Afternoon All,
I am looking for some advice on how to tackle the situation in hand.
I have an employee due to leave on May 23rd. They have been on holiday this past week and were due to start back in work yesterday up until 23rd. The person is question has not turned up and I believe lying about being ill abroad. There has been roumers around the business that they have told people they will not be returning after holiday and will call in sick until end of notice period.
Currently we do not pay sick leave. The question I have is that should we be paying the employee up until the 23rd or will they receive nothing even though its the notice month?
Many thanks, Katie
Replies
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Sorry I've just re read if they have phoned in sick you would simply pay them SSP up until the end of the notice period. On the eight day of absence they would need to provide you with a doctors certificate. So yes you would still need to pay them.<br />
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KR<br />
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Sarah
If the employee has failed to follow the Comapny absence procedures then they are AWOL absent without leave.
Although establishing they are OK will be the first thing we consider. Although this can be hard if they are AWOL as opposed to there is some sort of problem.
The contract would typically state that AWOL is unpaid. Write to the employee to advise them of this.
In terms of you handle it it can depend on if they have more than 2 years' service. Some employers simply 'assume' the employee has chosen to resign but this can be a problem if it transpires they have not. Other cases I would write to the employee and advise the absence without leave is considered misconduct and hold a disciplinary hearing, if they don't attend rearrange the hearing and write to them again stating if they fail to attend the meeting will be held in their absence and what the potential outcome could be.
The reality is however by the time you do this their last day will have pased!
Kind regards
Sarah
Technically you would pay them up until their holiday has finished, if they haven't notified you of their absence they are AWOL and therefore would not get paid, but if your company do not pay sick leave they wont gain any money anyway. I would try to contact them, and note down the times you tried, so at least you have done every thing you need to do from the company point of view. Maybe a letter to be sent to them. They are still very much an employee and as much as it grieves us sometimes they have a lot of rights on their side.
If they have phoned in ill, all you can do is ensure they have followed your absence reporting procedure, and possibly have a plan b for them not finishing there notice period.
Sorry its not a better answer