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.
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.
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.
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.
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