Q: Can an employer force an employee to convert a day taken 'off sick' into a day's statutory holiday, if the employee has been unable to get a doctors note for that day? Apparently, it is practically impossible to get to see the doctor.
Mar 22 2007
Answered by: Peter Done Ask a question
This question is nearly always presented the other way round i.e. it is the employee who asks for a day’s sickness absence to be covered (and paid) by the substitution of a day’s holiday. Normally contracts stipulate, referring to sickness absence, “…certificate to the satisfaction of the employer”. Absences of less than seven days are usually covered by a self-certification document – doctors will rarely issue a sick note until someone has actually been absent for seven days or more, unless it is obvious that the sickness is serious enough to warrant a sick note from the first day of absence.
It is unlikely that you would be able to force an employee to substitute a day’s holiday for a day’s sickness absence. If you believe they are not genuinely ill then follow your disciplinary procedures; if it is genuine but there has been too much of it follow your ill-health capability procedures. Attempting to force someone is unlikely to resolve the absence problem and will only store-up problems.
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