A guy at work called in sick yesterday morning and had the day off. He then came in this morning, stayed for 30 minutes and then went home sick. If we have more then 5 days of sick we have to provide a doctors note. Because he came in this morning, all be it for 30 minutes, would those 5 days still start from yesterday or would today be classed as a new period that the sickness started? Hope that makes sense.
For some employers (including mine) this would count as 2 separate incidents of sickness.
Lots of employers now use The Bradford Factor to give employees a sickness rating:
If you turned up at my place just for 10 mins, it would be counted as though you were there for that day and not recorded as an absence.
In the senario you describe, he would have had one day off sick and then be counted as in for the second day so if he rang in sick in day 3, that would start a new period of sickness.
I know lots of people who drag themselves out of bed for 1/2 hour for exactly this reason.
Thanks for you answers. I must have got the number of days without needing a sick note wrong. If I understand you correctly then this is totally unfair as we all know he is pulling a fast one and other can't do their jobs properly without him being there. Some people!