Q: What rights do we have when an employee is 'off sick' and goes for a job interview at another company?
Jul 06 2011
Answered by: Peter Done Ask a question
Sickness doesn’t necessarily mean that your employee cannot attend a job interview. Consider what the sickness is that your employee is suffering from and what came first, the sickness or the interview?
If your employee is sick with something that is for one day only and are theoretically unfit to leave the house then their attendance at interview is questionable. If they are off for a longer period of sickness and this interview comes up subsequently then it seems genuine.
Ask them about this when they come back to work. If they knew about the interview before they were sick but didn’t request the time off then there is certainly an inference that this was a planned 'sickness'. If the would have received pay for that day then there is also an element of potential fraud. If this absence was not genuine then you can take them through the disciplinary procedure.
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