick. Any long term sickness as a result of a work injury would be managed under the Trust s managing sickness absence policy. The policy is attached as Appendix A.
Managing sickness absence policy Policy starts on page 2 s key points Sick pay: What the rules around sick pay are for absence relating to ill health. Sickness reporting: You must phone your manager one hour before you are due to start work to let them know you are ill and to discuss any work that needs to be handed over. You can also let your manager know your likely date of return to work and how often you will keep in contact while you are off. Returning to work: Your manager will meet with you on your return to work to discuss any support you may need. Sickness absence and annual leave: Make sure you have adequate breaks from work throughout the year. If you are on long-term sick, you continue to accumulate annual leave and you will need to discuss how and when to take this with your manager on your return to work. Dismissal: This is a last resort for managers and there are a number of options that can be discussed and trialled before this happens. Misconduct relating to absence: If you have a number of absences and are triggering the policy then managers may consider taking formal action under the disciplinary procedure. Version Page 2 of 18 December 2015
Managing Sickness Absence Policy Document Reference No. KCHFT HR007 Status Update Version Number 4 Replacing/Superseded policy or documents Kent Community Health Foundation Trust Managing Sickness Absence policy versions 1, 1.1, 2 & 3 Number of Pages 17 All managers and employees of Kent Community Health NHS Target audience/applicable to Foundation Trust on NHS Terms and Conditions. Author Acknowledgements Contact Point for Queries Employee Relations Team For Managers See Intranet HR pages For Staff Staff Side Office Date Ratified 06/04/2016 Date of Implementation/distribution Circulation Intranet/ weekly bulletin Review date Copyright Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust Version Page 3 of 18 December 2015
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT) Health and Wellbeing strategy recognises that there is a direct link between our health and wellbeing, our levels of productivity and the effective performance of our organisation. We strongly believe that employee Health and Wellbeing is a mainstream consideration and should be placed firmly at the heart of all of our activities and policy making. Managing attendance levels is vital in helping to run an efficient and effective service. Sickness absence in the NHS costs millions of pounds each year. Research has shown that careful management and monitoring of sickness absence can reduce these figures and Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust has committed to monitor and reduce sickness absence rates. Scope and purpose of Policy This policy and procedure applies to all employees of KCHFT whether on Agenda for Change or Medical and Dental terms and conditions. This policy supersedes all previous iterations and replaces any relevant policies and procedures under previous terms and conditions of employment held by individuals who have transferred from other organisations. This policy is designed to ensure managers and employees understand their responsibilities and make clear the Trust s expectations in relation to attendance at work. In addition it supports Line managers to deal with issues in a fair and consistent manner. Governance Arrangements Directorate or Function Governance Group responsible for developing document Circulation group Authorised/Ratified by Governance or Function Group Authorised/Ratified On Review Date Review criteria HR, OD and Communications Director and the Staff Partnership Forum Intranet, Policy Distribution Trust Board 3 years from ratification This document will be reviewed prior to review date if a legislative change or other event dictates. Key References Equality Act 2010 ACAS Disciplinary guidelines Version Page 4 of 18 December 2015
Related Policies/Procedures Title Managing Sickness Absence Manager s Guidance Annual Leave Policy Special Leave Policy Flexible Working Policy Promotion of psychological wellbeing and Stress Management Policy Disciplinary Procedure Reference Document Tracking Sheet Version Status Date Issued to/approved by Comments/Summary of Changes Summary of Changes The process flow chart has been moved to the Manager s guidance document The roles and responsibilities have been amended to include Employee Relations and Occupational Health The process for recording sickness absence has been updated i.e. this should now be done on Health Roster Implications of working whilst absent have been added The importance of OH attendance and the reason for it has been added Rules relating to sick pay and cosmetic procedures have been added Details sickness absence reporting procedure including what to do should a manager not be reachable Absence triggers have been amended to reflect feedback from Managers and employees Information relating to Redeployment and phased return to work have been added The rules relating to sickness absence during a period of annual leave have been moved to the managing sickness absence Manager s guidance The rules relating to a Phased return to work have been amended Version Page 5 of 18 December 2015
CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2 CONTENTS 4 1.0 INTRODUCTION 5 EQUALITY ANALYSIS 5 2.0 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 6 MANAGERS 6 EMPLOYEES 6 EMPLOYEE RELATIONS 7 OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH 7 3.0 SICKNESS REPORTING PROCEDURE 7 4.0 MANAGING SICKNESS ABSENCE 8 MANAGING ABSENCE WITHOUT AN UNDERLYING HEALTH CONDITION MANAGING ABSENCE WITH AN UNDERLYING HEALTH CONDITION PAGE INFORMAL ACTION 10 FORMAL ACTION 10 5.0 PHASED RETURN TO WORK 11 6.0 REDEPLOYMENT 11 7.0 ILL HEALTH RETIREMENT 11 8.0 SICK PAY 11 9.0 ATTENDING MEDICAL/DENTAL/COUNSELLING/SPECIALIST APPOINTMENTS 10.0 SICKNESS ABSENCE RELATED TO WORK RELATED INJURIES 12 11.0 SICKNESS ABSENCE RELATED TO STRESS OR ANXIETY 13 12.0 REPRESENTATION 13 13.0 DISMISSAL 13 14.0 RIGHT TO APPEAL 13 15.0 TRAINING AND AWARENESS 14 16.0 MONITORING COMPLIANCE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS POLICY 17.0 GLOSSARY AND ABBREVIATIONS 14 APPENDIX 1 PROCEDURE DURING FORMAL Ill HEALTH CAPABILITY HEARINGS AND APPEAL HEARINGS 9 10 12 14 15 Version Page 6 of 18 December 2015
1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 The Trust recognises that sickness absence is inevitable within any large organisation. However, absence can have an adverse effect on the quality of service provided by the organisation in terms of:- The Trust s ability to implement the values into action and deliver safe, effective patient care Increased business costs to cover the work Reduced productivity Effect on morale, through increased work load placed on colleagues Effect on the Trusts ability to deliver the organisational strategy 1.2 It is important that the reason for absence from work is always accurately identified. For this reason managers should ensure they are aware of the other forms of leave available to employees to assist them in balancing their work, domestic and personal needs and duties. For further advice please contact the Employee Relations Team or visit the policies section on the Trust Intranet. 1.3 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion 1.3.1 Employees must be aware of their responsibilities under Equality legislation, given that there is a corporate and individual responsibility to comply with Equality legislation. This also applies to contractors when engaged by the Trust, for NHS business. 1.4 Equality Analysis 1.4.1 Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust is committed to promoting and championing a culture of diversity, fairness and equality for all our employees, patients, service users and their families, as well as members of the public. 1.4.2 Understanding of how policy decisions, behaviour and services can impact on people with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 is key to ensuring quality and productive environments for patient care and also our workforce. 1.4.3 Protected Characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 are: Race Disability Sex Religion or belief Sexual orientation (being lesbian, gay, bisexual, heterosexual or questioning) Age Gender Re-assignment Pregnancy and maternity Marriage and civil partnership 1.4.4 It is also important for the Trust to look to the future and ensure that it remains equitable to all, by considering elements that may be outside current legislation, such as financial deprivation, educational discrimination, class exclusion and many other elements. Version Page 7 of 18 December 2015
1.4.5 The Equality Analysis for this policy is located on the public website: http://www.kentcht.nhs.uk/about-us/equality-and-diversity/equality-analysis/ 2 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 2.1 Managers 2.1.1 Line managers will be responsible for managing employee absence in accordance with this policy. Managers should refer to the Managing Sickness Absence Manager s guidance document for detailed guidance. They should ensure, as part of their local induction, that their employees have been advised of the expectations of them in relation to absence, reporting of absence and where to locate the policy. Managers are also responsible for: 2.2 Employees Ensuring that absence reporting procedures are agreed and communicated effectively at a local level Identifying, investigating and addressing unacceptable levels of sickness absence Referring the employee, where necessary, to the Occupational Health Service, MSK Physiotherapy services and advising how to access the Employee Counselling service Identifying and assessing with the employee any reasonable adjustments which may be implemented to support them in fulfilling their role Agreeing contact arrangements whilst the employee is absent Where there is a suspicion that the employee may have been engaged in secondary employment whilst sick, referring the concern to the Trust Local Counter