SICKNESS ABSENCE - 14.02.2022

Must you tell long-term sick employees about vacancies?

On maternity leave

When an employee goes off on maternity leave she is entitled to be considered for any internal job vacancy that arises, even though she’s due to return to her original job and might not be able to start the vacant position until after her maternity leave ends.

You must therefore keep employees who are off on maternity leave fully informed about all internal job vacancies, including any promotion opportunities. If you don’t, she may be able to claim discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 .

Parent-related leave

Employees who are absent from work on other types of parent-related leave, e.g. adoption, paternity, parental or shared parental leave, don’t have this right. Nevertheless, you should keep them informed about all internal job vacancies that arise in exactly the same way.

If you fail to do so, and an employee who is, or has been, absent on any type of parent-related leave, isn’t considered for an internal vacancy or promotion opportunity, they could argue that they’ve been subject to a detriment for taking their parent-related leave.

Notify in writing

When it comes to notifying an employee who is absent on parent-related leave about an internal job vacancy, don’t assume they will check your intranet (if you have one).

Instead, you should write to them with details of the job vacancy at their home address. It’s best not to send this information by email as personal accounts may not be checked regularly.

Tip. You can communicate internal vacancies to employees who are absent on parent-related leave using our template letter (see The next step ). It should be sent out as soon as the job vacancy becomes available.

Off long-term sick

But what’s the situation where an employee is on long-term sick leave? Whilst there’s no specific duty to advise these employees about any internal job vacancies that arise, it is considered good practice to do so.

It may even amount to a reasonable adjustment for employees who are disabled or long-term sick who may be able to claim disability discrimination. Also, where a long-term sick employee believes that they are suitable for a job role but you don’t consider them for it, they may be able to resign and successfully claim constructive dismissal.

Tip. Employees who are absent due to long-term sickness should be made aware of all job vacancies in the same way as those who are absent on parent-related leave. You can use our letter for these employees too, just amend it as necessary.

Tip. When you send details of a job vacancy to an employee who is absent, always keep a record of what information was sent. This will be your evidence that you kept them in the loop about all available job vacancies.

For a job vacancy during parent-related leave letter, visit https://www.tips-and-advice.co.uk, Download Zone, year 23, issue 04.