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Forum - Disciplining an employee while they're off sick....

Disciplining an employee while they're off sick....

Mon, 15/02/2010 - 12:14 — AeC

Over in the 'Discipline and grievance' section of the site, Jinny42 has left a comment that poses the following question: can you take disciplinary action against an employee while they're off sick, or must you wait until they have returned to work?

Is this a question that anyone here in the forum can shed any light on?

In general, employers need to tread carefully when dealing with disciplinary or sickness-related issues, let alone an interaction of the two. The ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures states that:

"Where an employee is persistently unable or unwilling to attend a disciplinary meeting without good cause the employer should make a decision on the evidence available."

But it would probably be a brave/foolhardy employer who argued without rock-solid evidence that an employee's being off sick amounted to this kind of persistent inability/unwillingness to deal with a disciplinary issue at work.

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mb's picture

Please some advice would be great: my employer suspended me which was a total shock as i genuinely did nothing wrong ... they let me work all day, do my usual school run on my own with 2 children, and when i came back they called me in to their office,suspended me and wouldn't tell me why.  It made me really ill as i loved my job .... they did their investigation and invited me to disciplinary which i haven't gone to due to ilness I've given them a sick note with a note off my doctor saying that I'm not to attend any meetings for a month and they keep sending me letters saying I have to go on a conference call etc.  I'm poorly with it all, I lost my father 5 months ago and this work thing has pushed me to my limit please help.

Fri, 13/01/2012 - 14:33 — mb
LizD's picture

Hi MB.  Sorry to hear you're having such a difficult time.  We can't give specific legal advice here, but you might find these two sections useful as they address an employer's responsibilities in holding disciplinary hearings: http://www.lawdonut.co.uk/law/employment-law/discipline-and-grievance/di... and http://www.lawdonut.co.uk/law/employment-law/discipline-and-grievance/ho... For individual advice it would be worth contacting a solicitor and/or your union representative if you have one.

 

Mon, 16/01/2012 - 11:01 — LizD
ali1010tiger's picture

if off sick can an employer ask you in for a disciplinary meeting because you are sick ?

Sat, 26/06/2010 - 11:41 — ali1010tiger

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