This LSCFT policy describes the standards and processes required to support employees who have mental or physical disabilities. It raises awareness and provides a framework to enable managers provide support to employees whilst also providing guidance to managers and employees. It includes the policy on disability leave, disability related sickness, exclusions and monitoring.
Category: Absence
This checklist will be relevant to trainees who are expecting to become a parent. It includes those planning to take maternity, paternity, shared parental, and adoption leave. Please note that not all bullet points are relevant to every situation. The term ‘parental leave’ is used in places to include all types of leave for this purpose.
When you find out you are expecting a child
- Read the LSCFT Maternity, Paternity and Adoption Policy and Procedure document. This provides additional essential information. The document can be found in the Handbook here
- Fill in LSCFT pregnancy risk assessment form with your clinical tutor as soon as you inform your tutor you are pregnant. This needs to be completed monthly.
- Check all Trust specific policies and Covid policies for how pregnancy impacts work e.g. whether it impacts going into placement in person.
- Ensure you are familiar with the policy for taking sick leave, and agree with your clinical tutor and placement supervisor who you should inform of pregnancy related medical appointments, or official meetings concerning adoption.
- If taking adoption leave, you need to complete an application form and provide written confirmation to your employer within 7 days of finding out about the match for adoption from the agency. See Section 8 of the policy.
Early on after finding out you are expecting a child
- Consider the policies around maternity, paternity, shared parental, and adoption leave (as relevant) and begin to think about what type of leave you might want to take, how much, and when you want this to start.
- Paternity leave needs to be applied for at least 28 days prior to commencement of leave, by completing the application form, and submitting it, along with a completed SC3 form (available on gov.uk).
- Shared parental leave needs to be applied for at least 8 weeks prior to the start date. See section 6 of the policy for details of information that need to be provided to the Trust.
No later than the end of the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth
- Obtain a completed Mat B1 form from a midwife or doctor before this date.
- Complete the Application for Maternity Leave with your clinical tutor and/or the clinical director. This application form is available on E-HR Infopoint via the Trust Intranet. The information filled in is not binding at this stage. Scan the completed Mat B1 form and send these two documents to your clinical tutor and Ruby Mitchell.
- Decide which date you are intercalating from and apply to intercalate from being a student for the period of mat leave (but not annual leave) via Jen Whitfield.
- Discuss Keeping in Touch (KIT days) or Shared Parental Leave in Touch (SPLIT days) with your clinical tutor. Trainees can take up to 10 KIT days while on maternity or adoption leave, and up to 20 SPLIT days while on Shared Parental Leave. These days can be taken back in annual leave. Inform Kate Swift if you intend to take any KIT or SPLIT days.
- Think with your clinical tutor about how you would like to use the annual leave you accrue. There is some flexibility and it can be carried over to the following year.
Shortly before commencing parental leave
- Consider whether you might like to be connected with the ‘part time/bespoke’ cohort and discuss this with your clinical tutor or ask the part-time cohort tutor, Emma Munks.
- Let Christina Pedder know whether you would like to stay on your cohort’s email distribution list while you are on leave or whether you would like to be removed from it.
- Consider with your clinical tutor whether you would like to return to the programme on a full-time or part-time (usually 0.7) contract.
- If you are awaiting assignment results, let your clinical tutor know whether you would like to receive these while on parental leave or when you return.
While on parental leave
- If arrangements need to be put in place for your placement when you return to training, arrange a meeting with your clinical tutor or the placement co-ordinator to discuss this several months before the placement is due to start.
- Meet with your clinical tutor a few weeks before you return to training to discuss arrangements for coming back. If you are breastfeeding, this might include thinking about facilities for expressing e.g. a room and a fridge at the university and placement and agreeing a plan for sorting this out.
- Arrange an ITP for when you return to training to review training plan and re-set deadlines.
- Let Christina know your return date and which email distribution list (if any) you want to be added to.
- Think through any other issues that need to be considered prior to your return e.g. which teaching days you will be attending, if any, and discuss with your clinical tutor.
- Prior to returning, or just after returning to work, discuss with your tutors any key changes that have occurred on the programme that you need to be aware of to ease your transition back to work.
