Sarah Garth
Samantha Tipper
Hello and welcome to ASK. (This feature is pretty much what it says on the tin). In this issue we have Sarah Garth & Samantha Tipper at Commercial Law Firm, Halliwells, on hand to educate us on the topic of Employment Law. We ASK the experts for you. So, if you have any queries please just ASK and we’ll see what we can do.
I own a small business and am worried that during the World Cup there will be disruption due to employees not turning up for work. Is there anything I can do to prevent this?
Surveys have suggested that during major sporting events there is a greater tendency for employees to phone in sick and the World Cup is likely to be no exception. Absences can be a problem as matches being played during working hours will be broadcast live on television. Then there is also the ‘day after’ sickies where the employee has over indulged.
You will be better able to deal with employees who you suspect are just skiving if you have in place strict guidelines on attendance. An absence policy is something that you could find useful all year round, though you could highlight this in particular before and during the tournament.
10 - WORK
A written policy should make it clear the procedures that should be followed when they are unable to attend work and the potential consequences if they are found to be taking unauthorised time off or are absent without good cause.
Absence monitoring should be standard practice within the business in order to keep records of attendance and identify whether there are patterns of absence developing. This could be a sign of a long-term health problem or an indication that the employee is abusing the sick pay scheme.
During the World Cup you should ensure that employees are aware that levels of attendance are subject to monitoring and sickness absences will be investigated if they coincide with football matches or the day following.
Entitlement to sick pay should be dealt with in the contract of employment.
The minimum the employee will normally be entitled to statutory sick pay (“SSP”) if absent due to incapacity. However, under the SSP scheme the employee who takes the odd day off will not be entitled to any pay due to the requirement that there are three ‘waiting days’ before the right to SSP is triggered.
A further aspect will be dealing with employees who attend work whilst under the influence of alcohol. Not only does this mean employees will be struggling with their workload and prone to making mistakes but it could also be a very serious health and safety issue. Disciplinary procedures should be used where the employee attends work and is clearly unfit due to alcohol.
The matter should be investigated and all the circumstances taken into account, though the end result may be dismissal for gross misconduct.
Employees that want to take time off to watch the match and possibly to ‘recover’ the next day should be able to take some holidays. Holiday requests should be dealt with in your standard way.
An alternative approach that some employers are taking to discourage increased sickness absence is to make temporary changes to work practices in order to allow employees to watch the match. Whether these changes are possible will depend upon the type of business.
The other suggestion is to actually screen the match in the workplace. Many employers consider that this is the best means of not only reducing sickness absences but also helping to build and reinforce team relationships.
For further information on Halliwells, please visit
www.halliwells.com
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