Employee on 'light duties' - obligations/legalities

[MsB]

Good afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen (wonderful & informative forum you have here )

We have an employee with an ongoing back problem (injury did not occur at work), he has had a number of days off sick and is now back at work though by his own admission still in pain and on 'light duties'.
The problem we have is that we as his employer have not placed him on light duties and he has taken it upon himself to only do 'light duties' which means he is not carrying out works required of his to the full potential of which he is expected to.

He is expecting to carry on only doing 1/2 his normal duties but still take home full pay but despite searching the whole web I am unable to find the legalities as to whether we can place a reduction on his salary.

We are not heartless and understand that he wants to earn a decent wage but we as a small contracting company are losing money due to his inability to carry out works.

Any help/advice with our dilemma would be very much appreciated

 

[Bri]

Hold on, Yorkshire James & Employment Law Clinic will be along later and should be able to give you a definitive reply.
In the meantime I would hazard that he has provided you with a valid sick certificate from his GP/Hospital stating such.As an employer you should invite him to a briefing type meeting with you to discuss the situation and how you are both going to handle it.

 

[Atilla]

This seems like a good example of the new 'fit to work' or 'fit note' scheme that came in this month.

Previously you were either off work sick, or in work fully capable.
As i understand it, the new scheme covers employees such as yours.
As Bri says. The employment bods will be able to explain better.

 

[MsB]

Hold on, Yorkshire James & Employment Law Clinic will be along later and should be able to give you a definitive reply.
In the meantime I would hazard that he has provided you with a valid sick certificate from his GP/Hospital stating such.As an employer you should invite him to a briefing type meeting with you to discuss the situation and how you are both going to handle it.

Thanks Bri,
We have had no valid sick certificate as his latest periods of sickness have not been over 3/4 days and therefore unpaid.
We will be having a meeting but I would like to go into it 'eyes open' knowing what our & his rights are beforehand

 

[Bri]

We have had no valid sick certificate as his latest periods of sickness have not been over 3/4 days and therefore unpaid.

Not really, as Atilla wrote the doc should give fit to work/fit note/ light duties only type cert. When I broke my hand donkeys yrs ago I was given one because I didnt want to be off work with no money coming in.

 

[MsB]

Not really, as Atilla wrote the doc should give fit to work/fit note/ light duties only type cert. When I broke my hand donkeys yrs ago I was given one because I didnt want to be off work with no money coming in.

Sorry (confusion hits in at my age )
True but the 'fit to work' cert has only come in 10 days ago and he hasn't had time off since then

 

[sjbeale]

I have this morning been on an ACAS seminar about fit notes so it is all fresh in my mind. As the employee is evading the fit note system at the moment by only taking a few days off at a time, it will be difficult to manage with the new system. That is until he takes 7 consecutive days off and is given a new fit note with the GPs recommendations for adjustments if that is deemed to be necessary. In any case if reduced hours is recommended you must decide whether that is feasible or he just remains at home off sick until the fit note runs out. The GP's advice is not binding and you can reject the recommendations.

You as an employer need to take charge of the situation and invite the employee to a meeting in writing to discuss the situation with the right to a companion. He can not by his own volition and without medical advice dictate what he and can't do. You should discuss the attendance/work situation with him. If he is not in work he should not get paid as you operate an SSP system not contractual sick pay and in any case he is doing this without medical advice.

You could get occ health advice (I can recommend an independent advisor) who can act in your favour and give you the advice to manage this situation. Occ health will be in even more demand with the new fit note system as they understand health in the workplace better than GPs.

I have written a factsheet on the fit note system. If you would like a copy please email me at [email protected].

 

[MsB]

Thanks Sandra

Time to sit down and have a chat then.... I will report back on how it goes

Thanks to everyone for their helpful advice

 

[harry munker]

This seems like a good example of the new 'fit to work' or 'fit note' scheme that came in this month.

Previously you were either off work sick, or in work fully capable.
As i understand it, the new scheme covers employees such as yours.
As Bri says. The employment bods will be able to explain better.

No that wasnt the case before Atilla and I dont think its the case now.People do return back to work not fully fit and sometimes after meeting with an accupational therapist can be brought back gradually into their normal duties.

Maybe a problem though that an injured worker may never be able to fully return to his normal duties.I think the OP should definitely make sure he approaches this in the correct legal way..I have a back injury and its difficult to pin it down sometimes no two days are ever the same.

 

[Atilla]

No that wasnt the case before Atilla and I dont think its the case now.People do return back to work not fully fit and sometimes after meeting with an accupational therapist can be brought back gradually into their normal duties.

Maybe a problem though that an injured worker may never be able to fully return to his normal duties.I think the OP should definitely make sure he approaches this in the correct legal way..I have a back injury and its difficult to pin it down sometimes no two days are ever the same.

I was probably over generalising...and did qualify it by deferring to the experts.

 

[Employment Law Clinic]

All this fuss about fit notes is, I think, confusing things here: He’s well enough to come into work, but deciding on his own accord that he can’t perform the full duties of his contract.

As with sick notes, he could obtain a fit note from his doctor (these generally cost about £10 if required with less than 7 days absence), but he’s self-diagnosing at the moment.

Either he has clear medical grounds not to fulfil his employment contract, or he should face disciplinary action for this.

Frequently the case with back issues, a GP will likely not be able to give any clear prognosis and may therefore decide to issue a fit note recommending light duties, but until then, he can diagnose himself as well as I can – and my initial diagnosis is a skiver! If he has a genuine back complaint, his GP is likely to have this on record, and will provide some basic opinion on what duties he can perform; an Occupational Health Advisor may help, but it is often difficult for many to comment on back issues without comprehensive examinations.

Regarding meetings, if you do have an informal meeting with him, there is no need to allow a companion in, and I wouldn’t recommend it at this stage. If you take the formal disciplinary route, they are entitled to a companion, but for now it would be wise to have a quiet word & put them on the spot – perhaps with little notice, so they can’t plan their defence.


Karl Limpert