Public and Commercial Services Union

DWP changes August 2009

The “one off” provision is one of twelve “special circumstances” not to give a warning listed under paragraph 3.2(a) of the DWP attendance management procedures. The circumstances for the application of the “one off” provision were clarified from 3 August 2009 with the introduction of:

• confirmation that all of the special circumstances listed at para 3.2(a), which includes the “one off” provision, are also for application at the written warning stage (para 3.21) and when considering dismissal or demotion (para 6.2)
• revised wording for the “one off” bullet point listed in ninth place under para 3.2(a)
• a new Advice Q&A 27 which outlines what a manager should consider when deciding whether to treat an absence as a “one off”

This branch briefing provides guidance for branches on these changes.

“One off” defined

Procedures Para 3.2(a) defines a “one off” as

“The nature or seriousness of the condition appears at the time to be a one-off which is unlikely to re-occur, and the employee otherwise has a satisfactory attendance record by being below the consideration point in effect at that stage of the procedures.”

Advice Q&A 27 clarifies that:

“People can experience one off illnesses or injuries, or one off incidents.
There are a number of circumstances in which an absence might be treated as a ‘one-off’:

• An illness/condition which is usually experienced only once;
• An illness/condition which is fairly uncommon or unusual;
• The absence is following an accident or injury”

Satisfactory attendance defined

The definition of satisfactory attendance is simply that the employee has a record of absence which is “below the consideration point at that stage of the procedures”.

Employees have the right to expect not to have formal unsatisfactory attendance action considered unless their absence has reached or exceeded their consideration point (attendance management policy para 6).

A satisfactory attendance record therefore includes absences up to the employees consideration point.

This means that a full time employee, with a usual consideration point, has a “satisfactory record” when it includes absences of up to 7.5 days in a 12 month rolling period or 3.5 days in a review period after an improvement warning has been given.

The consideration point changes depending at which stage the employee’s case is being considered.

Unlikely to reoccur criteria

Advice Q&A 27 provides guidance for deciding whether an absence is unlikely to reoccur:

“When deciding whether an absence is unlikely to reoccur, the manager must consider whether it is likely that an absence for the same or a related reason will reoccur, not whether it is possible. For example, an employee who has been active in a sport for a number of years breaks their wrist. It is possible that this could happen again in the future but it is unlikely given that this is the first time they have done so. The manager must decide based on the facts of the case at that time.”

Normally permanently discounted

Advice Q&A 27 also confirms the circumstance in which a “one off” can be taken into account:

“Where an absence has been treated as a one-off but there are subsequent absences for the same reason, or related to it within the rolling 12 month period, that absence will be taken into account when considering whether to give an improvement warning.”

An absence which has been treated as a “one off” is therefore normally permanently discounted, as also confirmed under Advice Q&A 14, unless there are subsequent absences for the same reason or related to it within the rolling 12 month period.

Attendance Advice Q&A 15 may also be used to guide decisions so that unrelated further absences are considered in isolation.

Further absences related to the “one off” should be considered in the context of the extent of improved attendance and whether another provision applies such as increasing the consideration point (Procedures 2.2/Advice Q&A 5) or the Manager’s discretion not to give a warning under Procedures para 3.2(b).

Long term absence warnings

The Attendance Management procedures provide guidance for considering warnings upon return from long term sick leave.

Paragraph 4.2 states that:

“If the employee is back at work and there is no reason to doubt they will be able to meet the attendance standard in future, the matter should be regarded as closed unless further absences occur.”

Attendance Advice Q&A13 provides guidance about linking periods of long term absence and Q&A 15 covers unrelated short spells of absence after an absence caused by a serious illness.

Advice for branches

Advice for branches is being updated following changes introduced from 3 August 2009.

Branch briefing DWP/BB/84/09 provides guidance on the abolition of the “must give a warning” policy and other agreed changes.

Evidence for review

Employees have the right to use the grievance procedures when dissatisfied with a warning.

Details of warnings that have been wrongly given, and not corrected under the grievance procedures, should be provided to group office.

Evidence of problems with the operation of policy, procedures and advice is needed to support our case for further improvements.