Policies on injury/ sickness at work and sick pay

Freedom of information request reference no: 01.FOI.22.026144

I note you seek access to the following information:

Could you kindly send me information on the current Policies on:

- Absence related to Injury at work
- Injury/sickness related to work
- Sick pay

Clarification -
- The request is in relation to Police Staff.

- What benefits/Compensation Police staff are entitled to if their health has deteriorated over time due to previous injury at work, staff member has been off with long term sick and is now no longer able to work.

Decision

I have today decided to disclose the located information to you in full.

Please find below information pursuant to your request above.

Pay: What you need to know – Police Staff

Sick pay entitlements

What is this?

From time to time the Met knows that its people may get sick. To support you through any sickness that you may have, the Met has in place sick pay arrangements as follows

• Full pay for six months (182 days) sickness in any rolling 12 month period.

Followed by

• Half pay for six months (183 days) sickness.

Your entitlement to this pay is dependent on your level of sickness absence over a rolling four year period. If you take more than 12 months off over the 4 year period you will revert to no pay. Rest days, weekends and bank holidays are included as part of the absence.

The Met will consider extending your sick pay beyond the rules outlined above, and this will be based on the individual circumstances of your sickness and at the Met’s discretion. Consideration will be given to extending your entitlement to paid sick leave by six month where:

• the injury or illness is sustained or contracted while performing duties,
• if you suffer from an illness that is likely to be terminal.
• where reasonable adjustments are being made to enable the disabled person to return to work or there is a date for a return to work.
• there is no obligation within the Equality Act 2010 to extend pay, each case and/or occasion of disability related sickness absence must be considered on an individual basis and the test of 'reasonableness' must govern the exercise of the discretion to extend sick pay.

Your pay will be extended if your absence is in the maternity protected period.
The period of six months' sick leave on full pay and twelve months sick leave in total may be extended for up to a further six months. In the case of an injury whilst on duty, it is expected that discretion will be exercised to extend the period of full pay beyond the additional six months extension. The injury must have been reported at the time or as soon as possible thereafter.

Any extension given will be at the discretion of the OCU commander/Unit Head.
If you have exhausted your entitlement to full or half pay you may be entitled to

• sick pay at pension rate - provided you have two or more years of service and have exhausted your entitlement to sick pay (full and half pay), but medical advice indicates that you will be returning to work
• industrial injury benefit - provided you have been injured in the course of your work
• other statutory sickness related benefits - once they have exhausted their occupational sick pay and statutory sick pay entitlements (e.g. incapacity or disablement benefit)

There are a few other points to note around the eligibility of sick pay which are:
1. During long spells of sickness, any allowances that you may receive will be reviewed and may be withdrawn. With regards to shift disturbance allowance, this will cease if staff have more than 60 days sick leave in any 12 month period.
2. Any sick pay claimed during a 12 month rolling period will be deducted from your full sick pay entitlement for that same period.
3. If you are on a phased return to full duties you will be paid your full normal pay
4. If your sick pay has been exhausted and you’ve returned to work, then you may apply for an extension of up to 40 days in a 12 month period. This is so that you will receive pay, whilst of sick, should you have further spells of sickness before your sick pay entitlement is reinstated. This will be considered where:
1. sick leave for unrelated minor illness following your return to work.
2. continuing treatment of your original illness or injury which requires time off work.
3. debilitating side effects, recovery from which requires time off work.
5. Staff who remain on continuous sick leave for more than six months may be entitled to Employment and Support Allowance. Any employment and support payments received during your full pay period or during your half pay period are not required to be repaid.
6. Once maternity leave commences you will not be entitled to sick leave or sick pay until you have returned from maternity leave. For details about maternity arrangements see the maternity pages.
7. Pregnancy related illness will not count towards the rolling one and four-year sick leave totals.
8. Unpaid sick leave and sick pay at pension rate do not reckon for superannuation purposes.
9. Once the full and half-pay sick leave allowance has been exhausted, the OCU commander may grant a further extension of 20 days for continuing treatment of the original illness or injury, where it is necessary to be away from work to receive treatment or to recover from side effects. These concessions are not available if the sick leave allowance has been exhausted because of a number of different absences. This extension can only be granted once.
10. If you are pregnant, you must follow the procedure for appealing to remain on pay. You will be remain on full pay during the maternity protected period.
11. When full or half pay has ceased it cannot be restored during the same sickness absence.

Am I eligible?

All police staff are entitled in accordance with the above rules. If you are employed on a fixed term or casual basis, with less than two years of service, you will be subject to a maximum of one weeks full paid sickness for every four weeks of service accumulated