- Read LSCFT ‘Maternity, Paternity & Adoption Policy and Procedure’ Trainees can locate the current version on LSCFT intranet and share with tutor. It is also in the handbook.
- Fill in LSCFT pregnancy risk assessment form with trainee as soon as they disclose (located on intranet, and appended to this document). Can have 2 forms. One for placement, one for everything else. Or different sections of the same form. For first risk assessment it is good to meet trainee with supervisor to complete factors related to placement. Then just meet trainee alone monthly to review risk after that, unless placement issues are salient.
- Send all LSCFT pregnancy risk assessment forms to Katherine to then forward to LSCFT.
- At 20 weeks the trainee gets a MatB1 form from midwife to prove they are pregnant. They scan this and send a copy to Ruby who sends it to LSCFT. Ask to be copied in.
- Time off for any pregnancy related medical appointments is given.
- Time off is also given for adoption leave and meetings, training & approval panels prior to being matched for adoption. Flexibility is needed due to the nature of the process. See Section 8 of the policy.
- Trainee applies to intercalate from being a student for the period of mat leave via Jen Whitfield. Jen sends the clinical tutor the form to sign and we send it back to her.
- Keeping In Touch (KIT) and Shared Parental Leave in Touch (SPLIT) days:
- KIT days (up to 10 if taking maternity or adoption leave) are expressed in hours so days can be divided up.
- Trainees can take up to 20 SPLIT days if they or their partner are taking Shared Parental Leave.
- KIT and SPLIT days are taken when trainee wishes but course needs to know in advance (trainee tells Kate/Annual Leave admin).
- Trainees get extra annual leave if they work a KIT or SPLIT day, to take whenever they want in the year they return.
- They can take as few KIT or SPLIT days as they want.
- As trainees are employees, and not students, on KIT or SPLIT days they can’t do university type work as they wouldn’t be insured e.g. thesis data collection or thesis supervision.
- Trainees keep their access to university emails and library facilities whilst intercalated.
- KIT/SPLIT time is used for catch up meetings with tutors (and/or Anna Daiches) whilst off. Also, speak to Emma and Jo A re placements, for meeting with the new cohort or attending cross-cohort days, or catching up with programme developments.
- Trainee completes an Application for Maternity Leave with you and/or the clinical director before 25 weeks of pregnancy. This application form is available on E-HR Infopoint via the Trust Intranet. It states any intentions re length of maternity leave. Nothing, however, is binding at this stage.
- AL is accrued during maternity & adoption leave. AL can be carried over to next year if not taken, but not the following year. Usually added to maternity leave, so the maternity leave ends earlier than a year but time is extended by AL so the paid period of leave is longer. Tutor to email ‘NHS annual leave’ about annual leave plans, and also date of return to work and wte.
- On Appendix 1 form it asks if trainee would like their pay to be evened out across all days of maternity leave so that the time when statutory maternity pay kicks in is factored into all pay packets. Then the trainee gets the same pay throughout their absence.
- Trainee may only get statutory maternity pay if pregnant within first 26 weeks of training and with no prior NHS experience. Length of service determines maternity pay – Section 5 of the policy explains this in detail. Prior NHS employment counts as continuous employment for this purpose.
- Ask trainee if they plan to divide maternity leave entitlement with partner so it’s ‘parental leave’. Can be taken in blocks with gaps, for example. See Section 6.2 of the policy for more information.
- Shared parental leave requires consultation with partner’s employer. Partner does that part. Might be a financially good idea if partner is entitled to occupational parental leave pay where the trainee is recently appointed and would only get statutory maternity leave pay, which is much lower. Partners can take the leave at the same time as each other.
- Should trainees wish to return part time this will be considered in relation to the flexible working policy, and agreed via line manager. Currently the typical part time working pattern is 0.7 wte, unless there are extenuating circumstances.
- If trainee is coming back 0.7wte, it might be a good idea to connect trainees with ‘part time’ cohort before maternity leave as lots of people in that cohort have tackled similar decision-making processes already. Emma is that cohort’s tutor so email her.
- Trainee can choose to stay on their cohort’s email distribution list to see what they are up to during maternity leave. They can also choose not to be. Christina manages the lists, trainee to contact her.
