Nursery staff sickness and absence policy

Policy statement

The University of Dundee Nursery Ltd recognise the importance of the health and well-being of all our employees and is committed to providing good working conditions and health and safety standards. It is the responsibility of The University of Dundee Nursery Ltd to support all employees who are genuinely sick and unable to come to work and to provide a clear, fair and consistent policy for managing short and long – term sickness and absence, whilst recognising that all cases must be dealt with on an individual basis.

General points

1. The University of Dundee Nursery procedure for managing absence MUST be followed. It is the responsibility of every employee to report any absence and only in exceptional cases should this procedure be carried out by someone else on their behalf.
2. If an employee knowingly gives any false information or makes false statements about their sickness it may be treated as misconduct and may result in disciplinary action being taken. In proven cases of gross misconduct, it could lead to dismissal.

Employee responsibilities

Reporting sickness

If you are unable to attend work due to sickness/accident happened out of the nursery it is your responsibility to:

• Contact the Senior Nursery Manager or Junior Nursery Manager at the earliest opportunity so that cover can be arranged.
• Any sickness/absence should be reported to Senior Nursery Manager or Junior Nursery Manager by 8:15, by telephoning the nursery giving a clear indication of the nature of the illness/absences and likely return date. (It is the responsibility of the staff member to ensure their absence has been received by one of Management Team – a voicemail message or text is not acceptable, nor is asking a colleague to relay the message.
• Provide details of any work which needs to be covered urgently.
• Each day you are off The University of Dundee would appreciate if you could contact the nursery office by 3.30 pm at the latest to notify us if you are unable to attend work or that you are fit and will enough to return to work. This enables The University of Dundee Nursery to cover your shift if needed and ensure that your key children have been placed in the care of one of your colleagues and re-arrange other staff members working hours to suit staffing – child ratios.
• Please remember you must telephone by yourself so that The University of Dundee Nursery know you are safe, husband, parents, partners etc. are not allowed to phone on our behalf unless in an extreme emergency.
• If you display any COVID – 19 symptoms, please stay and home and contact nursery as soon as possible. Follow COVID – 19 procedure.

Sickness certification procedure

If absent you are required to comply with certification arrangements as follows:

Length of sickness absence - your responsibility as an employee

• For sickness up to 7 days: Complete a self-certification on the first day of your return to work. The Certificate will be sent to payroll as notification of sick leave and a copy will be kept in the employee’s personnel file. “Self – Certificate” form is available from any Doctor’s Surgery or downloadable from www.direct.gov.uk.
• If sickness extends beyond 7 days: Provide a doctor’s statement of fitness to work certificate promptly to the manager. Further medical certificates must be submitted to give continuous cover for the period of absence. These will be sent to payroll as notification of sick leave and a copy will be kept in employees’ personnel file.

Return to work interview

On returning to work, employees will be required to attend a return to work interview with their Room Senior or when required with Senior Nursery Manager/Junior Nursery Manager to discuss their absence. The discussion should allow for an exchange of information and be as frank and open as possible as this will prevent any misunderstandings concerning the nature of the absence. This will also enable the Room Senior/ Senior Manager or Junior Nursery Manager to discuss any assistance that may be given to enable an employee to return to work or prevent further absence occurring. A record of the interview will be kept by the Management Team in staff personal files.

Short-term persistent absence

Monitoring and consultation

The Management Team record and monitor absences from all employees. If the amount of time being taken off for illness is giving cause for concern, the Management Team will discuss this with employees at the return to work interview. If there is a cause for concern this may be passed to the People team who will then invite employee for informal interview to discuss any issues or support required

Consultation and discussion

In cases of long-term absence the managers will arrange to stay in touch with the employee and conduct regular ‘care and concern’ interviews to discuss possible courses of action should the absence continue; (these interviews will be recorded, a copy of which will be sent to the employee concerned). Employees may choose to be accompanied by a work colleague or trade union representative. The manager may also choose to be accompanied by a representative from the People team. If employees are too ill to travel managers may choose to conduct a home visit at a mutually convenient time.

Disciplinary action

Continued non-attendance may result in disciplinary action being taken if no underlying medical condition can be identified. This may be in the form of either verbal, first written or final written warning, and could ultimately lead to dismissal. As part of this process employees will be given the opportunity to improve their attendance.

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