Policy Overview

This policy is how we deal with sickness and the absence of staff as a company.

Punctuality and being present are vital to our business as it is based on ratios, so staff either not present or late can put children in harm's way.

The intention of this Policy is to:

• Give staff a guide on the rules surrounding sickness and absence.
• Give management a guide on the rules and when to intervene and escalate persistent sickness and absence.

Who is this policy aimed at?

This policy applies to all The Norfolk Childcare Company LTD employees, Volunteers, students, temporary staff, or anyone working for or on behalf of The Norfolk Childcare Company LTD.

Where does this Policy Apply?

• Any location The Norfolk Childcare Company operates

Why punctuality is essential to the business

Punctuality is essential to the business, with every early years setting having to abide by strict ratios set out buy OFSTED and the DFE. To operate, we need to comply with those ratios, and if a member of staff is late or AWOL, that will put the setting under ratio by quite a margin and in turn put children, other staff and the business as a whole at risk.

What time are we expected to start work?

All staff will be given their rotas with a start and finish time, either termly or monthly. We expect you to be in the playroom, or where you are designated to be, ready to look after the children precisely at the start time.

Meaning you should arrive with enough time to sign in drop your bags off in the appropriate areas with enough time to be in the room when you are meant to start.

What time are we expected to leave work?

As mentioned above, all staff will be given their rotas as soon as they come available with a start and finish time. You are expected to leave after your finishing time and not before. When it is your leaving time, you should not leave before your designated finish time. You are expected to be in with the children until that time. You should not be leaving the playroom a few minutes early so you can leave the building at your finish time.

There may be times that you are asked to stay a little longer due to maybe a late parent, late staff, or to cover another staff member. A manager will discuss this with you.

If children leave early at the end of the day you will be expected to work until the normal close of business. If your manager and you-selves decided to mutually leave early then you must mark yourself leaving early and you will not be paid for the time difference of leaving early and you normal time of leaving. 

When to report my sickness and who too

Sickness should be reported as soon as you are aware that you will be unable to attend work. You must register your sickness by 7 am to the manager of the setting that is opening. It would be best if you did this via Text message. You then need to follow up with a phone call to the setting at the opening time to confirm they have received the message.

It is your responsibility to confirm that the setting has received the information that you will not be present. It would be best to talk to the setting manager on the phone that day. If there is no answer, you must leave a voice mail and call back within 10 minutes again to confirm. If no response is made, you must make every effort to keep contacting until you reach a manager.

A text message and voice mail alone will not constitute notification of absence. You must also do this personally. The only exceptions to this would be if you are seriously ill and are genuinely unable to make the call yourself.

You must inform the setting every day of illness and inform the nursery when you return. Again it is your responsibility to notify the setting of these things. This again should be the moment you know you will either be able to come into work the next day or not.

Return to work Interview

Once you have returned to work, a manager may conduct a return to a work meeting. A return to work meeting will go over why you have been off to make sure you are fit to return to work and allow you to raise any concerns you have for returning to work.

A meeting should be held as soon as reasonably possible in a private area or room where possible. If you have gone over the absence allowance, the manager may refer this to a disciplinary investigation. This meeting will count as your investigation into your absence towards a disciplinary hearing. Please see below for details.

How and when to report lateness

Lateness can cause lots of issues for the nursery. It can also cause safeguarding concerns by leaving the setting understaffed. It would be best if you made every effort to arrive on time for work for these reasons.

If you are running behind, you must call you setting the moment you know you will be late and speak to the manager to let them know you are on your way. This is also for your safety, so we know nothing has happened to you on the way to work.

What happens if I am late?

If you have very low, zero previous times of lateness or have mitigating circumstances, then there will likely be no further action. But this will be down to the setting managers discretion.

With any lateness, you should inform the most senior manager when you arrive at the setting when being late.

If your setting managers believes further action should be taken, then the following will apply;

0-10 Minutes Late:

If you arrive under 10 minutes late, you will receive 1 strike (Please see disciplinary policy). If you receive 3 strikes in any 12-month rolling period, you will be referred for a disciplinary investigation.

11-30 Minutes Late:

This level of lateness is a more considerable concern. If you are late by this amount without extreme reason (Car accident, for example) or reasonable excuse, you will be automatically referred for disciplinary investigation. The outcome for this would likely be, at a minimum, a verbal warning. Managers must complete strike if not being referred for disciplinary.

30+ Minutes Late:

As above, unless without a reasonable mitigating factor for your lateness, you will be referred disciplinary with an outcome for this would likely be at a minimum of a written warning.

Being AWOL (Away without leave):

AWOL would be classed as not arriving for work when scheduled to be in. This could either be by being sick and not calling in or just not showing up. This causes many issues as it means the setting will be unsure or you will arrive or not, so we won't know if cover is needed.

AWOL would also be classed as lying about the reason for absence. For example, calling in saying you have a sickness bug but are away on holiday.

If you are AWOL from a shift that has been rotated in for or training, for example, you will be referred for disciplinary investigation.

The last example of AWOL would be walking out of the setting without permission while looking after children. This obviously isn't for lunch, but for example, you could disagree with someone and walk out halfway through your shift and go home without receiving permission.

This would be treated most severely if this was to happen. We would also carry out a disciplinary investigation into the case, leading to your dismissal in this situation. Walking out on the children you care for is one of the very most serious things you could do.

Continued absence:

Good attendance is essential to keep the company running and the children well cared for. Prolific absence can cause significant disruption for the company and the care of the children. This is why we will be keeping a careful eye on absence.

We understand that sickness and illness do happen, and when dealing with absence, we will always look at the facts fairly.

Suppose your absence amounts to more than two incidents of absence or 3% or more of your yearly working contacted hours (Weekly hours multiplied by working weeks excluding holiday entitlement). This will be what happens first. Your setting manager will refer you to a disciplinary hearing during your return to work meeting. The above limits will be calculated based on a rolling 12-month timeframe. Your return to work meeting before this will serve as your investigation stage.

We will look at each case of absence on a case-by-case basis. Below are some examples of when absence will and won't count. This list is not exhaustive and only meant as examples, and the list is not limited and may change.

Absences that won't count towards absence:

• Staff member being hospitalised (not self-admitted)
• The first two days of reasonable "Time off for family and dependants.". Reasonable will down to the directors dissection. 
• Urgent hospital/doctor appointments that a director has approved

Outcomes of absence disciplinary may be as follows:

• First disciplinary (3rd absence) – Verbal Warning
• Second disciplinary (4rd absence) – Written Or Final Warning
• Third disciplinary (5th absence) - Final Warning Or Suspended without Pay Or Dismissal 
• Fourth disciplinary (6th absence) – Suspend without Pay or Dismissal

This is all depended on the circumstances of the case. So the final decision may be different from your final outcome in these circumstances may differ. This is meant as a guide, and all incidents will be on a case by case basis.

Time off for appointments:

While we understand appointments are sometimes hard to get, we strongly recommend that all appointments are booked for times you are not at work.

If the appointments are serious and if we can arrange cover, then a setting manager may approve this appointment. If you are an all year round staff member, this may be taken as a holiday. If you are term time only or have taken all your holiday allowance, then this must be taken as unpaid leave. If this is taken as unpaid leave, this may count towards your absence rate. 

If we cannot arrange cover for whatever reason, you must rearrange the appointment. There is no statutory law that mandates time off for appointments.

Breach of Policy

Any member of staff, student or volunteer found to be in breach of this Policy will be subject to disciplinary action as a breach of this Policy and our safeguarding Policy. Any breach could result in termination of employment.

Policy Commencement and Review