Public and Commercial Services Union

DWP/BB/118/07

PCS supports members

PCS is committed to using every opportunity to support the delivery of a health and welfare agenda for attendance management which:

• attacks the work related causes of sickness rather that the victims of sickness in the workplace.
• focuses on the delivery of reasonable adjustment rather than warnings
• complies with procedural fairness

PCS does not support the DWP emphasis on delivery of warnings and dismissal. We need to focus on shifting the emphasis to supportive rather than punitive procedures.

This briefing provides guidelines for a PCS compliance check to be applied at the consideration point and referral to the decision maker stages. Checklist pro forma’s should not be accepted as an adequate method of compliance assurance. The requirements for a full written record of the discussion and outcome, including the reasons for decisions, at each stage of the procedures (paras 3.13/3.36) is the essential and more effective method for proper compliance.

Special circumstances compliance

DWP policy (para 20) expects warnings not to be given at stage 1 (oral) and stage 2 (written) of the irregular attendance process, when one of the special circumstances apply. These are listed under attendance procedures para 3.2 (a):

• The manager believes, for reasons not detailed in the list, that a warning would be inappropriate and/or likely to hinder a return to good attendance.
• The absence is pregnancy related.
• Reasonable adjustments have been identified but not yet made.
• The employee has a disability or underlying health condition, the absence is directly related to that condition, and the manager considers it is reasonable, following OHS advice, to increase the consideration point.
• Reasonable absences due to the after effects of infertility treatment or gender reassignment.
• Personal injury due to an assault at work.
• Absence due to injury leave, up to a maximum of 6 months.
• Absence due to an accident caused by a third party in certain circumstances.
• The nature or seriousness of the condition appears at the time to be a one off (e.g. broken bones or an operation to remove an appendix) which is unlikely to reoccur, and the employee otherwise has a good attendance record.
• Reasonable time off to recover from the adverse effects of bone marrow donation, blood donation or similar procedures intended to help someone other than the employee.
• There is medical evidence to show the absence is due to a notifiable communicable disease.
• The absences have been agreed as part of working part time on medical grounds.

One off absence compliance

All the special circumstances (listed at procedures para 3.2a) are available for use at each stage of the formal procedures. The one off absence exception applies at each stage on the basis that attendance is satisfactory (or “good”) when other sickness absence has not reached or exceeded the consideration point in use at that stage of the procedures or absence is covered by another of the special circumstances.

Decision maker referral

Attendance procedures para 6.6 (third bullet point) expects the decision maker to “ensure fairness and consistency”. This should be sufficient for a SEO/band E manager not to make the perverse decision to dismiss an employee because of an absence which would not have resulted in a warning at an earlier stage of the procedures.

Other compliance issues

Other compliance issues will include:

• Advice not being misapplied as instructions (DWP/BB/108/07)
• Disclosure of records of advice/recommendations from HR, other managers or a case conference (DWP/BB/116/07)
• A full written record of the discussions and outcome including reasons for the decision (procedures 3.13/3.36)

PCS branch briefings

Current guidance for branches on attendance management includes:

DWP/BB/108/06 HR decision makers guide

DWP/BB/023/07 Attendance management improvement warnings

DWP/BB/024/07 Attendance management and “one off” absences

DWP/BB/031/07 Attendance review meetings and trade union representation

DWP/BB/049/07 Attendance management and consideration point reasonable adjustments

DWP/BB/055/07 Attendance management backsliding procedure and the law at work

DWP/BB/082/07 Sick leave procedures updated

DWP/BB/086/07 Management grade changes for delivery of sick leave procedures in Jobcentre Plus

DWP/MB/031/07 From sick leave to welcome back discussions

DWP/BB/108/07 Attendance management compliance in Jobcentre Plus and procedural fairness

DWP/BB/116/07 Attendance management: transparency, justice and fairness requirements

Evidence for review

PCS is discussing changes to the attendance management procedures with DWP. Branches should provide PCS DWP group office with evidence of problems with the operation of the policy and procedures which can be used to achieve improvements.