If you need to leave work prior to your normal finishing time you need to first talk with your line manager, or another manager if they are unavailable, and agree a date/time for your return or for you to contact them.

Where possible you are requested to arrange any medical or dental appointments outside working hours. If this is not possible you must obtain permission from your Manager before taking any time off and appointments should be arranged at the beginning or end of your working day to minimise any disruption to work. Please notify your Manager in advance of any appointments during work hours giving details of the date and time of the appointment.

Any periods of absence that are unauthorised may result in disciplinary action and could lead to your dismissal without notice from the Company.

Unless otherwise agreed, you will not be paid for any time off as a result of medical or dental appointments, with the exception of antenatal appointments.

If you are unable to attend work for any reason or are going to be late, please follow the notification procedure below. Failure to do so means that you may not be paid, in addition, disciplinary action may follow.

Please personally telephone your Manager 30 minutes before your start time, or as soon as reasonably practical, stating why you are absent or late and when you expect to attend work.

If they are unavailable then you must speak to another manager.

You need to make the call yourself, no calls from uncles, mum or other people please!

Please note any type of messages i.e. text, whatsapp, telegram, face book (list not exhaustive) are not acceptable.

Please contact your Manager, or another manager if they are unavailable, daily to update him/her on your continuing absence.

Absence exceeding 5 working days requires a doctor’s certificate (often known as a fit note) be given to your manager as soon as possible.

If you do not make contact for a whole day of absence, then a disciplinary meeting may be arranged. Exceptional circumstances will be taken into account.

Any documentation linked to your absence and return to work must be completed with your line manager or another manager if they are unavailable.

Anyone who is regularly absent or late places an unnecessary burden on colleagues who are asked to cover. This may result in us having to instigate disciplinary proceedings.

Sickness absence is looked at on a 12 month rolling basis. Three occasions of sickness absence within a 12 month period may lead to an investigation meeting which may result in disciplinary action.

You are expected to do everything within your power to return to work quickly. During any absence you should discuss with your manager any activities you intend to do outside work to aid with your recovery.

You must notify Tracklements, if you are suffering from or have symptoms of a notifiable infectious disease i.e. mumps, measles or food poisoning etc. or where you have been in close contact with someone with such an illness. Where you have been off work with this type of illness, you must contact Tracklements and your doctor prior to returning to ensure that it is safe to do so.

If you have an upset stomach, diarrhoea, food poisoning, septic lesions or boils and are in a food handling role, you need to notify your manager of your symptoms. It may be necessary to extend your sickness absence or limit your duties as you have to be symptom free for two days following any of these conditions before you come into contact with food again. Also, if you are coughing or sneezing you should not come into contact with food.

If you are employed to work in Production, you must comply with the Employee Hygiene Code of Practice. A copy of this Code of Practice will be provided to you separately.

Where your GP/Medical advisor has issued a Statement of Fitness for Work indicating you may be fit for some work, please notify your Manager at the earliest opportunity so that a return to work may be considered.

If requested, you agree to be examined (at the Company’s expense) by a registered medical practitioner of the Company’s choosing and will authorise them to disclose the results of the examination to an appropriate person in the Company, subject to the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988. This allows the Company to determine whether there are any matters that might prevent you from returning to work after a period of absence through sickness or injury or, in other circumstances, from properly performing any of your duties.

Any such request will be dealt with sensitively, and only when the Company considers it absolutely necessary. If you decline to be examined, the Company is entitled to draw its own conclusions as to your state of health and ability to carry out your duties.

If you are absent for a period of 20 continuous working days we class this as long term sick and your consent may be requested for us to contact your GP to get a full understanding of the illness.

Dependent on the information received you may be asked to be examined (at Tracklements’ expense) by a registered doctor of our choosing and you will be asked to authorise them to disclose the results of the examination to an appropriate person in Tracklements, subject to the Access to Medical Reports Act 1988.

Any such request will be dealt with sensitively, and only when the Company considers it absolutely necessary. If you decline to be examined, the Company is entitled to draw its own conclusions as to your state of health and ability to carry out your duties.

After a period of long term sick a statement of Fitness for Work will be required from your GP/medical advisor and you will be asked to a return-to-work interview to discuss whether you anticipate any further absence relating to your illness. This will also give you an opportunity to discuss any concerns you may have regarding your illness with your manager.

Having regard to its duty of care to its employees, Tracklements may complete a return-to-work interview after every sickness absence. This will ensure that you are fit for work and whether you anticipate any further absence relating to your illness. This will also give you an opportunity to discuss any concerns you may have regarding your illness with your Manager.

When SSP is payable

SSP cannot be paid for the first 3 days of sickness. Therefore, payment of SSP starts on the 4th day of absence, and continues for as long as you are absent, up to a maximum of 28 weeks in any one period of sickness, as stated and defined by Government legislation.

When SSP is not payable

SSP is not payable in certain circumstances, the principal ones being:

• for absence of less than 4 days

• if you have failed to follow the Sickness Notification Procedure

• if your employment has been terminated

• where Statutory Maternity/Adoption/Paternity/Shared Parental Pay is being paid to you

• for days on which you do not normally work (e.g. if you work Monday to Friday and not at weekends, SSP will normally apply to those 5 days only).

• if your average weekly earnings are less than the figure set by the Government for the payment of National Insurance Contributions

The Company also reserves the right to withhold Company Sick Pay, entitlement of which is outlined in your contract of employment, where you might otherwise be paid this in circumstances where:

• You fail to co-operate or comply with reasonable requests to determine your medical condition.

• We have reasonable grounds to believe that you were not genuinely sick or injured.

• The actions that caused the absence are considered inadvisable or incompatible with your illness.

This list is not exhaustive.

Please refer to your contract for details of our discretionary sick pay scheme.

If your absence is the result of someone outside work’s negligence e.g. a car accident that is not your fault and you are awarded damages or compensation as a result and you have also received payment from Tracklements, then you are required to refund any compensation which has been paid to you by Tracklements for the period of absence provided if and only if, the amount is more than your usual salary/wage.

The rights of the Company to terminate your employment apply even when such termination would or might cause you to forfeit any entitlement to sick pay, permanent health insurance or other benefits.

If you have been absent due to sickness and are found not to have been genuinely ill, you may be subject to action under the Disciplinary Procedure, which could include dismissal.