Civil Service: Phased Return - how can I make it work?

[Usernamechanged24]

I have been a civil servant for over 20 years. Am returning to work after my first ever absence (unfortunately a very long one) . OH have advised, by way of a reasonable adjustment for my disability, that i should have a phased return over 6-8 weeks. They have suggested that i build my hours up over this period until i am full time.

HR initially welcomed this and said that as it was a reasonable adjustment they would pay my full wage (for 6-8 weeks). Today I have been told they have changed their minds and I will only be paid for the hours I work.

I understand that this probably seems reasonable : you should be paid for what you work. But I just don’t know how I am going to make it work/ survive. The amount I will earn will be very low , even if I am allowed to top it up with a reduced benefit rate , and won’t be sufficient for me to pay travel costs to and from work plus housing and food: let alone other bills.

I asked if I could return on full time hours but they said no because OH have advised I won’t be able/ I need to phase back in. What am I going to do?

I have been on nil pay for a year. I have used up all my savings and have borrowed to the max. I currently live from benefit payment to benefit payment , have maxed out credit cards and overdraft. I feel so fed up : just like giving up.

WWYD? Has anyone been in a similar position? If so how did you make it work. Thank you.

Try contacting Charity for civil servants to see if they can give you any help with regards to your expenses.

If the health conditions are ongoing, could you use Access to Work for help with travel?

Firstly - just wanted to say good luck, I hope your return to work goes well - sounds like you've been through the mill over the last couple of years.

On the salary, HR have corrected their position, they are right because you're on nil sick pay. CS policies are usually that you get paid for the hours you work on a phased return and then the other time is sick paid, paid at the rate you're currently entitled to. Which is nil. If you'd been in the first 5 months you'd have got full pay until you'd accrued 5 months' sick time.

They are naughty not to have mentioned the annual leave though!

For context I had 3 staff members in my old team return from LTS at the end of their full pay period because they couldn't afford to go to half pay, wanted lengthy phased returns and then discovered the sick pay part was paid at half pay.

You can keep claiming universal credit until you're not entitled to anything, the claim will recalculate automatically as your employer reports earnings every month.

I'm a civil servant and a union rep. As the phased return has been recommended by occupational health and you are being prevented from returning full time, you are entitled to full pay as this is a reasonable adjustment to support your return to work

Get in touch with Union if HR and/or management are being difficult about this

You should be entitled to the full annual leave you have accrued: so it would be an enormous amount of time. I think once you point it out your work may well be keen to allow you to use it to phase your return: otherwise you'll have potentially 1.5 years* (30 days + BHs + kings birthday) which I think would be what, nearly 60 days or 12 weeks?

You'll be accruing holiday as soon as you return as well, so potentially would be away for 19 weeks in your first year back. Given you have been on nil pay for months I would be making the most of it.

Instead of 4 by 3 hour days could you start with 3 by 4 hour days or 2 by 6 hour days to reduce travel cost? You could suggest doing something like working 4 hours on Monday, Wednesday and Friday so there's a gap to rest in between each day.

My workplace treated my phased return as in book the worked hours to clients and overheads and the remaining hours to sick leave. That said I was still at full pay as I'd forced myself back.

Could you WFH as a reasonable adjustment until you're fit to go back to the office?

See if access to work could pay your travel expenses.

I think you are in quite a complicated situation and need professional advice, union, cab, acas etc.

Sorry to hijack your thread OP but @Propertylover and @Papillon23, but I'd be v grateful if you could point me in the direction of the policy that says you are entitled to carry over bank holidays.

I'm about to start a phased return, but neither my manager not my union rep are aware of this. My department has shat on me many times over the past year and a half, I don't trust them to do the right thing at all, it would be good to have a bit of info before raising this.

Name changed as v outing.

I think it’s Stringer vs HMRC plus https://www.gov.uk/taking-sick-leave#:~:text=Employees%20must%20give%20their%20employer,may%20be%20fit%20for%20work%27. Plus Working Time Regs.

