Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and return to work processes
What you will learn in this chapter
- The barriers disabled people experience with SSP and return to work processes
- Actions you can take to address those barriers
Traditional absence triggers can disadvantage disabled employees, especially those with fluctuating conditions.
47% of disabled people agreed that Scope’s recommendations to government on improving SSP would have helped them stay in work.
Employers can implement their own actions to support disabled employees remain in work.
Recommended actions
Create a disability leave policy
Disability leave is different from sick leave. It’s the time needed for things directly related to disability.
An employee can use disability leave at their discretion for any reason connected to an impairment or condition. The policy would give disabled staff a fixed number of absence days to do this.
This means disabled staff can take time off work to:
- attend a medical appointment
- recover from a disability related medical problem
- manage a reoccurring condition
This leave should be recorded separately to annual leave or sickness absence.