Fraud Specialist Employees are responsible for: Attending work regularly unless prevented from doing so by illness, injury or disability Understanding and complying with the Trust procedure for reporting sickness absence by informing their Manager when they are unable to attend work due to illness, injury or disability Keeping in touch with their line manager when absent due to illness, injury or disability Providing relevant and timely GP fit notes when absence lasts longer than 7 calendar days. A new GP fit note should be provided before the expiry of the current one Notifying their line manager at the earliest opportunity regardless of the working pattern that they are fit for work to enable the end of the period of absence to be accurately recorded Ensuring that they take responsibility for their health and wellbeing both inside and outside of the workplace Making requests for annual leave where they could reasonably foresee that rest time may be needed to recover from holiday travel, social activities and physical activity Attending Occupational Health if reasonably requested to do so; Version Page 8 of 18 December 2015
Gaining consent from their manager if they wish to continue in any paid secondary employment while registered sick with the Trust Maintaining their registration during periods of sickness absence, if they are required to be registered with a professional body. Any lapses in professional registration, un-notified absence, or failure to comply with the absence reporting procedure, may be dealt with through the Trust s Professional Registration policy and/or the Disciplinary Procedure An employee on secondment to another organisation will be subject to their sickness absence management policies and procedures for the duration of the secondment. 2.3 Employee Relations Team (ER) 2.3.1 The ER team will be required to keep up to date with employment legislation and be aware of case law that materially impacts on cases that are being investigated or considered at hearing stage. 2.3.2 The ER team is available to provide managers with advice, training and support at any stage of the sickness absence management process. 2.4 Occupational Health 2.4.1 The Trust s Occupational Health service is available to provide advice and guidance to managers relating to an employee s health and maintaining attendance at work. Occupational Health will be able to assess whether in their view an employee has an underlying medical condition and if in their opinion it is likely they would be considered disabled for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010. They can provide suggestions for reasonable adjustments that a manager may be able to implement to enable an employee to continue to undertake their role. 2.4.2 In the event that Medical advice is received by an employee which contradicts the advice a manager receives from Occupational Health the manager should seek clarity from Occupational health and advice from the employee relations team. 3 SICKNESS REPORTING PROCEDURE 3.1 It is the responsibility of the employee to contact their line manager or designated person by telephone to notify them of their absence, at the earliest opportunity and at least 1 hour before they are due to start work unless there are exceptional circumstances preventing this. Employees should ensure that they are aware of and adhere to any local protocols for reporting sickness absence within their department which may require earlier notification of absence. Should the manager be unavailable at the time of telephoning, a contact number must be left so that they can make contact with the employee when they are. Managers must not accept notification of sickness via text messages, emails or third parties. 3.2 When an employee informs their manager that they will be absent from work they should also provide the following information: The reason for the absence and an estimate of how long they might be away from work Any work outstanding and anything requiring cover or cancellation Whether a GP is being / has been consulted. Version Page 9 of 18 December 2015
3.3 Employees should agree with their line manager how they will keep in touch to discuss how their recovery is progressing and when their likely date of return is. If an employee fails to keep in touch during a period of sickness absence, fails to provide a GP fit note when required to do so, fails to attend occupational health appointments or management meetings to discuss absence it may result in disciplinary action being taken. Managers will take account of the circumstances before making a decision to take disciplinary action. In addition, failure to provide GP fit notes when required to do so, or notify the line manager of a period of sickness absence will lead to the absence being recorded as unauthorised unpaid leave and pay will only be re-instated from the date that the GP fit note is received by the employee s line manager, except in exceptional circumstances. 