Ask HR what they do for women on mat leave and the same principle applies I.e. if you are sick you have not taken that day as leave therefore it carries forward.

It’s not that unusual in the CS and the key point is the op has exhausted her entitlement to occupational sick pay. The op has plenty of annual leave so can use that to phase back to work.

Thank you so much, I'll have a look

Thank you. I have met with my line manager but he hasn’t been able to go into much/ any detail about what the job will look like in terms of hours worked each day and tasks to be completed. I did ask but he wasn’t yet able to say : hopefully it will be sorted soon. It’s all a bit worrying as they haven’t even confirmed location and salary yet : i am very anxious about the lack of detailed information but just have to try and make the best of it for now.

They should be encouraging to use annual leave to allow you to use the leave you have accrued. It cannot be carried over indefinitely so it’s a perfect opportunity to use on a return ie be part time for a bit using AL
check the sick policy in regards to phased return and pay. It’s different depending on the Gov dept but it will be in policy. Most will pay full time for 6-8 weeks however if it goes beyond then you are paid for what you work. It should be in your managing attendance procedure or the sick pay policy
payroll/SSCL should be able to also advise

Hi

Thanks again for all your advice. I am very grateful. I am still waiting on an answer from HR about salary, annual leave accrued etc Hopefully I will get the information soon as I have a new provisional start date in two weeks.

In the meantime I wondered how others have structured their hours worked during a phased return? OH have said the phased return should last for 8 weeks , start from 12 hours working up to FT (37/42?) but haven’t provided any more detail. They have also said I should work from home (although I have already been asked to go in for 5 meetings!).

.Just wondered if anyone had any thoughts about how to structure the working week / increases? So for example perhaps I should suggest in week 1 I do three days of 4 hours? Then what would you propose for the next week - 16 hours? So increase by 4 hours a week?

Just wondered if there was a normal pattern of increase? Obviously recognising things may change etc..

Work haven’t provided any suggestions but I think it would be helpful if we all had a clear understanding of when I will and won’t be working : just to avoid any confusion? Obviously things may come up and I will meed to be flexible but good to have a bit of a structure?

Senior HR professional (and ex-civil servant)

I would propose Mon, Weds and Fri as your working days to start with (so that you have a day to recover afterwards - don’t underestimate how tired you will be).

3 days at 4 hours. (12)
3 days at 5 hours. (15)
3 days at 6 hours. (18)
4 days at 6 hours. (24) (maybe Weds off)
4 days at 7 hours. (28) (maybe Weds off)
5 days at 6 hours (30)
5 days at 6.75 hours (33.75)
5 days at 7.5 hours (37.5)

And you can use 13.6 days of accrued leave to top up to full pay if needed, leaving plenty for a week off after 8-12 weeks (you’ll likely need it).

(Their policy should state what happens about pay during a phased return. HR shouldn’t be making that up.

Thank you all so much for the advice you provided. I am now in week 2 of my phased return. I am increasing the hours over an 8 week period as suggested by pp OneMoreTime23 above (thank you).

Although I have been a civil servant for around 20 years i have only ever previously worked full time and in the office. During the phased return a couple of issues have come up that I would be very grateful for your advice on (hope you don’t mind my asking);

1.I still haven’t had confirmation about how much I will be paid for the phased return.. I did ask HR but they still haven’t got back to me despite knowing my start date. I wanted to show willing so continued with the phased return but am really worried. I asked for details about how much annual leave I had accrued (so that ,as others have suggested, it might be offset) . The HR business partner said that annual leave isn’t accrued during sick leave. I queried this and quoted HMRC vs Stringer and others. HR said they’d get back to me but despite my chasing I’ve still not heard back. Not really sure what to do;

2,My line manager has advised that after the 8 week phased return my performance will be reviewed. I am nervous about this as I haven’t actually been set any objectives nor told what my role and responsibilities etc will be . I have just been told to complete mandatory learning and the induction etc. I looked for guidance about the process on the intranet but there isn’t any, so I asked to meet with my line manager to get more details/ clarification.

