PN 889 Attendance Management Flashcards
What is the LFB committed to?
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is committed to promoting a healthy working environment and to supporting staff in maximising attendance and minimising ill health.
What effect does sickness have on the service ?
Sickness absence can put additional pressure on colleagues who have to cover workload which subsequently has the potential to cause low morale and reduce the efficiency of a business.In addition, absence from work puts financial pressure on an organisation. LFB recognises that supporting staff to maximise their attendance and minimise ill health are key principles.
The main objectives of the managing attendance policy are to ?
• Maximise attendance at work;
•Ensure timely intervention to provide appropriate support to those who are absent through illness or injury before considering the capability process;
• Minimise the disruption to service delivery caused by sickness absence.
Where can you get help and assistance if required with managing sickness?
Advice and assistance is available from the Human Resource Management (HRM) section and the Occupational Health Service.
The Managing Attendance Handbook provides further practical examples of the application of the policy and contains templates of the letters and forms referred to throughout the policy.
What are the Employee responsibilities ?
The employee has responsibility for immediately notifying the manager of an absence this should be at least one hour or as soon as reasonably practicable prior to the commencement of their shift
on Days 2-3 of the absence where these are duty days, within the same timescale as for Day 1, unless the manager has been informed that the sickness is likely to extend to Day 4.
The employee must contact the manager again on Day 4 of the absence and indicate whether or not the absence is likely to continue.
Employees must attend medical assessments/appointments and sickness absence meetings arranged by LFB if required
it is the responsibility of the employee to submit Statements of Fitness for Work (fit notes) as and when required
In the event the employee’s contact details change, employees on sickness absence should notify their manager of the new details as soon as practicable.
What are the Managers responsibilities
It is the manager’s responsibility to ensure that their employees are fully aware of what is expected of them and that they adhere to allreporting/certification requirements. It is the responsibility of the line manager to record sickness, including certification details, on StARS, see the Managing Attendance Handbook for instructions on this. They must also ensure that employees are referred to an occupational health professional as and when required and that support mechanisms for employees are regularly reviewed and that confidentiality is maintained throughout the managing attendance process.
How is absence defined ?
Short term
A short term absence is defined as any single period of absence of less than 28 days.
Long term
Long Term sickness absence is defined as a period of absence lasting 28 days or more.
What are the Advice and support mechanisms?
It is recognised that employees may require support and assistance during an absence and the following sources of assistance may prove helpful:
• The employee’s line manager
• Human Resources
• Trade Union Representative
• Occupational Health Service,which includes a physiotherapy service
• The employee’sGP/treatingconsultant
• CounsellingandWellbeing(C&W)
• FireFighters Charity(in particular their rehabilitation services at JubileeHouse/Marine Court/Harcombe House)
In addition the following may prove helpful:
• Flexible working
• Temporary alternative/modified duties • Phased return to work
• Redeployment(temporary/permanent) • A temporary change in work location
What are the certification requirements?
Sickness of 4-7 calendar days
Where the absence is for 4-7 calendar days, the employee shall on return to work complete a self- certificate form covering the full period of sickness.
Sickness of 8 consecutive calendar days or more
Where the absence extends beyond seven calendar days the employee will complete the self- certificate for days 1-7 as soon as practicable. In respect of sickness on and after the 8th day, the employee will submit a ‘Statement of Fitness for Work Note’ from a GP or a hospital certificate to covertheperiodofabsencebeyondthefirstsevendays.These should be submitted as soon as practicable after they are obtained, and the originals, or scanned copies, provided in each case.
What are the reasons for Absence triggers?
To ensure support can be provided at the earliest opportunity, the absence triggers identified below are particularly relevant when dealing with short term intermittent sickness
Absence triggers are monitored over a 12 month rolling period.
What are the absence triggers?
Attendance support meetings are organised when the following absence triggers are reached:
In a 6 Month Rolling Period
• 3separateinstances,or
• a total absence of 6 working days or over in any six month period.
12 Month Rolling Period
• 5separateinstances,or
• a total absence of 8working days or over in any twelve month period.
What are the reasons for Attendance Support meetings?
Attendance Support meetings are in place to ensure line managers provide all possible support and advice to resolve attendance issues and, in the case where long or short term absence is causing a repeated concern, to ensure this is provided before the capability process is considered.
Attendance support meetings provide a structured approach for managing long and short term absence issues, in addition to the routine support provided by line managers
The success of attendance support meetings relies on ?
a manager’s ability to exercise common sense and judgement when supporting employees through the managing attendance process. The manager’s knowledge of the employee and the relevant personal circumstances will assist in determining the content and tone of the discussion.This meeting should also help to identify if there are any work related issues or any personal/domestic problems which may be contributing to the employee’s absence.
Employees Must receive?
written notification of the requirement to attend an attendance support meeting and of their right to be accompanied. A checklist is available for those managers who require further guidance on the issues that should be discussed during the
meeting.
Following the meeting, the manager should write to the employee confirming the content of the discussion and the outcomes e.g. targets and timescales for improvement and any support mechanisms that require to be arranged.
Copies Of the checklists for short term sickness and long term sickness and all the letters used within the managing attendance process are also available on the Attendance management page on Hotwire.
What happens when a employee states Work related stress?
In cases where an employee cites work related stress as a perceived source and causal factor of their absence, the Brigade undertakes an automatic referral to the Occupational Health service (and also in all other cases of stress,anxietyand/ordepression).The Brigade has a duty of care to support employees and to ensure early and appropriate support to employees who feel they suffering from work related stress