3.4 The manager or designated person must ensure that the absence and cause of absence is recorded on the Trust s HeathRoster system accurately and in a timely way. Absence should be recorded from the date it is first reported and ended only on the date that the employee notifies their manager they are or would have been fit to return to work had that been a working day. For example, if an employee only works on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and reports absent due to illness on a Tuesday and Wednesday the period of the absence will end on the day prior to the next day that the employee attends for work. Therefore, in this example, if the employee feels better on the Thursday of this week and could have attended for work had this been a working day for them they will need to make contact with their line manager to notify them of this and this will allow them to end the period of absence. Further guidance on how to record absence on HealthRoster can be found by visiting the e-rostering page on the Trust s intranet where user guides for the system can be found. These describe how to record absence where an employee has undertaken part of their shift but has been unable to complete it because of illness. 3.5 Upon an employee s return to work, the line manager must hold a return to work meeting and, in conjunction with the employee, complete a Self Certification/Return to Work form for all sickness absence to cover the period of the absence. This must be held on the employee s personal file. 4 MANAGING SICKNESS ABSENCE 4.1 The following table sets out the levels of absence that the Trust deems to be unacceptable. If an employee reaches or exceeds these levels of absence, this will trigger a review by the manager who will discuss their concerns with the individual. The Manager can, however commence a review at any point when absence reaches a level considered to be unsatisfactory. For example where a pattern of absence becomes apparent over a period of time. Version Page 10 of 18 December 2015
4.2 SICKNESS ABSENCE TRIGGERS Trigger 3 or more occasions in a 6 month rolling period 14 calendar days sickness absence in a 12 month rolling period Action A return to work interview should be conducted with the employee and a determination made as to whether the absence relates to an underlying health condition or not If the employee s absence is because of an underlying health condition or a work related injury, it should be managed in line with the procedure outlined in this policy and the Manager s guidance If the employee s absence is not caused by an underlying health condition, it should be managed as poor attendance in accordance with the disciplinary procedure In addition to the above if the cause of an employee s absence is stress related, the manager should complete a stress risk assessment (where the stress has been identified as work related) and a referral to occupational health must be made immediately 4.3 Line managers should regularly review their employee s absence records to identify whether any of them have hit the triggers or to identify trends in absence. This can be done using the sickness absence reporting functionality within the Health Roster system. Indicators are not intended to be a punitive mechanism but are to help managers to identify where staff who may be experiencing a period of ill health or underlying health issues that may be affecting attendance. 4.4 Under the Equality Act 2010 an individual is described as having a disability, if they have a physical or mental impairment that has a 'substantial' and 'long-term' negative effect on their ability to do normal daily activities. 4.5 Where a manager has been made aware that an employee s short term absences relate to pregnancy or a known disability then advice should be sought from an ER adviser before any action is taken. 4.6 Managing Absence without an underlying health condition 4.6.1 Occupational Health can provide advice about whether an employee s absences constitute an underlying health condition and are likely to be considered a disability covered under the Equality Act 2010. Where it is clear that no underlying health condition exists an employee s absence should be managed as poor attendance in line with the Version Page 11 of 18 December 2015
Trust s Disciplinary procedure advice should be sought from the Employee Relations Team first 4.7 Managing Absence with an underlying health condition 4.7.1 Informal Action 4.7.1.1 Where an employee has reached one of the sickness absence triggers described above a manager will arrange to meet with the employee to conduct an informal sickness absence review meeting. The manager will alert the individual to the fact that they have had a level of absence considered to be unacceptable and to discuss what support might be provided to enable a sustained improvement in the employees attendance. Advice and guidance should be sought from the ER team and this meeting should be followed up in writing to confirm the content and outcome of the discussion. 