Unfit to work, not to meet!

There are a lot of myths about sickness absence.

One of the most common is the idea that an employee who is signed off sick is unfit to attend any meeting.

Especially if they have been signed off for “stress at work”.

This excuse is often trotted out by sick employees to have been invited to a disciplinary meeting, usually as a way to stall or upset the process.

When an employee is signed off sick, this means that their GP considers them “unfit for work”, which means they are unable to carry out their normal duties.

However, in almost all cases, this DOES NOT mean that they are unfit to attend ANY type of meeting whatsoever – even if they try to convince you that this is the case.

Although you should show flexibility – e.g. by arranging a meeting or hearing at a time which specifically suits the employee – you should not allow the process to be derailed.

So, when it comes to disciplinary and capability matters, you should point out to the employee that it is usually in everyone’s interest to deal with issues while facts are still fresh in the mind.

Furthermore, where an employee has been signed off sick with stress or stress at work – popular choices when there’s a hint of a disciplinary meeting – you should explain that resolving the matter could remove the cause of the stress – after all, the employee may actually have no case to answer.

What do you do if a sick employee repeatedly insists that they are unfit to attend a disciplinary hearing?
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After Christmas I went – with the kids – to Berlin and the Christmas markets.

It was great have a Gluhwein (okay, a few) and to be back in Germany with the kids again for the first time since 2011.

I’m in Germany most years, but the kids aren’t, so I found myself explaining all of the differences between our country and the one that we found ourselves in.

Obviously, they drive on the other side of the road. Everyone knows that.

But they also sell ibuprofen pills in 400mg rather than 200mg doses, making it a bit easier to get rid of my headache (from the Gluhwein!).

If you cross the road when the pedestrian lights are red, you could be arrested.

And they charge a deposit on all plastic bottles, and some glass ones.
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Well, we’ve made it past Christmas and the next significant date in the HR world is the 6 April.

That’s when all the statutory employment entitlements change.

There is no legal requirement to inform your staff of the changes BUT we would recommend letting them know the change to the pension deductions and minimum wage. That will minimise questions when they get their April salary.
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The issue of maternity pay has come up A LOT lately.

We’ve had several calls from clients indignant that new staff members have now told them they are pregnant.

So here’s the first thing:

You can’t fire them for not telling you they are pregnant – they are not legally required to, and you would immediately lose the tribunal.

However, although all pregnant staff are entitled to maternity leave, not all are entitled to maternity pay.

Maternity pay is my least favourite part of HR, mainly because it has a lot of convoluted maths in it.

For all pregnant employees you need to make sure that you get their MAT B1 certificate, which is issued by the midwives/GP at about 24 weeks.

The MAT B1 confirms the Expected Week of Confinement (EWC), i.e. when the baby will be born.

We need that date for all calculations, and, to be honest, as proof of a genuine pregnancy not a “you can’t fire me for poor performance” pregnancy.
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You couldn’t make it up.

Most employers know, for good or bad, that it is tricky to dismiss a pregnant woman.

But not impossible.

There are ways to part company if performance or attitude is bad, and they involve documenting meetings, setting deadlines etc, so that you can prove that the pregnancy is not the reason you’re dismissing them.

So we were shocked into silence when we received a call from a client saying that he had received an Early Conciliation form from ACAS (the first step in a tribunal case).

He had obviously dismissed someone without talking to us, so we asked for the details.

“Well, she only has 3 months service…”

So far so good, there is no protection for unfair dismissal under 2 years’ service.

“And she is 6 months pregnant…”

Uh oh.

“And she has gotten quite big and can’t bend and do the cleaning, so I fired her”
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Under shared parental leave (introduced 2014) the husband, civil partner or partner of the pregnant women has the right to unpaid time off to attend up to 2 ante-natal appointments.

Action: don’t laugh when a man asks for time off to go to an antenatal appointment.