City of Leicester Teachers' Association
Useful Documents - Therapeutic Return to Work
We reproduce below Leicester Education Authority's current procedure.
Leicester Education Authority
Procedure for Therapeutic Return to Work
1. Introduction
The procedure for staff returning to work part-time for therapeutic reasons is set out below.
2. Purpose
The purposes of this procedure are:-
2.1 To recognise that an employee who has suffered a serious illness or injury may face difficulties when first returning to work.
2.2 To help the employee to overcome any problems to expedite a successful return to work, by providing, wherever possible, a degree of flexibility in hours and, in appropriate cases, duties.
2.3 To ensure that by returning to work the employee is not financially worse off than he/she would have been remaining on sick leave.
3. SCOPE
This procedure is intended to apply to all School/College based staff and Governing Bodies are strongly advised to adopt it. The procedure also applies to all centrally appointed teaching staff.
4. AUTHORISATION OF RETURN TO WORK ON A THERAPEUTIC BASIS
Before an employee is allowed to return to work on a therapeutic basis following conditions must be met and guidance followed.
4.1 The Employee's General Practitioner must have certified the employee as fir to return to work.
4.2 The School/College Manager should obtain its own medical advice (usually through the City's Occupational Health service) to advise whether the employee is fit to return on a therapeutic basis to his/her specific post and if so, on what basis.
4.3 The Headteacher or Principal must have agreed to the therapeutic return.
4.4 Discussions regarding the possibility of a therapeutic return should begin as soon as possible because the steps in a) and b) may take some time to complete.
4.5 The School/College manager should obtain their own medical advice because of the Occupational Health Service expertise in these matters. The Occupational Health Service expertise in these matters. The Occupational Health service will require certain information in order to be able to reach a view. This is likely to include:-
- i) The job description and person specification.
- ii) Any other information about the mental and physical demands of the post that are not clear from the above documents.
- iii) Any temporary changes to hours or duties which can be offered.
4.6 In deciding whether to agree to a therapeutic return, the Headteacher, Principal or manager will need to have agreed to:-
- i) The costs involved, e.g. supply teaching or the cost of cover for the absent employee compared with the employee continuing to be on sick leave.
- ii) The effects of the 'therapeutic arrangement' on pupils and general running of the School/College or team.
- iii) The possible consequences for other colleagues of any temporary change in hours/duties of the employee concerned.
4.7 A return to work on a therapeutic basis should be for a relatively short period of time, ideally no more than 4-6 weeks or a half term. Also, hours, responsibilities and duties should, if organisationally practicable, be gradually increased during the period so that the employee is ready to return to his/her normal hours and full range of duties by the end of the agreed period. When a timetable for a therapeutic return has been agreed a standards letter containing details should be issued to the employee. A copy of the timetable for return should be forwarded to the payroll service provided, who should also be kept informed of any vacancies. An example of a standard letter is shown at Appendix I.
5. PAYMENT WHILST WORKING ON A THERAPEUTIC BASIS
5.1 A return to work is likely to result in the forfeiture of statutory sick pay or sickness benefits. To ensure that employees are not financially worse off and, therefore, deterred from returning to work on a therapeutic basis, the following pay arrangements will apply and examples are given at Appendix III and IV.
| Sick Pay Entitlement at Time of Return | Payment for balance of Entitlement Period*** |
|---|---|
| FULL PAY | FULL PAY |
| HALF PAY | Half pay + (if entitled*) SSP/sickness benefit lost + NI contributions on notional sickness benefit OR in the event of the employee being better off if paid for hours worked only, then payment can be made on this basis. Details should be discussed with the payroll service provider. Half pay + SSP/benefit must not exceed full pay. |
| NO PAY | If entitled*, SSP/sickness benefit lost + NI contributions on notional sickness benefit OR in the event of the employee being better off if paid for hours worked only, then payment can be made on this basis. Details should be discussed with the payroll service provider. |
Notes (see Appendix II)
Where under the above provisions an employee receives an amount in lieu of SSP/Sickness benefit lost, a compensatory pay equivalent to tax payable, to ensure that the employee is not financially worse off by being at work.
** If the employee's entitlement moves from full to half pay or half to no pay during the period of therapeutic working, payment will change accordingly.
* Married women paying reduced rate NI contributions.
5.2 Some statutory benefits may be retained by employees returning to work on a therapeutic basis* e.g. invalidity benefits, (i.e. Statutory payments payable when statutory sick pay expires), dependant benefits. The payroll service provider will need to be aware of this so the amounts received can be off-set against the pay arrangements set out in a) above.
Note: Employees whose earnings do not exceed £67 per week, the lower earnings limit for NI contribution, will retain incapacity benefits as long as they provide the D.S.S. with a Doctor's note which indicates that they are returning to work on a therapeutic basis.
5.3 The payroll service provider will send a letter to the employee seeking this information.
6. MONITORING/REVIEW
6.1 The employee's progress should be monitored continuously and discussed regularly throughout the therapeutic return by the Headteacher/Principal, manager or, in larger establishments, the employee's immediate supervisor.
6.2 If it is becoming apparent that the employee will be unable to cope with his/her normal hours of work and/or duties by the end of the therapeutic return period, it can be extended if the employee has been progressively increasing hours and/or duties and a short extension of the therapeutic period will achieve as full return to normal working.
6.3 Consideration to be given to continue working on a part-time or job-share basis, instead of a return to full-time work. See Absence Management Procedure for guidance.
7. LEAVE OF ABSENCE
7.1 School closure periods should not form part of a therapeutic return period for teachers or staff who are employed during term time only.
7.2 Annual leave which has been booked and cannot be changed (e.g. main family holiday) should also not form part of a therapeutic return.
7.3 Headteachers will need to have regard for the above when considering a therapeutic return during the weeks immediately before a) or b) above.
7.4 Conversely, a Headteacher/Principal may not wish to delay a return to work because the employee has requested leave of absence, e.g. one or two days. In these circumstances, the employee will be deemed to have taken a full day's annual leave and will receive a full day's pay. Please note the holiday period must be included in the timetable (see 4g) and the sickness record (see 8) as a 'working day' to ensure correct payment.
8. SICKNESS RECORD
For the purposes of the sickness record (and calculating future sick pay entitlements) hours which are not worked by the employee will be equated to days and should be recorded as sick leave on weekly and monthly sickness/service returns.
Example
| Week 1 | |
|---|---|
| Normal working hours | 32½ hours |
| Actual hours worked (mornings) | 17½ hours |
Show 15 hours sickness absence - 2½ days
| Week 2 | |
|---|---|
| Actual hours worked | 23½ hours (Mon. Wed.Fri. am) - 10½ hours Tues.Thurs. - all day - 13 hours |
Show 9 hours sickness absence - 1½ days
9. FUNDING
Where a school has been claiming funding through the City's Long Term Sickness Scheme in respect of the sickness absence of an employee who returns to work under this procedure, the school will be able to continue to claim that portion of the special payment which covers hours which are not being worked.
The above arrangement will also apply if the school would have been able to begin to claim funding had the employee remained on sickness absence (i.e. the employee would have been absent for 25 days secondary schools; 5-20 days primary schools depending on number of pupils on roll).
10. TERMINATION OF PROCEDURE
This procedure can be varied by consultation with the recognised Unions or terminated by either side giving three months notice in writing.
Document - Procedure for Therapeutic Return to Work
Appendix II - Notes - Sickness Leave and Statutory Sickness Pay
Appendix III - Example of a Therapeutic Return - Main Pay Scale Teacher
Appendix IV - Example of a Therapeutic Return - APT&C Ancillary Assistant (25 hours per week)