- If trainee taking a year off, meet up with them after 6 months in case arrangements for return need to start behind the scenes e.g. placements. Put a date in the diary before mat leave commences. Check which communication method trainees prefer e.g. personal email.
- Meet trainee a few weeks before they resume work to firm up arrangements and welcome back.
- ITP on return to work to re-set deadlines. Update trainee on any developments on the programme whilst away.
- Let all relevant staff know the trainee’s plans so e.g. small group sessions can include them and assessment co-coordinators are aware. Also let Christina know so trainee can be included in invites to teaching.
- If assignments have been submitted prior to taking maternity leave ask if they would like to receive outcome while on maternity leave. Email Emma and Claire A to notify them.
Annual leave entitlement
This will depend on your length of continuous service but will be at least 27 days a year, plus bank holidays (April to March). If at the start of or during training you accrue five or ten years’ continuous service within the NHS then your annual leave allowance will rise to 29 or 33 days respectively. Please show the programme office a letter confirming your years of continuous service and they will update your leave record accordingly. Which days count as annual leave? Example: You wish to take five days of annual leave, Monday through to Friday, inclusive. On three days you would usually be on placement, one day would be private study, and one day in for teaching. Each day counts as a day of annual leave. You need to officially ask for five days annual leave, and ideally liaise with your year group such that not too many are away from teaching at any one time. You must inform (in advance of taking leave) the Programme Office of your requested leave days. Please see the Absence from work policy and procedure in the online handbook.
Days on placement
Full time trainees should generally be on placement three days a week. Following thesis submission trainees are expected to spend 4 days a week on placement. Where thesis hand in goes beyond the middle of March there is a grace period of 4 weeks where trainees can retain a study day per week, after that they will be expected to spend 4 days a week on placement. Where there are specific exceptional circumstances which have resulted in a delayed thesis hand-in then more study time may be agreed but this would be in discussion with the Directors. Part-time trainees are typically on placement two days a week with a negotiated increase after thesis hand in.
Teaching days
Generally, there is one teaching day per week. If, for some reason, there is no teaching, you should be on placement. For example, during the majority of August there is no teaching planned, so, if you are not on annual leave go to your placement.
Ill health
Please refer to the Absence from work policy and procedure in the online handbook.
Non-typical leave requirements
Should any trainee require prolonged special leave, for example, maternity leave, reasons relating to illness (in self or family members), extensive compassionate leave, then that is arranged on an individual basis in line with LSCFT’s policies following discussion with the Clinical Director. A trainee requesting such leave would need to discuss with their clinical tutor in the first instance.
Absence reporting email address: lscft-absence-recording@lancaster.ac.uk
(this inbox is managed by a small duty team of clinical tutors who check the inbox at the start and end of the working day)
Annual leave email address: annualleave-nhs@lancaster.ac.uk
Reasons for absence
Absence is recorded in the following four categories:
- Annual leave
- Sickness absence
- Family leave – such as carer/compassionate leave and parental leave
- Special leave – such as time off for public and civil duties
Attendance at teaching
Trainees are full-time employees and are expected to act as adult learners. As such they are expected to attend almost all teaching, and must never be absent from teaching without taking leave. As the DClinPsy programme includes teaching that spans most of the year, trainees will occasionally need to book annual leave on a teaching day as part of a longer period of leave. There is a cap on the maximum amount of annual leave on teaching days that trainees are permitted to take. The maximum number of days bookable are as follows:
Annual leave on teaching days allowance table:
| Time period – full time trainees | Maximum amount of annual
leave that can be taken from teaching |
Details | Notes |
| 1st Sept – 31st March
(year 1 trainees) |
FT 4 days | 1 day per week after induction | No teaching in Wellbeing week or Christmas break |
| 1st April – 31st March
(year 1-2) |
FT 6 days | 1 day per week | |
| 1st April – 31st March
(year 2-3) |
FT 6 days | 1 day per week | |
| 1st April – 31st August (FT
final year trainees) |
FT 2 days | Teaching one day per week April and May, once per fortnight until July | Little teaching scheduled in Aug in final year |
| TOTAL THAT CAN BE MISSED | 18 days |
| Time period – part time trainees | Maximum amount of annual
leave that can be taken from teaching |
Details | Notes |
| 1st Sept – 31st March
(year 1) |
PT 4 days | 1 day per week after induction | No teaching in Wellbeing week or Christmas break |
| 1st April – 31st March
(year 1-2) |
PT 6 days | Same teaching load as FT trainees (1 day / week) | |
| 1st April – 31st March
(year 2-3) |
PT 6 days | Same teaching load as FT trainees (1 day / week) | |
| 1st April – 31st March
(year 3-4) |
PT 2days | Teaching one day per week April and May, once per fortnight until July.
