Introduction
We understand that having a serious illness can be worrying and stressful. We are committed to ensuring appropriate support and assistance is provided to any employee with a serious illness.
As an organisation, we take our duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of all our employees under the Health and Safety at Work, etc Act 1974 seriously. In addition, the Equality Act 2010 outlines that individuals must not be discriminated against due to any form of disability. We recognise that serious illness and/or its symptoms may constitute a disability.
The purpose of this policy is to assist with creating an open and understanding workplace where line managers and employees can discuss any issues associated with serious illness, and to ensure the necessary support is known about and offered to employees when needed.
Employee responsibilities
It is important that, as an employee, you prioritise your personal health and wellbeing. If you are struggling with any aspect of your role as a result of serious illness, you should speak to your manager about any concerns you may have, who will treat the matter with complete confidence.
Serious illness can include the following (this is not intended to be an exhaustive list).
- Physical impairments or injuries.
- Mental impairments or injuries.
- Progressive and terminal illness.
Some impairments are automatically treated as a disability under the Equality Act 2010. These include:
- cancer
- multiple sclerosis
- HIV.
To make sure we can provide you with the best support possible, we encourage you to be as open as you can be in these conversations.
Employer responsibilities
When working with an employee experiencing difficulties caused by serious illness, line managers will maintain an open-door policy so that employees feel comfortable in approaching them. They will support you to talk openly about your current situation and will not make presumptions about how it is affecting you.
During any discussions, your line manager will consider your individual situation and evaluate if any adjustments can be made. Your individual needs will be addressed sensitively and confidentiality will be maintained.
Line managers will also arrange follow-up sessions in order to review the effectiveness of any adjustments put in place.
We understand that you may feel uncomfortable discussing personal information with your line manager. If this is the case, you are encouraged to discuss your situation with another senior member of staff, HR or [insert details of a point of contact in place within the Organisation for this situation such as occupational health and/or an Employee Assistance Programme, if applicable].
To help you in your daily duties, we will explore making adjustments to your role or working environment with the aim of reducing the effect that your illness or impairment is having on you. We acknowledge that serious ill health affects each individual in different ways so no adjustment will be made without fully discussing it with you first.
Examples of adjustments include:
- assessing how work is allocated and whether you are affected at particular points of the day
- allowing additional rest breaks
- considering flexible working hours or allowing you to work from home
- making allowances for additional needs for sickness absence.
If you are already working from home but feel that you would benefit from returning to the office, please let your line manager know and they will discuss this with you.
Once the adjustments are agreed, they will be reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure you are getting the most benefit from them.
We are legally obliged by the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments to your role or working conditions if you have a disability that puts you at a disadvantage when performing your role and we will ensure compliance with our obligations in this regard.
You may also be entitled to make a flexible working request. Please read our flexible working policy if you would like more details.
Other support
If you need additional support at any time, we encourage you to speak to [signpost points of contact within the Organisation, ie occupational health, mental health first aiders or Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)].
[Optional, add if you have an EAP:]
We would like to remind you that, if you have any worries or concerns about any aspect of your situation, you have access to a confidential 24-hour telephone counselling service on [insert details].
[Optional: Insert details of any other support measures you have in place, ie We provide training to our managers on supporting those with a serious illness in the workplace or we are committed to raising awareness of the effects/symptoms of serious illness by holding/supporting fundraising events at work or displaying information posters.]
We recognise that serious illness can cause worries and concerns about debt or other financial problems. If you have concerns about your personal finances, we encourage you to speak to your manager. Please also read our financial wellbeing policy for more information on the help available.
Sickness absence
If you are too unwell to come to work, you should speak to your line manager and follow our usual sickness absence reporting procedure.
Time off for medical appointments
If you need time off work to attend a medical appointment, you should tell your manager, giving as much notice as possible. You may need to give your manager written evidence of the appointment date and time.
[EITHER]
Where possible, you should make the appointment outside of your normal working hours, or as close to the start or the end of the working day as possible. Where time is taken off work to attend a medical appointment, this will be unpaid.
[OR]
Where possible, you should make the appointment outside of your normal working hours, or as close to the start or the end of the working day as possible. You will need to make up time taken off work to attend medical appointments, as agreed with your manager.
[OR]
Where possible, you should make any medical appointments outside of your normal working hours, or as close to the start or the end of the working day as possible. Where time is taken off work to attend the appointment, this will be paid to a maximum of [insert number] hours per appointment. Time taken in excess of this on each separate occasion will be unpaid. [Optional: The right to this paid time off only applies to employees with [insert amount] continuous service.]
[OR]
Where possible, you should make any medical appointments outside of your normal working hours, or as close to the start or the end of the working day as possible. Time taken off work to attend the appointment will be paid. [Optional: The right to take this paid time off only applies to employees with [insert amount] continuous service. The time off will be unpaid for employees who do not have the required length of service.]
[OR]
You are entitled to paid time off to attend medical appointments.
[OR]
[Insert other arrangements for time off/pay during time off].
Behaviour of others
There is an expectation on all employees to conduct themselves in a helpful and open-minded manner towards colleagues.
We maintain a zero-tolerance approach to bullying and harassment and will treat any and all complaints seriously. If you feel that you have been mistreated in any way by a colleague because of matters related to serious illness, please speak to [insert name or job title].