As Covid infections rise and some staff continue to experience long Covid, UNISON’s NHS members will be very concerned that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has decided to withdraw the temporary Covid sick pay/special leave provisions put in at the beginning of the pandemic for Agenda for Change staff.
UNISON has worked with employers and other unions through the Staff Council to produce joint guidance on how the changes should be implemented as supportively as possible.
We’ve also produced this accompanying UNISON advice for branches to help you use the guidance to best effect.
The joint guidance covers the DHSC’s decisions on ending the Covid terms and sets out the ‘business as usual’ provisions that now replace them:
- Sickness absence due to Covid will now be treated the same as other sickness under Handbook terms.
- Staff currently off on Covid sick pay will have a transition period including formal notice. If still off by 1 September these staff will switch to Handbook sickness terms with previous Covid absence up to that date fully disregarded.
- The DHSC Covid special leave provision for self-isolation is withdrawn. It is replaced by standard infection control procedures. These mean that staff who can work but need to stay away from the workplace should still get their ‘full pay as if at work’ and either undertake suitable work remotely or be recorded as on ‘authorised absence’ (not sickness absence).
Advice for branches
Branches have a key role in making sure employers continue to support staff in the right way. Below are some tips on how to use the Staff Council guidance to do this:
Transition of staff from Covid sick pay to Handbook provisions
- Ask for data to be shared on numbers of staff who are currently off on the Covid sick leave/pay and the pattern in terms of duration.
- Make sure stewards are briefed and able to support affected UNISON members who may want advice. Ensure comms from employers flag support available to union members.
- Ask for the breakdown of those off on the Covid sick leave and pay by protected characteristics and look for disproportionate impact e.g. of all those who will be affected by the withdrawal of Covid sick pay, is the proportion who are Black or disabled higher than in the workforce as a whole? If so, ask the employer how they intend to mitigate any disproportionate impact.
- Ask the employer what steps they are taking to ensure availability of good occupational health access and support for line managers to make reasonable adjustments.
- Challenge any attempts by employers to take staff into formal absence management proceedings where these take into account any of the time they were off on the Covid sick leave and pay – the DHSC position and the guidance are clear this must be disregarded. Seek advice as necessary.
- Ask the employer for regular updates on the progress of individual meetings and seek assurances these will be completed in time for all staff to receive their formal four weeks’ notice.
New episodes of Covid sickness
- Ensure that the employer continues to record and monitor instances of Covid sickness – this will be vital to inform decisions on Injury Allowance payments (s22 Terms and Conditions Handbook), infection prevention and control and risk assessment measures
- Ask for regular monitoring information to be shared via joint partnership structures regarding ongoing patterns of Covid sickness
- Ensure members are aware of the s22 Injury Allowance provisions which provide for full pay and other benefits where Covid was on the balance of probabilities acquired in the workplace
- Push for Covid sickness to be excluded from absence management triggers especially where the employer can’t prove it was acquired outside the workplace. Use existing Staff Council guidance on prevention and management of sickness absence which states: “Healthcare associated infections should not be used to trigger absence management procedures but may be considered when looking at the sustainability of attendance.”
Staff well enough to work but need to self-isolate for infection control
- Ask the employer how it is ensuring that all staff (not just patient-facing staff) are aware of the UKHSA guidance for healthcare staff with respiratory symptoms or a positive Covid test and have the reassurance that they will not lose pay as a result of following the UKHSA guidance.
- The key section from the Staff Council guidance states: “The expectation is that staff should receive the pay they would receive if they were at work. This is regardless of whether staff can work from home, including on altered duties or not, during this period. This should be treated as authorised absence, not sickness absence”.
- Ensure staff know that ‘pay as if at work’ includes enhancements.
- Ensure members are clear that if they are being instructed to come into workplaces when they believe they need to self-isolate they should confirm their symptoms/test result in writing and ask their manager how they can raise their concerns/access advice from the organisation’s infection control leads
- Discuss with the employer how they intend to approach and support staff to work remotely where possible if they need to self-isolate – ensuring that equipment and other needs have been considered
- Discuss how the employer plans to manage risk assessments for vulnerable staff and for close contacts where staff work in settings caring for higher risk patients
- Ask the employer to facilitate the provision of free LFD tests for non-patient facing staff where appropriate as part of infection control measures
Wider support for staff absence linked to wider Covid context
- Use the updated Staff Council guidance on the management of long-term COVID-19 sickness absence and the Staff Council FAQs on supporting staff as a basis to seek commitments that the employer will use maximum discretions to extend sick pay and support for staff who are awaiting operations, suffering stress-related sickness or experiencing long Covid or multiple Covid infections
Further questions and queries
If branches experience problems interpreting the Staff Council guidance, or new issues/queries come up, contact health@unison.co.uk and encourage your employer to raise it through NHS Employers. We will try to answer queries in partnership, adding to the Staff Council FAQs as required.