Sacked for long term sick?

967stuart

Can someone be legally sacked for being off long term on the sick?

Basically, a person at my partners work has had a multitude of sick days/weeks off in his few years with the company and has been 'caught out' a few times (being off for two weeks and being seen out the town at the weekend in the middle of the 2 weeks off etc.)

Most recently, he was involved in a minor low speed car shunt (his fault).
he had 2 weeks off with whiplash and returned to work for a few weeks.

He then didn't turn up for work for a few days.
Calls were made and he said his whiplash had returned and he wouldn't be in for another 2 weeks.

Since then, he has been off for nearly 7 months and is refusing to attend a meeting with work and has stated - "I'm not prepared to discuss the matter"

What's the deal here?
I'm slightly stunned that an employer has to be messed about like this by an employee, but the boss is worried he will be hammered if he lets him go.

scooby088

From my understanding you can terminate the contract for someone who is long term sick on capability grounds. I would suggest though your employer seek profeseional legal help with doing so, as if they put a foot wrong they are inviting a claim for unfair dismissal.

bluenoseam

7 months off for whiplash? Jeez oh, that boss needs to get himself a lawyer pronto I'm more than willing to bet that it won't cost him much to get the necessary advice to rid himself of the idiot.

Incidentally, 7 months off, surely he's on SSP by now?

967stuart

bluenoseam wrote: »

7 months off for whiplash? Jeez oh, that boss needs to get himself a lawyer pronto I'm more than willing to bet that it won't cost him much to get the necessary advice to rid himself of the idiot.

Incidentally, 7 months off, surely he's on SSP by now?

Yes, he's on SSP.
The boss is a really nice bloke and is worried that letting the guy go would result in him being sued (as the bloke off sick is without a doubt the type of person to go legal)

Andy_L

967stuart wrote: »

Can someone be legally sacked for being off long term on the sick?

Yes

(filler)

HappyMJ

967stuart wrote: »

Yes, he's on SSP.
The boss is a really nice bloke and is worried that letting the guy go would result in him being sued (as the bloke off sick is without a doubt the type of person to go legal)

The boss (sounds like a small company) should take advice from a solicitor. He should get an occupational health assessment of the worker and make any reasonable adjustments to allow the worker to come back to work. If reasonable adjustments cannot be made then he can justifiably sack the worker on capability grounds.

As for the first post you made. The employee could have been let go immediately for gross misconduct for not being sick when he claimed to be sick....but being seen in town isn't always meaning he is not sick he might have been town to do some essential shopping or even get medication. Being out in town at the pub when he should be at work on the other hand. I would instantly dismiss.

bluenoseam

Employee has been taking the mickey, the boss needs to realise he's there to be the boss, not to be everyone's friend & speak to a lawyer ASAP. Sounds like the employee has an extensive sickness record & if you've given an anywhere near accurate description none of it is covered under the equalities act.

Employer will likely be told by the legal advisor to arrange an occupational health assessment with view to dismissal on capability grounds. Should the employee pass said occupational health assessment with a clean bill of health the employer should then be considering a final written warning with regards to sickness levels as a base point.

Incidentally how long has the employee been working for the company, if it's less than 2 years I'd be turfing him out the door immediately!

tomtontom

Boss also needs to look at his pay entitlement - he shouldn't be getting SSP after this length of time, although he will be accruing holiday whilst on his extended ... holiday.

engineer_amy

As others have advised, the first thing you should do is tell the boss to contact a good solicitor, specialising in employment law. We have a fantastic one that we can drop a quick email to if a scenario arises and she will advise the next steps, or get in contact for more details if it is a more complicated matter.


And its not as expensive as one might think. A few hours of a solicitors time to get advice might be a few hundred quid, but think of the possible costs of having to defend an unfair dismissal case and possible settlement if you didn't take advice.


Based on your version of events, we would be doing a disciplinary for not following procedure as to informing the company he was not attending work, and refusal to attend other meetings. In our company handbook, Persistant or unexplained absence from work and Refusal to carry out a reasonable request are two separate issues coming under gross misconduct and therefore a sackable offence.


Do you have a handbook or disciplinary policy OP?

LuckyPenny

Your boss can get free advice from ACAS http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1461

LuckyPenny

Btw he defo needs to be sacked BUT your boss will need to go through a process of getting medical reports and organising meetings and having a good paper trial.
The person above has said if he has less than 2 years service they you can go straight to dismissal. This is true but you need make sure that they do not have any claim that they can bring that does not require any service e.g. discrimination, health and safety etc.


Get your boss to phone ACAS it costs nothing and he can be reassured that he is dots all the i's and crosses all the t's so there is no come back