Policy 3.1 Sickness Absence*

3.1 Sickness Absence*

LUU will continue to pay you when you are off sick. The amount you receive depends on a number of things including your length of service and the length of time that you have been off sick. LUU's sick pay is inclusive of Statutory Sick Pay.

Statutory Sick Pay is a minimum payment which the government guarantees you will receive if you are off work subject to your earnings and the current rate of SSP can be found on https://www.gov.uk/statutory-sick-pay Sick pay varies according to how long you have worked for LUU and is either full or half pay as indicated in the following table.

Day one up to three months

0 weeks full pay

0 weeks half pay

After three months but less than six months

2 weeks Full Pay

2 weeks Half Pay

After six months but less than one year

9 weeks Full Pay

9 weeks Half Pay

After one year but less than three years

13 weeks Full Pay

13 weeks Half Pay

After three years but less than five years

20 weeks Full Pay

20 weeks Half Pay

After five years

26 weeks Full Pay

26 weeks Half Pay

If you go off sick, any sick pay that you have already received in a rolling 24 month period (the previous 104 weeks) will be deducted from your entitlement.

Term time only staff will receive sick pay if they fall ill during term time (i.e. whilst they are due to be working). Their entitlement will be based on the above chart.

You must ensure that you do the following in order to get your sick pay. Please note that pay will be withheld if you fail to meet these obligations.

Telephone your line manager to inform them of your absence as soon as possible before your shift is due to start and no later than half an hour after you would normally have started work. You should call in person unless you are unable to do so. If your Line Manager is not available you should leave a message with the People Team on 0113 3801 362. You should tell us the nature of your illness and how long you expect to be absent for.

If you have been unable to tell you Line Manager how long you will be off sick you should continue to call in each working day you are off, following the procedure above.

Get a Statement of Fitness to work from your doctor for any absence over seven days.

A Statement of Fitness to work is a note provided by your GP or by the hospital if you are an in-patient, to say that you are not fit to work for a specified period of time. It is essential that you provide one or both (if applicable) of these documents to make sure you get your sick pay.

In certain circumstances we may ask for a Statement of Fitness to Work to cover all of your absence from the first day.

If you have been off work for a long time we may ask for you to provide a Fit to Return to Work certificate. This is a note obtained from the doctor to state that you are now fit to return. This is particularly important for staff involved in food handling.

You must be willing at any time whilst you are off sick to undertake a medical examination by an independent medical practitioner nominated by LUU. We may also ask for a report from your own GP subject to the requirements of the Access to Medical Reports Act. If you do not agree to such an enquiry we may still take action without the benefit of such reports.

If the independent medical practitioner states that you are fit to work then you will lose your entitlement to sick pay from the date on which the doctor deemed that you should return to work.

Exclusions*

You may be excluded from the scheme if the sickness absence is caused as a result of your misconduct.

If your absence is as a result of an accident for which damages may be receivable from a third party you will receive sick pay in advance of receiving these damages but may later be required to refund the amount received to LUU.