Sept – March only in for occasional teaching |
|
| 1st April – 31st December
(PT final year trainees) |
PT 1 day | Only in for occasional teaching | |
| TOTAL THAT CAN BE MISSED | 19 days |
Special leave, i.e. emergency/domestic leave; carer leave, and compassionate leave, is not included in this allowance due to the often-urgent nature of these requests. To request a teaching day as annual leave, trainees need to follow Annual Leave procedure. It is not expected that trainees will book a teaching day as annual leave in isolation (i.e. the only day of annual leave in a week). In exceptional circumstances this may be necessary and must be requested from and approved by the Clinical Director. For the purposes of the above, teaching days are considered those sessions in the timetable that are linked to one or more teaching strands. Community engagement project, NHS induction, project block, and selections training days are not counted as teaching days.
In exceptional circumstances, trainees may sometimes be permitted to miss teaching to attend a research ethics committee or a CPD conference. No more than two teaching days can be missed each year for such reasons. In these circumstances, approval to miss teaching will be given by the Clinical Director. Trainees are not permitted to miss teaching for routine placement or research activity.
To avoid poor attendance at teaching sessions the number of trainees permitted to take Annual Leave is restricted. Cohort 2019 and earlier – 5 trainees, Cohort 2020 – 6 trainees and cohort 2021 onwards – 8 trainees per session. Trainees will be allowed to book leave on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. It is therefore important for trainees to apply for leave they wish to take on teaching days as early as possible. In certain circumstances, such as when there is a CPD event scheduled for a teaching day and more than that cohort’s allowance of trainees are interested in attending, teaching may be rescheduled to allow attendance at the event.
It is the trainee’s responsibility to check the teaching timetable when it is published to identify any days which may be problematic with regards to caring responsibilities.
If any teaching days are identified as likely to be problematic to attend, trainees are asked to raise and discuss with their clinical tutors as soon as possible and in advance of the day(s) as to how to best manage them. Options available are as follows:
- Taking annual leave – Full and Part time trainees can book Annual Leave in half days. Full time trainees are recorded in days, and Part time people are given their allowance in hours. However individual hours are not accepted in a request. Half days (3.75 hrs) are the minimum request possible.
- Making a request to leave teaching early for a proportionate and reasonable amount of time (for example leaving teaching in time to meet the usual nursery pick up if on a 7.5 hour placement day). This needs to be explicitly agreed in advance with the clinical tutor
It is important that any request is made in advance and explicitly agreed before the teaching day (this is not applicable to typical teaching days). The trainee is responsible for organising any agreements. If a trainee is absent without an agreement being in place then the trainee could be considered to be in breach of their contract as technically they are working for less hours than they are being paid for.
Please note that if unable to attend teaching because of transport issues, the trainee must take the day as annual leave. It is not permissible to leave early or arrive late to teaching for reasons of transport convenience.
It is also important to note that even on teaching days trainees’ salaried work activity begins at 9.00am. Teaching times are flexible therefore trainees are expected to arrive and be ready for start times from 9am onwards. If meetings are requested by tutors between 9-10am on a teaching day, it is expected that trainees will attend. Persistent lateness on teaching days will lead to a concern form being submitted. Where teaching is being provided remotely, i.e. via Microsoft Teams or equivalent, the teaching day will normally start at 9.30am to allow for sufficient breaks throughout the day.
A few teaching sessions are mandatory, and annual leave may not be taken on days when these sessions are scheduled. These are:
- Teaching sessions which enable trainees to meet the mandatory training requirements of their NHS employer, and
- Sessions which include required elements that trainees must participate in in order to complete the programme
Such sessions are clearly marked on the teaching timetables. If a trainee misses mandatory teaching due to illness, they will be required upon returning to work to provide a doctor’s note covering the date the session took place, regardless of the length of the sickness absence. They will then be required to take part in the activity missed at a later date.
