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An employee who has had a baby said she was coming back a month ago, but keeps on sending sick notes instead. What can we do?
The employee does not lose her right to return to work. Therefore, you should treat her in the same way as any other employee on sick leave, including paying her normal sick pay entitlement, whether contractual sick pay or Statutory Sick Pay.If the sickness continues you may eventually want to consider dismissing her, in which case you will have to implement your full dismissal procedures. In assessing her sickness record, you must ignore any periods of sick leave for a pregnancy-related illness during her pregnancy and maternity leave.
Alternatively, you and the employee could agree to postpone her date of return from maternity leave.
Related Resources
in the Muckle LLP Resource Centre
- Am I allowed to ask a woman at a job interview whether she is or intends to become pregnant?
- When can an employee start ordinary maternity leave?
- An employee who has only recently joined us has announced that she is pregnant. Is she entitled to maternity leave?
- I only have three employees. If one of them disappears on maternity leave, I don't have to keep her job available for her, do I?
