Nursery Management: Staff - Fit to work

21 September 2010

The 'fit note' introduced this April could transform how nurseries handle long-term staff illness, says Annette Rawstrone.

It's inevitable that your employees will take days off because they are ill or injured. But if those days turn to weeks, it can severely hinder staff rotas, affect budgets and disrupt continuity for the children. It is hoped a new scheme will help to reduce long absences by supporting employees to return to work sooner.

The 'sick note' system, provided by doctors to certify absence from work, was replaced in April this year by a single 'Statement of fitness for work', dubbed the 'fit note'.

The 'fit note' aims to give more useful information on how an employee's condition affects what they do and how they might be able to return to work. It is not meant to force people back to work before they are ready.

It's not all change. Employees can still self-certificate until they have been ill for seven calendar days. Statutory sick pay requirements stay the same and the employer's duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 remains.

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