If a trainee needs to leave teaching (or placement) early because of an urgent need (e.g. child becomes ill) then trainees can request carers leave at short notice. This needs to be made via the absence inbox.
Mandatory attendance at anti-racism and inclusive practice teaching
In line with the programme’s ethos and values, we believe that as individuals and a community of professionals we have a responsibility to be open to learning and development; this is particularly pertinent to issues of racism, discrimination and inclusion. We are all at different stages of our learning and development in relation to these important areas, however it is essential we all engage in opportunities to learn from others and challenge ourselves. To this end, attendance at all teaching on anti-racism and inclusive practice on the Lancaster DClinPsy is mandatory. These sessions will be highlighted as such on teaching timetables. If you think there is a reason why you cannot attend any of these sessions, it will need to be discussed with your clinical tutor. For trainees who experience racism we understand that there may be very valid reasons as to why you do not want to attend teaching on racism or other topics of discrimination. We would encourage you to discuss with your clinical tutor or a staff member of the ARAG, if that feels more appropriate, although there is no expectation to do so. If you are a trainee who experiences racism and do not feel able to attend a session on this topic, your clinical tutor will be able to authorise a study day. You do not need to book annual leave for this reason.
Study days
For full time trainees, one day each week is designated as study leave. For part time trainees on 0.7wte, half a day is designated each week to study. Study days are still working days, and as such trainees should be contactable and may be asked to meet with programme staff if necessary. To request a study day as annual leave, trainees need follow standard Annual Leave Procedure. Please note that study days cannot be taken in lieu.
Taking annual leave
How to apply for Annual Leave
-
- Subject of email must include AL [Cohort] [Name of requestor] e.g. AL 2021 Jones
- The trainee must stipulate what type of day it is on each date, Placement (PD), Study (SD) or teaching (TD). This is an example how a week of AL request should look: –
3/9/21 – SD
4/9/21 – PD
5/9/21 – PD
6/9/21 – TD
7/9/21 – PD - The Trainee emails their supervisor and research tutors to ask for agreement on AL dates
- Replies to be actioned within 1 week of initial email. If no response is received, the trainee can chase for a reply.
- The Trainee receives agreement from supervisor and Research tutor, forwards email trail to Clinical tutor for their authorisation.
- Clinical tutor replies within a week with authorisation or raises concerns. . If no response comes from tutor, the trainee can chase for a reply. If Trainee receives and out of office before AL date request then forwards request to the Clinical Director.
- Trainee receives authorisation from Clinical tutor and forwards email trail, with tutor approved emails, to AL inbox.
- Administration checks details, raises any concerns at the point, and proceeds to record dates.
- Trainee receives a confirmation email from AL that the request has been successful. This would be usually within 1 week however in peak times/holiday cover it may be longer.
Reclaiming leave lost due to sickness absence
Please follow the absence reporting processes set out in the relevant section below. You will also need to provide a GP fit note for the time period you wish to reclaim the annual leave for – self certification cannot be accepted for this purpose.
Carry over leave
The employing Trust normally expects that the full annual leave entitlement is taken within each year (financial year, April – March) and that no days are carried over. Only in exceptional circumstances and with the approval of the Associate Director for Psychological Professions can annual leave be carried over into the next year. Requests to carry over leave are made by in the month of February through Annual Leave email. Trainees will be asked to submit the Carry over form, stating the number of days/hours they wish to carry over. The exceptional reasons for this request will be included on this form. A maximum of 5 days basic contracted hours may be carried over to the following year for Full timers, with Part time trainees being able to request their pro rota equivalent. Any leave that is to be carried over, must be requested by the employee, in the annual leave year in which it has accrued, and must be taken before the end of June in the new leave year. As trainees start employment on September 1st, they have 7 / 12 worth of leave to take by the end of March. There are, within the annual plan, some weeks with no teaching within each year (e.g. in December/Jan and around Easter and August) and the course anticipates that such weeks will help trainees take leave without compromising their studies.
