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Agenda item

Supporting Attendance Policy

To approve the Supporting Attendance Policy and agree that it should be reviewed every three years. 

Subject To Call In::Yes - No action to be taken prior to the call-in period.

Decision:

1.       That the revised Supporting Attendance Policy and associated documents be APPROVED.

2.       That it be AGREED that the Policy be reviewed every three years.  

Minutes:

75.1          The report of the Head of Corporate Services, circulated at Pages No. 146-194, attached an updated and renamed policy which sought to provide a strong basis for the compassionate but effective management of attendance and absence within the Council. Members were asked to approve the revised policy and associated documents and agree that it should be reviewed every three years.

75.2          The Human Resources and Organisational Development Manger explained that this was a policy which people would more readily understand as a Sickness Absence Policy and the Supporting Attendance Policy was a fairly significant rewrite of that. The rewritten policy reflected the Council’s more supportive approach to managing sickness/attendance rather than being punitive. It intended to reflect the Council’s great provision for support and help for Officers as well as the value placed in employees while keeping focus on managing levels of attendance and absence to ensure there was not a culture of absenteeism. The process was still in the policy to ensure absences could be escalated as needed to ensure managers were not put off from having those important conversations. In terms of changes, the short term absence process had changed from a four step to three step process to ensure it moved forward more quickly; reference had been removed to formal caution in the first steps so it did not feel like the Council was criticising a person for an absence that they may not be able to help; the trigger points for a mutually agreed termination process had stepped back from a formal and rigid process to a more gentle and collaborative approach (this was previously called final long term sickness case review); IVF treatment, sickness in pregnancy and gender reassignment had all now been included; Officers would manage the process – except in the case of Chief Officers where the Employee Appointments and Disciplinary Committee would be involved; appendices had been added to provide clarity on how and when the Council would agree an extension of half and full pay sick pay; and to add clarity around how the Council would manage claims for injury allowance. The new policy had been through Management Team and Trade Union liaison groups.

75.3          Referring to Page No. 161, which referenced absences due to a third party and a personal injury pay out being made, a Member queried how the Council would know that an employee had received a pay out and would be required to repay the contractual sick pay which had been paid to them. She also questioned whether this was something that other Councils did. In response, the Human Resources and Organisational Development Manager advised that the Council would only know about such payments when employees declared them and this was a policy common to other organisations. Another Member questioned whether it was the case that employees could now self-certify for 28 days and, if so, what impact that had on the Council. In response, he was advised that this had been a temporary measure to try and relieve some pressure on GPs during the COVID-19 pandemic and it was due to be reviewed at the end of January 2022. There had been no suggestion from the government that this would be a long-term change. There were options within the Supporting Attendance Policy to mitigate against absence by using the Council’s occupational health provision as well as its mental health provision as they provided a whole range of services from advice on sleep and nutrition through to cognitive therapy.

75.4          Upon being proposed and seconded, it was

Action By:HCorS

Supporting documents: