Llandrindod Wells Town Council has adopted a new sickness policy for all of its employees
Llandrindod Wells Town Council has adopted a new sickness policy for all of its employees
It is the first time the town council has had a sickness policy and the Mayor Councillor Marcia Morgan said it needed one.
The personnel committee drafted the policy and presented it to the full council at its March meeting.
The policy states: “Llandrindod Wells Town Council values the contributions of its employees in the delivery and maintenance of quality services to the community. The Council recognises employees may be prevented from attending work through ill health. The Council also recognises it has a duty to maintain service delivery. The Council is, therefore, committed to managing attendance and believes that it is the responsibility of line managers to work together to promote the management of absence and ill health.”
The council will promote the health, safety and well-being of all employees including the use of risk assessments to identify and manage hazards impacting on health and safety in the workplace, monitor the levels of absence for individuals and implement procedures to support and manage employee absences while dealing with unjustified and/or high levels of absence.
Under the new policy employees are expected to attend work unless unfit to do so, report ill health absence promptly, ensure that appropriate certifications are completed, maintain contact with their Line Manager during periods of ill health absence and understand that their Line Manager is required to keep in regular contact to support them and monitor and manage any absence effectively.
They must also ensure that medical advice and treatment is received as quickly as possible in order to facilitate a return to work, raise concerns with their Line Manager if they believe their job is making them ill or contributing to their illness, not abuse the sickness absence procedure of the sick pay scheme, follow the agreed procedures and when absent through anxiety, stress, depression or a related sickness to engage with one of the specialist advisors provided by the Council unless they have other specialist medical support through their GP.
Line Managers are expected to take ill health seriously, make reasonable adjustments where an employee raises concerns that their job is making them ill or contributing to illness, ensure that the appropriate certifications and notifications are completed in accordance with procedures, maintain effective contact with employees during periods of ill health absence, carry out return to work interviews after every period of absence, give appropriate support and guidance to employees with health problems, ensure they have a full and up to date understanding of sickness absence of their reports and follow the agreed procedures.
Members adopted the sickness and absence policy.
