Sickness absence and sick pay

New and updated

• Type:

  Legal timetable

  Recovery of statutory sick pay for coronavirus cases introduced

  Eligible employers are entitled to recover statutory sick pay paid to employees incapacitated by coronavirus (COVID-19).

• Type:

  Legal timetable

  Entitlement to statutory sick pay for those who are "shielding" introduced

  Employees who are at very high risk of severe illness due to coronavirus (COVID-19) and are unable to work due to shielding are enitled to SSP.

• Date:

  19 March 2020

  Type:

  Commentary and analysis

  Coronavirus (COVID-19): Potential absence and attendance scenarios and how to deal with them

  We set out some possible scenarios related to absence and attendance that HR professionals may face during the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, and explain how they could tackle them. Additional scenarios (added on 19 March) now cover an employee being unable to work because their child's school has closed or an elderly relative has fallen ill, and an employee due to return to work has been stranded abroad.

• Date:

  19 March 2020

  Type:

  Commentary and analysis

  Coronavirus and statutory sick pay

  Consultant editor Darren Newman discusses the changes to the statutory sick pay system brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, and suggests the current crisis may well result in a full review of the system.

• Type:

  Legal timetable

  Entitlement to statutory sick pay for those who are self-isolating due to coronavirus introduced

  Employees who are self-isolating due to coronavirus (COVID-19) are deemed incapable of work for the purposes of SSP.

• Type:

  FAQs

  Should a policy triggering disciplinary action after a certain amount of absence be suspended for employees with coronavirus symptoms?

• Type:

  Legal timetable

  Statutory sick pay rises

  Updated to reflect that the draft Social Security Benefits Up-rating Order 2020 has been published.

• Date:

  21 November 2019

  Type:

  Law reports

  Long-term sick leave: Holiday carry-over limited to four weeks, confirms ECJ

  In TSN v Hyvinvointialan Liitto Ry; AKT v Satamaoperaattorit Ry, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) held that, in the absence of domestic legislation or collective agreements to the contrary, workers on sick leave are not entitled to carry over any paid annual leave over and above the EU minimum of four weeks.

• Date:

  15 October 2019

  Type:

  Podcasts and webinars

  Podcast: Labour turnover and sickness absence rates

  We discuss trends in labour turnover and sickness absence rates based on data gathered by XpertHR.

• Date:

  27 September 2019

  Type:

  Survey analysis

  Use of trigger points and targets in managing absence: XpertHR survey 2019

  Sickness absence interventions are most commonly triggered by employees being absent on three or four different occasions in a rolling 12-month period or by an absence for a total of 10 cumulative days.