4.7.1.2 Where an employee triggers informal action more than once in a rolling year the manager will commence the formal process. For example, an employee may have three episodes of absence between January and May (thereby hitting the three occasions in 6 months trigger) and subsequently demonstrate an improvement by having no absence in the three months following this (June, July, August). The employee has therefore successfully completed their review period. Should they then have three further occasions of absence between September and November they will be met with either as part of the formal stage under this policy or as part of the disciplinary policy depending on whether their absence is attributable to an underlying health condition or not. 4.7.2 Formal Action 4.7.2.1 Where informal action has failed to bring about an improvement in an employee s attendance a formal sickness absence review meeting must be arranged by the manager. During this meeting the manager must explain that the employee s level of attendance has not improved sufficiently, describe how this is affecting the service, review any occupational health advice provided and explore any suggestions for reasonable adjustments that have been made. Alternative options may be explored including redeployment and ill-health retirement and the consequences of a continued failure to improve attendance to acceptable levels should be made clear. A number of formal meetings may be required during the course of the employee s absence. Advice and guidance should be sought from the ER team about this meeting and any subsequent one. Every meeting should be followed up in writing to confirm the content and outcome of the discussion. Version Page 12 of 18 December 2015
5. PHASED RETURN TO WORK 5.1 A phased return to work on reduced hours, days and or duties may be appropriate to support a sustained return to work following a long period of sickness. In all cases, it will be for the manager to decide how they can support a phased return to work taking account of any guidance received from Occupational Health and will be based on the needs of the service. If it is not possible to offer a phased return to work in the employee s usual department consideration should be given to whether this might be accommodated in a different area of the Trust temporarily. A phased return to work will usually be for a period no longer than 4 weeks. 5.2 The Trust will financially support the phased return to work for a period of 2 weeks. Should the phased return to work extend beyond 2 weeks the employee must use accrued annual leave or unpaid leave for the hours not worked. 5.3 The employee will discuss with their manager if they wish to undertake any secondary employment during a phased return. 6. REDEPLOYMENT 6.1 Where there is an underlying medical condition and the employee is deemed medically incapable of fulfilling the requirements of their substantive role, the line manager in conjunction with Employee Relations and Occupational Health, should explore the possibility of a suitable alternative post within the Trust. 6.2 Where an employee is redeployed to a post on a lower band or is working fewer hours, there will be no protection of salary or other conditions. The implications of this should be explored fully with the employee. 6.3 Where no suitable employment can be found an ill-health capability hearing will be convened to consider terminating the employee s contract on the grounds of capability due to ill-health. 7. ILL HEALTH RETIREMENT 7.1 Where all other options to assist an employee to return to work have been exhausted Illhealth retirement may be considered. This option must be fully discussed at a meeting between the line manager and employee, having sought advice from Occupational Health and the Employee Relations team. The employee should seek independent advice from the NHS Pensions Agency. 7.2 The decision to grant an ill health retirement pension lies with the NHS Pensions Agency and not the Trust. 7.3 If an application for ill health retirement is made by the employee, then the Trust will convene a hearing to consider terminating the employee s contract on the grounds of capability due to ill-health capability. 8. SICK PAY 8.1 Occupational Sick pay will be provided in line with the respective Terms and Conditions of Service of the employee provided that they comply with the Trust s absence reporting Version Page 13 of 18 December 2015
procedure and the timely provision of a GP fit note. Failure to provide medical certification can result in occupational sick pay being withheld and the absence being treated as unauthorised. Deliberate misuse of the provisions of sick leave and sick pay will be regarded as misconduct, and may be dealt with as a disciplinary issue. 8.2 When an employee is on authorised sickness absence or on a phased return to work with reduced pay or no pay due to an injury, disease or other health condition that is wholly or mainly attributable to their NHS employment, they may be eligible for NHS Injury Allowance in accordance with the NHS Injury Benefit Scheme regulations. A decision will be made about eligibility for Injury allowance by the relevant Head of Service based on the investigation outcome of the DATIX incident and the Occupational Health guidance; advice will be given by the Employee Relations team to support the decision making. 