AIBU to think NHS sickness recording is daft?

[summergreens]

So my NHS Trust like all of them thinks it has a problem with sickness absence and has the usual return to work / ongoing monitoring. Fair enough.

I'm rarely off sick so it mostly passes me by.

But I've discovered today that they are counting calendar days not working days when calculating absences.

I'm not paid to work Friday Saturday or Sunday, or Bank Holidays. Yet if I'm sick those days count towards sickness absence?

I'm worried that if I apply for another job the new employer will get a wrong idea.

For example if I was off off Tuesday & Wednesday with a bad cold is 2 days absent. But in my case if I'm off Thurs and back the following Tuesday that's still two working days missed, but the Trust records it as 5 days.

Am I wrong or are they?

That's how SSP works and is therefore how absence is calculated by all employers. One of the sort-of-downsides to being a part-time employee I think (I am one).

When I worked for the NHS ,if you were off sick and then going into your days off you would phone in fit,for your days off.if you were well enough.

They are reporting it correctly, that's how SSP works. Even if you are on full occupational sick pay you are still receiving SSP within that.

Yes, it’s correct. The company I work for, private, is the same. When reporting absence l, the form we fill in asks for total days of absence, including days off shift or weekends, as well as the actual working days we are absent. For internal sickness policy, only the actual working days count as absent. But SSP covers all the days, including weekends etc.

This is standard, not just NHS.

I work for the LA and that is how it is counted for me too.

You just call or email and confirm when you are fit for work.

Yes, I used to work for a large NHS Trust & it was also necessary to phone in fit at the end of your sickness, even if that day was not your usual working day.

You're wrong. They're right. Days off always count. You can self certify for 7 days, that's 7 calendar days not working days. I've never heard of any employer only counting working days

Yes it's all to do with SSP and it is correct, even though it doesn't "feel" it. They're monitoring how much sickness you've had, not how much sick leave you've had iyswim.

Like others have said, you are supposed to call in when you are fit enough to go back to work, even if you aren't scheduled to work for a few more days, and that's when the sickness ends.

Might also be to stop people pulling a sickie on Thursday and having an extra long bank holiday.

So a fact of life no one ever explained to me.

Ok. If that's normal I'll stop complaining. I see IABU.

But there are no other circumstances where I am required to inform work about things that happen on days Im not working are there? They pay me for four days but I'm responsible to them for 7? What about if I'm too unwell to work after my office hours have finished? If I'm sick on a Saturday.? Is that something I should report too??

You need to remember you are given sickness entitlement for the whole calendar month it is not pro-rate so yes if you are sick that includes weekends/rostered days off etc. It is v fair in my opinion and actually is a whacking great entitlement compared to some places.

You are actually paid for the whole calendar month. If you are part time it is pro rated down for your part time hours. Payroll have no record of what days you work, it doesn't matter.

I work for a local authority and it doesnt work like that here.

For example if you are full time and are off for 2 weeks for sickness we will record the sickness absence using a calendar as 14 days but will record you only missed 10 days of work in hours (10 x 7.24 hours = 74 hours). So it is clear that you were sick for 2 weeks but you only missed 10 days of work & at any rtw conversations it will be referenced as you were absent for 10 days.

I don't understand @WimbyAce ? I'm not / nhs staff are not given' any sickness entitlement per month. If we are sick we are sick.

There is an issue of how we are paid during the period of sickness absence. This is contractual. As I said I've been off very rarely so I'd need to check details but I think it's six months full pay and six half pay. To be off for that long though would imply serious illness. I'd be grateful for good terms and conditions in the event something catastrophic occurred to be off sick for 12 months!

@GreenMonstersParty that makes so much more sense to me! From previous replies though sounds like your employer is a minority approach.

When you do your back to work paperwork on say the Monday after, you (on your working schedule) would say you were sick on your working days but we're finished and work ready by the Friday. Then only your working days are counted. The fact you don't work on those days are immaterial. This doesn't work obviously if you are off sick over 2 weeks, but then you are sick for all that time so it should count!

My Trusts asks two questions, a) how many calendar days, and b) how many working days.

So, assuming I work five days a week, if I phones in on Monday morning and returned to work the following Monday I would reporting having 7 days I'll and 5 working days. After 3 episodes or 15 working days, my absence would be escalated to stage two and be monitored for the next year.

Your sickness entitlement is dependent on years service (for substantive staff). The maximum is 6 months full and 6 months half pay. First year you will only have 1 month plus 1. I am part time so if I went sick on a Thursday and returned Monday mine would be 4 days recorded sick. But I have the same entitlement as a full timer.

Sorry, I don't mean the weekend days are immaterial, just that they don't have to count unless you tell them you were sick right up until you returned to work.

Yeah most people don't know about the calendar days thing, but it makes sense. You need to tell your manager you are fit for work and to expect you in on your next working day - it helps with planning admin cover or cancelling patient appointments.

I think it is done like this for the NHS as you are given a whole calendar month of entitlement. So it wouldn't make sense to us if you were off sick for 2 weeks to only deduct working days as you can't miraculously recover for the non working days.

I work for the LA and it doesn't work like that. They count the hours of work missed. Though for self certifying for 7 days that includes the non working days and if I asked for a 2 week sick note from the doctor is would be calendar days.