Sickness Absence Notification Policy

Step Teachers is committed to ensuring that its temporary workers attend work whenever they are fit for work. However, the Company recognises that people become ill and may need to be absent from work. The Company will manage sickness absence in line with the following policy, although additional steps may be required in individual cases. As a recruitment business, it is important that sufficient communication is maintained to allow the Company to manage client expectations, in addition to supporting temporary workers.

1. This policy applies to all Step Teacher’s temporary workers engaged on a PAYE basis.

2. You may be entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) provided you meet the qualifying statutory criteria. Your right to SSP is in line with the statutory provisions in force from time to time and nothing in this policy creates a right to any contractual sick pay.

3. Due to the safeguarding and operational requirements of schools and educational settings, prompt communication regarding sickness absence is essential.

Your responsibilities

4. You must take responsibility for your own attendance at work and, if you are ill you must:

i. comply in a timely manner with our notification and certification procedures and maintain reasonable communication with us while you are absent from work;

ii. provide sufficient information to Step Teachers, as and when required, to keep us informed of your condition and prognosis; and

iii. co-operate with Step Teachers to implement any advice from medical and/or occupational health practitioners in order to facilitate a timely return to work.

iv. immediately inform Step Teachers if you are currently engaged on an assignment or confirmed booking which may be affected by your sickness absence.

Notification and evidence of incapacity

5. You, or someone on your behalf, must notify your consultant of any absence at the earliest opportunity and no later than the first day of sickness. Where this is not possible, you must notify your consultant as soon as reasonably practicable.

5a. You may lose the right to SSP for days that your notification is late, except for exceptional circumstances.

5b. Temporary workers on assignment with a client must also notify the client school or educational setting of their absence in line with the client’s absence procedures wherever reasonably practicable.

5c. Failure to follow the notification procedure without good reason may result in SSP being delayed or withheld where permitted by law and may also result in removal from current or future assignments where appropriate.

6. If you are absent for seven days or less, you must provide evidence of incapacity by way of self-certification, which should be sent to your consultant. Self-certification should ideally be provided by way of Form SC1, however other forms of self-certification may be accepted at the Company’s discretion depending on the circumstances.

7. Where you are absent for more than seven days, you must provide a Statement of Fitness for Work (also known as a ‘Fit Note’) from your GP or other healthcare professional and forward this to your consultant as soon as reasonably practicable. SSP may be withheld until a valid Fit Note has been provided. If your absence continues after the expiry of the first Fit Note, further Fit Notes must be obtained as necessary to cover the whole period of absence and forwarded to your consultant.

Statutory Sick Pay

8. Subject to certain exceptions, you will be entitled to receive SSP for a maximum of 28 weeks in any period of entitlement (the maximum such period being three years) in accordance with and subject to the prevailing regulations.

9. SSP will only be paid to you for qualifying days which you are unable to work for due to incapacity. The rate of SSP will be at the prevailing statutory rate. You will only receive SSP for each full day that you are sick.

10. Your qualifying days will be agreed in your Assignment Details Form. Where there is genuinely no set pattern of work or the qualifying days have not been agreed, your qualifying day for the purposes of SSP will be Wednesday.

11. Step Teachers may, where appropriate, discuss a worker’s fitness to return to an assignment following sickness absence and may request reasonable medical information where necessary.

Reasonable adjustments for disabled workers

12. Step Teachers will comply with our obligations to make reasonable adjustments for disabled workers under the Equality Act (EqA) 2010. Under the EqA, an individual is disabled if they have a physical or mental condition which is long-term-and which has a substantial effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities. A worker who is, or has been, absent due to illness may be disabled if they have a long-term condition that meets this definition, however this does not mean that all employees with health problems are disabled.

13. Step Teachers will, wherever possible, consider all reasonable adjustments which could be made in respect of a disabled worker’s assignment in order to facilitate your return to work.

14. Step Teachers will usually seek the worker’s views in considering adjustments and may also seek to conduct an occupational health assessment from a medical professional for guidance on what adjustments may be reasonable. This will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.