Welcome to the new look Ellisons Employment Law Update. We aim to provide employers with short updates that highlight issues relevant to your business – without bombarding you with too much information! If you would like further detail on the articles below or any other employment related queries I would be pleased to hear from you – jayne.scott@ellisonslegal.com or 01206 719693.

Three Lions on a Shirt!

Whether you love them or hate them most of us have an opinion on the vuvuzelas that dominate the World Cup! But the buzzing in your ears might be the least of your worries if your business is affected by world cup related absences that you have been unable to plan for. It is widely predicted that days will be lost due to employees “throwing a sickie” to watch a key match or even due to the after effects of over zealous celebrations or the drowning of sorrows.

It will be difficult to challenge the reasons an employee gives for being off sick on a particular day – especially since you can’t demand a medical certificate until the employee has been absent for 7 consecutive days. Perhaps a better way of approaching the problem therefore, is to accommodate your employees as best you can.

For example some employers will attempt to minimise the adverse effect of potential absences by allowing staff to watch key matches on workplace televisions. If you do so it would be wise not to only allow England matches to be watched in order to ward off potential claims of discrimination.

Another option which will work for some businesses but not others is to allow employees to start early and finish early so that popular matches can be viewed in their own time.

Fit Notes – Help or Hindrance
for Employers?

On 6th April 2010 the much anticipated “Fit-Note” was introduced. So what is a “Fit Note” and will it help or hinder employers?

The new form (properly called a Statement of Fitness for Work) still allows a GP to confirm that an employee is unfit for work. However the form also offers the opportunity for the GP to go further and actually consider if the employee could return to work if the employer made adjustments such as a phased return to work; altered hours; amended duties or workplace adaptations.

Employers are not obliged to make the changes suggested but the employer’s duties to consider reasonable adjustments under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 continue and a failure to actively consider or apply the suggestions made on the Fit Note will surely appear as evidence in the disability discrimination claims and stress at work claims of the future.

Employers would therefore be wise to maintain detailed records of any consideration they give to suggestions made by the GP and to seek legal advice where appropriate.

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