Email leave requests to: annualleave-nhs@lancaster.ac.uk
Please be aware of the following when submitting your leave requests to this inbox:
- Leave cannot be taken unless it is approved by the programme regardless of whether it has been approved by your supervisor/tutor
- Requests will not be processed if the subject header does not contain correct details that include your Cohort and name.
Making a late request i.e. within 3 weeks of AL dates.
- Trainee sends an email to the absence inbox lscft-absence-recording@lancaster.ac.uk to gain approval. The following information MUST be provided in order to process the request:
- Date(s) being requested
- Scheduled activities on date(s) requested i.e. teaching (please state if mandatory), placement, study
- Reason for short notice leave request
- Cohort year
- Cc in Clinical Tutor, Research Tutor & Placement Supervisor
- The absence duty team will process your request and let you know whether your short notice leave request has been approved. Please be aware that approval is subject to any issues raised by the tutor pair and/or placement supervisor. If any issues are raised the approval will be revisited and could in some circumstances be withdrawn.
Please be aware that the absence inbox is processed at the start of the working day and towards the end of the working day only. To ensure a speedy response, please send any short notice leave requests by 9.30am where possible.
Length of Service
It is the trainees responsibility to update the programme, though the AL email, when they gave reached 5 /10 yrs of service. The increase in AL allowance will commence the following AL year in April.
Bank Holidays
Full time and part time trainees have every Bank Holiday off and these are booked off automatically at the start of every AL year. Part time trainees are given their BH holiday in conjunction with their contracted hours, eg 0.7 contract is given 0.7 of the 7.5 hours of a BH allowance per BH If a BH is a non working day for the trainee then they will not have AL used to cover the day off. If it is a working day then 7.5hrs will be used to give the trainee the full BH off. Trainees can not change their working pattern for a single week to use the BH as a day off. It is the trainees responsibility to inform AL of their working pattern at the start of each AL to allow for their AL allowance to be calculated. Any changes to their working pattern must be given to AL via email as they could affect their overall AL allowance.
Medical/Non-Medical Absences
As employees of Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust (LSCFT), all trainees are required to provide information about any time away from work activities during the working day (this includes teaching and study days). If you find yourself needing to be away from active engagement with the scheduled work activity for longer than 30 minutes then please contact lscft-absence-recording@lancaster.ac.uk to let us know. Your contact will be processed either at the start or the end of the working day when the duty person checks the inbox. Reasons can include a medical appointment/ self care/feeling poorly towards the end of a day/ needing to attend to an urgent domestic issue etc. Please provide a reason for your time away from work – however if you feel unable to share the reason with the duty absence team– state this in your email and your clinical tutor will be asked to follow this up with you.
Time away from work which exceeds two hours will be recorded as a sickness absence episode or special leave depending on the circumstance.
Pre-planned medical appointments – please contact lscft-absence-recording@lancaster.ac.uk as soon as you know the date and time so this can be logged. If this changes – please remember to let us know so we can log your new appointment time. If relevant you can ask for the appointment to be recorded as ‘disability related absence’ if part of a recognised condition.
Special leave
Special leave requests need to be made via lscft-absence-recording@lancaster.ac.uk. Please state the kind of special leave you are seeking and a reason. If you do not feel able to share your reason – please state this in your email and your clinical tutor will be asked to follow this up with you or the Clinical Director or their Deputy will be asked to follow up if your clinical tutor is on a non-working day. Please be aware that this may lead to a delay in being able to process your request. The absence duty team have delegated responsibility to process special leave requests not exceeding five days in a 12month rolling time period. Any requests which exceed this have to be approved by the Clinical Director or their Deputy which the duty team will seek on the trainees behalf.
Special leave is designed to be a compassionate, supportive and immediate response to an unexpected situation arising in an employees life. It can include the following (for the full list see the LSCFT staff leave policy at the bottom of this page)
- Carers leave – where there are unexpected breaks in care for someone you have caring responsibilities for to enable you to make arrangements for ongoing care as needed.
- Emergency leave – where an incident in your domestic life needs your urgent attention (burst pipe/break in/car breakdown/accident)
- Compassionate leave – where there is an unexpected event with a loved one; funeral of a family member/close friend
Leave to attend interviews
Trainees may attend interviews for NHS posts in work time (including teaching, placement and study) but must inform lscft-absence-recording@lancaster.ac.uk special leave. For non-NHS posts trainees must take annual leave to attend (this includes on study days).
