Staff Absence
Sickness absence
For any periods of sickness absence, staff should follow the Notification of Sickness Absence Procedures:
All staff who are prevented by illness from reporting for duty shall personally call the absence line on: 01353 645817 as soon as possible by telephone on the first day of absence.
The following details should be provided:
- The nature of the employee’s illness/injury
- The expected length of absence from work
- Current contact details if different from those on file
All staff should also inform their line manager on the first day of absence. They should alert their line manager to any outstanding or urgent work that requires attention.
If an employee does not report for work and has not explained the reason for absence then the HR/Cover Manager will try to contact the employee, by telephone, text or email. This must not be treated as a substitute for reporting sickness absence. Absence that has not been notified in accordance with the sickness absence reporting procedure will be treated as unauthorised absence.
- A medical certificate (Doctor Fit Note) must be provided from the eighth day of absence (including Saturdays and Sundays). Failure to do so may result in non-payment of sick pay (where applicable).
- Employees must continue to submit Fit Notes during school closure periods.
All employees must complete a self-certification form detailing the reason for absence for any period of sickness absence up to seven days. The self-certification form must be completed immediately on return to duty and sent via email to HR at kmajor@wvc.tmet.org.uk .
The form can be found on the staff share drive under Staff information/absence. This is the responsibility of the employee.
Please refer to Trust Leave of Absence Policy and Sickness Absence Policy for more details. Policies can be found on the Staff Share Drive under Staff information/Policies
Planned absence
In order to help the Trust manage absence efficiently and with minimal disruption to teaching and learning, all staff must get approval from the Principal to take time off. Time off can be for personal/compassionate reasons, CPD, trips/visits, medical etc. The Principal will take into account the reason for the request, the policy, the School calendar etc. and will confirm if leave of absence can/cannot be granted.
Requests for leave of absence which can be anticipated should be made in advance and certainly no later than 5 days before leave is required. If you do not give sufficient time for cover to be organised, and to grant this leave would cause operational difficulties, then leave will be declined. Once leave has been approved, Linda Anderson (Cover Manager) landerson@wvc.tmet.org.uk and Kylie Major (HR Officer) kmajor@wvc.tmet.org.uk should be informed via email. Staff will be notified if the leave is paid or unpaid.
52-week staff requesting holiday entitlement during the holiday periods need to get this leave approved by their Line Manager. However, if 52-week staff are requesting leave in term time this leave must also be approved by the Principal. Please confirm authorised holiday dates with HR, to be recorded.
It is accepted that it is not always be possible to book leave in advance, for example, when absence relates to a sudden domestic emergency. However, the employee is expected to notify the School by phoning the absence line on : 01353 645817 as soon as possible explaining the reasons for his/her absence and to keep the School informed if the absence goes beyond one day.