8.3 Sick pay is not normally payable for an absence caused by an accident due to active participation in sport as a profession or where contributable negligence is proved. 8.4 Planned cosmetic surgery which is not medically necessary will not qualify for sick pay. In this circumstance annual leave or unpaid leave should be requested. If there is any doubt about whether the surgery constitutes a medical need advice should be sought from Occupational Health. The employee may also provide a letter from their Consultant or GP to evidence the procedure is medically necessary. Cosmetic procedures that are medically necessary will qualify for sick pay. 8.5 An individual s annual salary is spread evenly across the year meaning that they receive a proportion of their pay each day regardless of their working pattern. Sick pay is calculated from the first day of sickness absence until the employee reports they are fit to return to work. 8.6 Employees on sick leave should not undertake any other form of paid or voluntary working, unless prior consent has been obtained in writing from their manager. Any breach of this could be pursued as fraud through The Internal Audit Agency (TIAA). 9 ATTENDING MEDICAL/DENTAL/COUNSELLING/SPECIALIST APPOINTMENTS 9.1 All Occupational health, counselling or Trust MSK Physiotherapy appointments can be attended during working hours. Employees will need to discuss and agree the time off with their manager in order to attend these. 9.2 All employees are required to arrange personal medical appointments outside of their normal working hours. Where this is not possible employees are asked to arrange appointments at the beginning or end of the day and they will agree with the manager how that time will be made up. 9.3 Where an employee has a disclosed physical or psychological health condition covered by the Equality Act 2010, they will still be asked to book regular appointments outside of their normal working hours or at the beginning or the end of the day. Where this cannot reasonably be achieved the manager and employee should explore ways to arrange work patterns around regular appointments. If this is not possible there will be consideration of whether it would be a reasonable adjustment to allow the employee paid time off for attending appointments. Version Page 14 of 18 December 2015
10. SICKNESS ABSENCE RELATED TO WORK RELATED INJURIES 10.1 All workplace related accidents, absences and dangerous occurrences must be reported immediately or within 24 hours if possible. 11. SICKNESS ABSENCE RELATED TO STRESS OR ANXIETY 11.1 Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust is a Mindful Employer and is committed to creating an environment that promotes physical and psychological wellbeing. To meet this commitment all absences relating to work related stress will be supported with an immediate referral to Occupational Health for guidance. 11.2 Where possible, a meeting should be held in advance of the Occupational Health appointment to complete a stress risk assessment, to identify triggers, causes and appropriate actions to mitigate against these and support a safe and sustained return to work. A copy of the stress risk assessment should be provided along with the Occupational Health referral to assist them in making an appropriate assessment. 12. REPRESENTATION 12.1 Poor attendance, where there is an unacceptable level of absence and no underlying medical reason for the absence, should be managed in line with the Trust disciplinary procedure. The rights of representation in these cases are set out in the Trust disciplinary procedure. 12.2 Employees have the right to be accompanied by a trade union representative or a workplace colleague of their choice during a formal capability hearing convened to consider the termination of an employee s contract of employment. 12.3 Whilst there is no right to representation other than at a formal capability hearing managers should give consideration to employee requests to be accompanied during sickness absence discussions and these requests should not be unreasonably refused. 13. DISMISSAL 13.1 In the event that an employee is not fit to return to work following a period of long-term sickness absence, or is unable to sustain a reasonable level of attendance due to an underlying health condition or disability then termination of the contract on the grounds of capability due to ill health may be appropriate. Advice should be sought from the Employee Relations team in these circumstances. 13.2 A hearing should be held, giving the employee a reasonable amount of notice. This would ordinarily be 7 calendar days. 13.3 When employment is terminated by the Trust on grounds of capability due to ill health, the employee will be entitled to a period of full pay in lieu of contractual notice. This will apply whether or not the provision of full or half pay under sick pay arrangements has expired. 13.4 Where it becomes evident that the employee will not be fit enough to return to work in a reasonable timescale, the employee may be dismissed on the grounds of capability due to ill-health, prior to the exhaustion of their sick pay provision. Version Page 15 of 18 December 2015