Absence reporting procedures – Trust requirements
Any absences or time away from work over 30 minutes need to be reported to lscft-absence-recording@lancaster.ac.uk so it can be logged appropriately. Exceptions to this are approved annual leave days and any other approved leave arrangements (e.g paternity or maternity leave).
Absences or time away from work up to two hours are logged with the reason given by the trainee (e.g. medical appointment/self care reasons/ sickness episode towards end of the day). Absences or time away from work longer than two hours require formal logging as either a full sickness absence episode or special leave depending on the circumstance.
Disability Related Absence (for a pre-planned appointment related to a recognised condition) or Disability Related Sickness Absence (for a sickness episode or need to have time away from work due to a recognised condition) can be given as the reason and will be logged as such.
Procedure
Please contact lscft-absence-recording@lancaster.ac.uk by 9.30am to report an absence. If you become unwell during the day – please remember to contact lscft-absence-recording@lancaster.ac.uk. Your email will be processed at the end of the day when the duty person makes their final check on the absence inbox.
When contacting the absence inbox to report an absence please provide the following information:
- Reason for absence – please include details of symptoms e.g. sickness bug, cold, flu, covid positive, stress, MH related etc. If you do not want to disclose the details of your absence to the duty team due to the sensitive nature of it – please let the duty team know this and who is aware of the details i.e. clinical tutor/clinical director.
- Confirmation that you have contacted your placement supervisor and cancelled any appointments you have with university based staff, or other appointments you have with other people.
- A contact telephone number for you in case we need to follow up/check anything with you
- Your cohort year e.g. 2021
Closing a sickness absence episode
When you are feeling well enough to return to work please contact lscft-absence-recording@lancaster.ac.uk to say you are back in work. Please do this by 9.30am on the morning of your return. Failure to do this means we cannot close your absence episode and may result in a reduction in pay if the absence is left open.
Please complete a self-certification form (at the bottom of this page) for the first seven calendar days of an absence period and attach to your return to work email.
If you are off for longer than seven days you will also need to submit a GP fit note to cover the time period you are off. Please note you need to do this prospectively not retrospectively (i.e. at the start of the extended absence period and not at the end). If you are having problems getting a fit note from your GP please keep the absence inbox informed of when you expect to receive the fit note. Once received send to lscft-absence-recording@lancaster.ac.uk so it can be logged.
When you have returned to work your clinical tutor will be asked to complete a ‘back to work interview’ with you (if your tutor is not available then the Clinical Director or their nominated deputy will undertake the return to work interview with you). This is an opportunity to check in and see how you are doing following your return. It is also an opportunity to consider any adjustments to your work schedule as you return to ease you back into work if needed and/or whether it might be helpful to explore additional supports such as a referral to Occupational Health or to make you aware of any relevant support services offered by the trust.
Reclaiming annual leave lost to sickness absence
Please follow the absence reporting processes set out above. You will need to provide a GP fit note for the time period you wish to reclaim the annual leave for – self-certification cannot be accepted for this purpose. Neither can a retrospective application. Absence must reported in a timely manner as per the process set out above.
COVID-19
There is no longer a stipulation that you have to test if you have symptoms of covid. However if you do have symptoms of covid you are asked to stay away from work for at least five days. Day one is classed as the first day you experienced symptoms and/or had a positive covid test. If at day 5 you are symptom free (even if you are still returning a positive covid test) you can return to face to face work the following day on day 6.
If you would like more information on this – please see the LSCFT SOP below.
Attendance management
LSCFT operate an active attendance management approach to support colleagues when they are experiencing a series of episodes of absence. More details can be found in the LSCFT policy at the bottom of this page. The duty team will alert your clinical tutor if the number or length of your absences in a 12 month rolling period means the attendance management support processes need to be put into place or equally when you can be stepped down from them.
Other relevant documents
LSCFT staff leave policy
LSCFT flexible working policy and procedure
LSCFT managing attendance policy
Self certification form
Agenda for Change Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook
LSCFT Standard Operating Procedure for COVID-19