Video: Top 10 tips for managing sickness absence in GP practices and primary care

In this session we look at some common questions about managing sickness absence and managing long COVID. The questions we cover are:

• Can you contact an employee when they are off sick? If so, when’s the best time to contact them?
• One of your members of staff is off sick with stress and anxiety. One of their colleagues has reported to their manager that they have seen pictures of them on Facebook and it looks like they have been at a family party whilst they are off sick. What should you do if anything?
• Do you need to do a return to work interview for every episode of sickness absence?
• Can an employee return to work if they still have a valid fit note?
• What happens if an employee is due to be on holiday whilst off sick? How do you treat their absence and what pay should they receive?
• Can you dismiss someone if they are off on long term sick for a reason related to their disability?
• What happens if someone refuses to allow you to see their Occupational Health report? Can you still dismiss someone for their sickness absence?
• What does a “duty to make reasonable adjustments” mean and does it apply to everyone in every situation?
• How to manage cases of long COVID.
• Can you adjust sick pay for those people who are not vaccinated?

Our speakers between them have over 40 years of experience of advising clients on healthcare employment related matters and have defended hundreds of Employment Tribunal claims. They act for numerous primary care providers and in particular GP practices. Through speaking to their clients, they understand the significant strain that practices in particular have been placed under because of the impact of Covid-19 on top of the pressure from the increasing complexities of regulatory and legal compliance both in terms of the services they offer to patients but also in relation to their employees.

The advice they give is specifically tailored to the sector; it is options based, practical and commercially sensible. Above all, the team are approachable and supportive.

Watch here

You can find a copy of the slides here.