We met today and he said that until the eight weeks phased return is over my role will just be loose as until they know I am well enough they don’t want to allocate work to me. I sort of understand that but am worried that I won’t be able to demonstrate what I can do if I am not given tasks? For the same reason he said he hasn’t introduced me to any of the team or invited me to the weekly team meetings, nor have I been given access to group drives, added to copy lists or shown their work etc. I would normally be proactive and approach members of the unit but, as he hasn’t yet worked out my role, I got the distinct impression he doesn’t want me to do that.

It’s only the second week so I appreciate still early days and things may change , but to be honest at the moment I feel a bit isolated/ like a useless lump. Is this just how it works during a phased return / when you work from home? As a line manager I have always tried to include staff from day one but appreciate as I’ve been off sick they may just be being gentle? Part of me thinks I should just role with it but I am a bit worried I could be marked down for it at the end of the phased return?

Wondering whether, if things don’t change , I should (with Line Managers permission) start going into the office a couple of days a week? OH suggested I work from home for the phased return but am wondering if that might actually hinder my full return? WWYD? Is it normally like this? Do I just need to be more patient? Thank you

A lot of what you have mentioned appears concerning. Obviously we don’t know why you were off but I can’t see any reason you would not be introduced to colleagues and excluded from team meetings. Are you well enough to start attending the office on the odd day to meet the team. I would be worried they are setting you up to fail and they would face less pressure / backlash from the team if your colleagues had never met you.

Do you have a good union rep? Are you keeping a written record? Have you emailed your line manager asking to agree an interim job spec and objectives for your phased return period? I hope things go well. I would have wanted you to come in for a coffee and meet the team if you were able and happy to do so. It is hard enough when people return to their own team after a prolonged time off, say for cancer treatment, but to go back to a new team must be very challenging. Good luck.

@Usernamechanged24 send your manager these link regarding accruing annual leave.
https://www.gov.uk/taking-sick-leave#:~:text=Statutory%20holiday%20entitlement%20is%20built,into%20the%20next%20leave%20year.

https://www.gov.uk/employers-sick-pay

https://www.acas.org.uk/checking-sick-pay/sick-pay-and-holiday-pay

This is outrageous behaviour from HR, OP. Can you access the sickness policy now? It should outline the pay arrangements during a phased return.

Agree with a previous poster - you need to be getting your union rep involved now. They need to set out that the uncertainty they are causing with their delays in answering what are very simple questions.

You’re more than welcome to DM me details about your leave entitlement if you want me to calculate what you should have.

I’m sorry they are being such dicks. @

You will have accrued your leave so you can use that

This is really not right OP. I am also a civil servant and going back on a phased return atm. I am being paid for every day that I do more than an hours work and am doing an hour every other day, building up gradually over 12 weeks. Obviously my health issues are different to yours, but just wanted to tell you to give you the confidence that this is not okay and you are within your rights to challenge it. HR/payroll have been absolute dicks about some things, but nothing compared to what you are experiencing.

I would keep everything in writing and I would contact your union and also call ACAS - they have been really helpful to me, they are free and give good advice on their helpline. You don't even have to give your name, so I'd definitely give them a call.

Another tip that a friend gave me is the Which? legal advice team. You have to pay I think £28 to join and then it's £9 a month, but I've been talking to a really helpful lawyer there over the past couple of years whenever I need advice. They can't act for you, but he has given brilliant strategic advice on how to handle tricky situations.

I'm so sorry you are going through this, it's the absolute last thing you need as you go back.

If it is civil service, they should pay you for full time no matter how many hours you work. If you don't belong to union, talk to ACAS or Employee Assistance Service. Also, speak to a different HR member as their advice can be potluck.

@Longcovider @timoteigirl the op has exhausted her entitlement to both SSP and Occupational sick pay.

The dept appear to be correctly applying the sick pay policy rules. I certainly applied them that way.

Where the dept are not applying the correct policy nor the law is annual leave accrual.