14. RIGHT TO APPEAL 14.1 An employee may appeal against any decision to dismiss them on the grounds of capability due to ill health. The employee must provide written notice of the appeal within fourteen calendar days of the date of the letter confirming the outcome of the ill health capability hearing. All formal appeals should be directed to the Head of Employee Relations. An employee will lose their right to appeal if they have not lodged their appeal within this timescale. When lodging an appeal, the employee must clearly state the grounds of their appeal in order for the appeal to proceed. 14.2 The ill health capability appeal hearing should follow the order described in Appendix 1. 14.3 The appeal will be heard by a senior manager who has not been involved in the decision to dismiss the employee at the original hearing. Where an Executive Director has taken a decision to dismiss the appeal panel will have at least one other Executive Director as part of the appeal panel. 14.4 Upon completion of the appeal, the senior manager conducting the hearing will convey his/her decision to the employee. The decision will be confirmed in writing. The Trust s decision at the appeal hearing is final. 15.0 TRAINING AND AWARENESS 15.1 An absence management training session is available for more information please contact the Learning and Development team. 16.0 MONITORING COMPLIANCE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THIS POLICY 16.1 Audits may be completed periodically by the Employee Relations team in relation to the application of this policy. This may also be completed in conjunction with Staffside and the Organisational Development Business Partner s. 17.0 GLOSSARY AND ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation KCHFT ER OH Meaning Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust Employee Relations Occupational Health Version Page 16 of 18 December 2015
Appendix 1 PROCEDURE DURING FORMAL Ill HEALTH CAPABILITY HEARINGS AND APPEAL HEARINGS The process set out below describes the process for formal ill health capability hearings. In relation to appeal hearings, the Chairperson of the appeal panel may choose to take the same approach in terms of order of proceedings or, with the agreement of management and trade union representative, re-arrange the order. The panel and the employee relations adviser may ask questions at any time for the purposes of clarification and to ensure full and thorough consideration is given to the case. The following procedures should be observed at all formal hearings:- 1. The person leading the hearing (the chair) will introduce the hearing, explain its purpose and how it will be conducted. 2. The parties present at the hearing will introduce themselves and confirm their respective roles in the hearing. The employee will be entitled to be accompanied, if he/she wishes, by a trade union representative or workplace colleague of his/her choice. 3. The chair will state that the hearing is being conducted in accordance with the Trust's Managing Attendance policy and will confirm that a written record of the hearing will be made. 4. The management representative should state their case. 5. The employee (or their representative) will have the opportunity to question the management's representative 6. The panel and the employee relations representative will have the opportunity to question the management representative. 7. The employee (or their representative) should state their case. 8. The management representative will have the opportunity to question the employee and their representative. 9. The panel and the employee relations representative will have the opportunity to question the employee and their representative. 10. The management representative(s) shall have the opportunity to sum up, if they so wish. 11. The employee (or their representative) shall have the opportunity to sum up, if they so wish. The employee (or their representative) shall have the right to speak last. 12. In their summing up, neither management nor trade union representative may introduce any new matter. 13. The panel may at their discretion, adjourn the hearing in order that further evidence is acquired by either party or for any other reason. 14. When the panel is satisfied that management representative and the employee (and/or their representative) have completed their case, and that no further information is required, the Version Page 17 of 18 December 2015
panel will adjourn to consider their decision in private. 15. Parties will only be recalled to clear points of uncertainty. If one party is called then the other should also be present. 16. Following an adjournment, a decision will be given verbally to the employee. This decision will then be confirmed in writing within five working days. Version Page 18 of 18 December 2015