In sickness and in health

Sickness is a very real issue for employers. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), in a 2018 publication, Sickness absence in the UK labour market: 2018, an estimated 141.4 million working days were lost in a year because of sickness or injury in the UK, the equivalent to 4.4 days per worker

- Adam Bernstein

Even so, drilling down through the data for the sector, the ONS found – in its Sickness absence rate by industry, 2017, UK, published 2018 – that ‘Transport and storage’ saw an annual sickness rate of 2.5%. That’s better than ‘Health and social work’ at 3.0% but worse than ‘Mining and quarrying’ at 1.2%.

Now add in the impact of coronavirus and it’s clear that the issue of sickness is more than likely to be at the top of everyone’s agenda – personal and corporate.

But no matter the statistic, absence can have quite an impact. So, where does a firm stand when sickness and absence is harming its business?

The law speaks

The starting point for any discussion on the topic is what the law prescribes. Mark Stevens, a senior associate at law firm VWV, says that employees who are absent from work are protected and can take time off from work if they are unwell.

It’s for this reason that Arwen Makin, senior solicitor at ESP Law, recommends organisations have a sickness absence policy which outlines the expected reporting requirements, information on sick pay, absence trigger points and the overall absence management process.

She’s also clear “that businesses do not have to put up with persistent absence, particularly if it is going to suffer as a result.” Dismissal is not unreasonable in the right circumstances.

But not all situations are treated equally which is why employers must be mindful of employees with a disability. Says Makin: “Dismissal of a disabled team member can be a much riskier process, as a dismissal without a proper process can be discriminatory.” Discrimination claims have no upper limit on awards that can be made.