Sickness

The health and wellbeing of our employees is a priority. This section of the Playbook covers how short and longer-term sickness absences are managed and supported.

The basics #

If you aren’t feeling well enough to work, you must let your line manager and a member of the People team know by 10:00 am, or as soon as you reasonably can after that. This can be done via email, direct message on Slack, or by posting in the #dxw-sickness channel on Slack. The People team will then open a sickness record for you on BreatheHR.

If you’re unwell and know that you’re going to be off for a period of time, or have been signed off by your GP until a certain date, you don’t need to update your line manager daily. Let them know when you will be checking in again so they know when to expect to hear from you.

Where possible we recommend letting people know if you are unable to attend meetings, due to your absence, or asking someone else to do this on your behalf.

If you’re unwell for more than 7 calendar days in a row, regardless of your FTE %, you’ll need to provide a fit note to the People team, who will keep your line manager informed and support you where needed.

When you return to work, you must check your sickness has been correctly recorded in BreatheHR, by updating your sickness end date and sickness type. If none of the sickness type options provided in the drop down menu aligns with your specific situation, please select ‘other-please detail’ and provide a reason in the notes section. Please note that any information added to the notes section will only be visible to the People team and your line manager.

The People team will then review and close the sickness.

Pay #

Within a rolling 12 month period, you will receive:

• full pay for the first 20 days of sickness absence 
• half pay (but no less than the living wage) for the next 10 days of sickness absence
• statutory sick pay after 30 days of sickness absence up to 28 weeks from the date of your first absence.

These entitlements are pro-rated for staff who work non standard working patterns. The pro-rated amount is calculated based on the amount of days that you work per week.

Any exceptions to the above pay entitlements will be at the discretion of the Directors and will never be less than the entitlements outlined above. 

Absence meetings #

If you’ve been away from work for more than 7 calendar days in a row, regardless of your FTE %, your line manager will contact you upon your return to work. They’ll check in to see how you’re doing and see if you need any additional support during your return to work.

If your absence exceeds 15 working days, or pro-rated equivalent, in a rolling 12-month period, an informal meeting with your line manager will be scheduled. The purpose of this meeting is to provide an opportunity for discussing the reason(s) for your absence and to understand what ongoing support you might need. The aim is to help reduce the risk of further absence before there is any impact to your pay.

For absences exceeding 20 working days, or pro-rated equivalent, within a rolling 12-month period, the People team will invite you and your line manager to a formal absence meeting. Here, discussions will look into customised support, potential reasonable adjustments, and the collaborative development of an absence support plan and review period lasting at least 8 weeks. During this review period, you will have regular meetings with your line manager and the People team to discuss progress on the plan. If necessary, input from an Occupational Health advisor or your GP may be sought with your consent. If, at the end of the review period, attendance has improved, there will be no further meetings required at this point.

We understand that attendance levels may fluctuate due to individual circumstances. We will consider situations on a case-by-case basis and explore appropriate measures. If the level of absence has not returned to the expected level at the end of the review period, we may begin to manage the absence using our Disciplinary Procedure.

There may also be occasions, where you’ve been absent frequently over a short amount of time or with noticeable patterns, when your line manager or a member of the People team will check in with you. This chat is to make sure there aren’t any underlying problems, and discuss any ways we can help.

Phased returns #

If you’ve been absent for a long period of time, the People team will stay in touch with you during your period of absence, and when you are ready to return, they may organise a meeting to discuss your return to work. An outcome of this meeting may be that a phased return would be beneficial.

A phased return allows you to return to work on a gradual basis following a period of absence. It may involve working reduced hours or working in a different way for a period of time. It will be created in consultation with you, with a view to make your transition back to work as easy as possible.

Occupational Health and medical records #

Occupational Health assessments can be beneficial during a period of absence and returning to work. There may be occasions where the People team will arrange a meeting between you and an external Occupational Health specialist who will then provide us with a report. This can help us to make decisions on any reasonable adjustments that may be required related to your absence.

We will always explain why we are asking for the report, and who will have access to it. We will never have access to, or request to have access to, your full medical records. 

If you do not give permission for us to seek a report, we may need to make decisions based on anything that you have told us about your condition and/or any information in fit notes you have provided.

Changes to this page must be approved by a Director.

Last updated: 17 October 2025 (history)