NICS sick absence and sick pay

Northern Ireland Civil Service staff are paid in full for up to 6 months of sickness absence in a 12-month period. A further 6 months is on half pay, with a total limit of 12 months of sick absence in 4 years. After that the NIPSA members’ guide says pay is at pension rate, in exceptional cases. This is occupational sick pay, and it goes well beyond the minimum in Statutory Sick Pay.

The sick pay allowance

Those figures come from the NIPSA members’ guide, which summarises NICS conditions of service. The detail sits in chapter 3.01 of the NICS HR Handbook (Sickness Absence). The Department of Finance policies that are public refer to it but do not reproduce it, so treat the union summary as a guide and ask HR to confirm where your own record stands.

Paid sickness at full or half rate counts as reckonable service towards the higher leave allowance, as set out in NICS annual leave and privilege days.

Part-time and other patterns

Staff on an alternative working pattern get sick pay on the same terms as full-timers, worked out pro rata. The Department of Finance gives an example: someone attending 3 days out of a 5-day week may have full pay for no more than 78 days in any 12 months, then half pay, up to 156 days of sick absence in any period of 4 years or less. Saturdays, Sundays and other days you are not due to work do not count against the allowance. Bank holidays that fall on working days do.

Pay is based on your normal rate for the hours you have agreed to work. If your hours are irregular, it is based on average weekly hours over the preceding 13 weeks. Term-time workers are treated differently: the policy says eligibility for occupational sick pay ends during the periods when they are not due to attend work.

Review points

Policy 6.06 covers how absence is managed. Your line manager holds a return to work interview after each absence. Review points are 4 occasions or 10 working days in a rolling 12-month period. When you reach one, HR or your manager look at the nature of the illness, disability legislation, the pattern of absences and your record before deciding what, if anything, to do. Absence caused by pregnancy-related illness during the protected period is excluded from inefficiency considerations.

Review points do not apply to staff on probation or on temporary or fixed-term appointments. For them every spell of sickness absence leads to a review, and the appointment can be ended if they are assessed as no longer able to do the job efficiently because of absence.

Long-term absence

Long-term sickness absence is defined as 20 consecutive working days or more. At that point you receive a letter listing the support available, including the Welfare Support Service and the Employee Assistance Programme, and explaining how your case will be handled. Referral to Occupational Health is part of the process, and regular contact with your line manager is expected. The policy says the aim is to get you back to work at the earliest reasonable point.

When formal action starts

If formal inefficiency action is considered, you are invited to a meeting in writing and can bring a trade union representative or a colleague. The stages are a Written Warning valid for two years, then a Final Written Warning also valid for two years, then dismissal. Occupational sick pay stops for 6 months from the date of a Final Written Warning and is restored only once those 6 months are completed satisfactorily. The warning stages do not apply while you are on long-term sickness absence, though dismissal remains possible.

Appeals and support

You have a right of appeal against a Written Warning and a Final Written Warning, and against a dismissal decision. If you are off with an underlying health condition, your manager may refer you to Occupational Health, and the policy says you may also want to talk to your GP. Tell your manager about any medical or non-medical factors that affect your attendance, because the policy says they are taken into account.

What to check

• Whether your department’s HR team or line managers run the early stages.
• How your doctor’s note fits in: see fit notes.
• Where to get independent advice: your union, or the Labour Relations Agency in Northern Ireland.

Pay on the grades themselves is in NICS pay scales. This is general information, not advice on your own case.