Dismissal For Too Much Sick Leave

[buffymad]

What would be the normal course of events if someone was to be dismissed for too much sick leave? Does the employer have to issue a series of warnings first and if so, should these be documented etc? Just wondering what would normally happen ...

[Buenchico]

Written by a solicitor;
"An employee who is off sick for a prolonged period of time can be fairly dismissed if they are unlikely to be well enough to return to work within a reasonable time.

What amounts to a reasonable time depends on the nature of the job, the specific difficulties encountered by the employer in covering for the absence and the size and administrative resources of the employer"

and
"An employee who has frequent short term absences can be dismissed fairly even if no one absence would be long enough to justify dismissal on its own. Before an employer can dismiss for this reason the employee needs to be told what level of sickness absence is not acceptable and given the opportunity to improve their sickness absence levels"

Source:
http://www.rightsatwork.co.uk/employment-law/sickness-absences.html

Links to relevant legislation can be found here:
http://www.hse.gov.uk/sicknessabsence/legalguidance.htm

[factor-fiction]

Another factor is how long the employee has worked there. If it's less than 12 months (may be 24 months now, I'm not sure) they can be dismissedfor almost any reason

[thugulike]

Firstly the process followed depends on whether the disciplinary (capability) procedure is within or outwith the contract of employment. Assuming the employee has been employed for 2 years then the capability procedure should be followed (this is normally appended to the disciplinary procedure). If the employee has less than 2 years service AND the disciplinary procedure is outwith the contract then you can just dismiss. You must however ensure that the Equality Act is complied with as even with less than 2 years service there could be a claim for unfair dismissal for Disability Discrimination.

In short, consult the policy and ensure that it is followed

[Peter Pedant]

yeah you can fire them for incapacity ( cant do the job)
and the disciplinary process should detail what the steps are for that section.

clearly not popular with sick employees...