Glenn,
If your organisation had a rehabilitation policy you would have made
provision for staff to have a graduated return to work after long term
sickness whilst receiving full payment. This removes the anomaly of a person
receiving full pay to stay at home longer, and less money for trying to get
back to work. I introduced such a scheme in an NHS Trust way back in 1986
(before it was a Trust) so it is certainly not a new, or alien, concept. It
is normal for such rehab programmes to have fairly strict guidelines so that
it is not too protracted, but individual exceptions should be available.
Maybe you could use this incident to introduce such a policy.
Anne Beckerton
University of Cambridge
Occupational Health Service Manager
Fenners
Gresham Road
Cambridge CV1 2ES
01223 336597
----- Original Message -----
From: "Glenn Raybone" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, February 04, 2003 9:32 PM
Subject: Return to Work advice
> Hello all,
>
> could I have comments and advice on the following:-
>
> an employee (NHS) has been 'off sick' for some months. She is reviewed and
> a programme to return to work is planned. Basically she works 5 days a
> week, and plans to return by doing 3 days a week initially. She has annual
> leave entitlements to take and I have suggested she uses this up in the
> retrun to work plan.
>
> However, and here is the question, she was also seen by a physician (OH)
> who said that she need not use up her annual leave, and that the 2 days a
> week she would not be working could be classed as 'sick', because, she is
> not "well enough to return to 5 days a week, and by asking her to do so
> would end up with her going off altogether". Now I am puzzled at this.
> Either she is fit to return or not. But if she returns on a reduced number
> of days, albeit temporary, she cannot count the 2 days she's not at work
as
> sick. Surely it is normal practice to ask her to use up her annual leave
> entitlement?
>
> What do others think?
>
> Glenn Raybone
>
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