FLASHERS AND SLACKERS
Hot sun and global sporting events give many people the impression that they should be on holiday. But how should you approach employees who dress inappropriately or, worst still, decide to take time off ‘sick’? NICK ARRON offers his advice
It is official! We are enjoying a hot summer and long may it last. Two issues can arise in the heat - staff flashing rather more flesh than normal and the sunshine sickie.
Statistics in Australia have shown that the hottest days of the year are the days when the highest number of people are absent from work due to sickness. But what happens if one of your employees takes unauthorised sickness and how does this affect sick pay?
Statutory sick pay (SSP) only needs to be paid where the absence was genuine and for absences of four days or more. Employees must produce reasonable medical evidence of their incapacity and statutory sick pay does not need to be paid for any period not covered by the evidence.
An employee must inform their employer of any date in which they are unfit for work within seven calendar days of that date.
Where an employee provides details to their employer of their sickness absence more than seven calendar days after the first date they were off sick and the employer does not accept there was good cause for the delay, the employer can withhold payment of SSP. Seven days is the SSP notification limit and it is common for employers to have more onerous notification requirements within their contracts. For example, many employers require staff to report in sick by 9.30am on the first day of their absence and then after at regular intervals. These tighter contractual notification requirements do not override SSP, but failure to notify, may result in losing the right of more generous contractual sick pay schemes.
Evidence of incapacity can be, for example, a doctor’s certificate or a self-certification form confirming the cause and duration of the sickness absence. Her Majesties Revenue & Customs provide a certification form which can be used, see www.hrmc.gov.uk.
For the purposes of SSP, employers cannot insist on a doctor’s certificate for the first seven days of sickness or for a period of sickness of less than seven days; however, they can do so as a condition of payment of their own contractual sick pay schemes, though rarely does this happen.
Employees ‘dressing down’
The second issue employers may
find themselves having to deal with
in the sun is staff who dress down
in the sunshine.
You should have a clear dress code which you communicate to staff preferably in writing. Give examples of what is acceptable and not acceptable, white shirts might be okay, while visible pants may not. Different roles can have differing dress codes. Kitchen staff working with food must wear appropriate dress to ensure health and safety, whereas waiters and waitresses, who serve customers and represent the public image of the business, might be expected to wear more formal smart clothing. Your policy does not necessarily have to be the same for men and women (although you may make it easier for yourself if it does) but it must impose the same comparable restrictions on what they can wear.
Include in the dress code the action that you may take for breach of the code. This may include initially asking them to change or if necessary sending them home to get appropriately dressed.
If in reality this informal approach does not work then follow your policy. Make it clear to your member of staff that they are in breach of the policy and instigate the disciplinary process.
What society defines as ‘acceptable’ changes, so keep the policy under review. Requiring men to wear ties but not women, is likely to be discrimination, but would not have been in the past. Not allowing women to wear trousers could also amount to discrimination.
If the sun is shining and you allow women to wear strappy vests or open toe footwear then you should consider comparable rules for the men, ie short sleeved shirts, smart plain T shirts and sandals.
