Purpose
The guidelines for illness and sickness absence have been drawn up based on an ambition to have the lowest possible rate of sickness absence to the benefit of employee welfare, the workplace, and the sick employee.
Regarding illness and sickness absence, the objective is that the guidelines should be practical—while also being flexible and reflecting everyday life in the departments and units. A further objective of the guidelines is to recognize the diversity of the working culture for both scientific staff and technical/administrative staff
Importance is attached to ensuring that both manager and employee have a responsibility in the work to minimize illness and sickness absence. The guidelines therefore encourage active participation by both the manager and the sick employee in the dialogue on the employee’s return to the workplace, and the local cooperation committee (LSU) and working environment committee (AMU) also play a role in the work to focus on illness and sickness absence in general.
Notice of sickness
It is recommended that the employee call in sick to his or her immediate manager by telephone. To the extent to which the employee finds that his or her sickness permits this, the employee will participate in the cancellation of appointments and the assessment of other handling of urgent tasks. The immediate manager will ensure that the tasks that can/must be performed by others are performed, and that any appointments are cancelled or handled by others.
If the employee is too sick to attend work, but wishes to work from home on a full-time or part-time basis, this may be arranged following prior agreement with the employee’s immediate manager. If such an agreement is entered into, the employee must register the hours he or she works from home as working hours, and the remaining hours must be registered as sickness absence. However, the manager is entitled to refuse to let the employee work from home in the event of illness.
It is the employee’s own responsibility and right to assess whether he or she is sick and unable to work—in some cases, however, supplemented by a medical assessment. It should be emphasized that the employee is obliged to take measures to recover and report fit for work, and the employee is therefore not expected to offer to work from home during his or her sickness absence.
When the employee is sick
Regular, short-term sickness absence
If an employee is frequently sick for one or two days, the immediate manager must call in the employee for an interview to determine the cause of the scikness absence and to enter into agreements aimed at reducing the rate of sickness absence. Regular, short-term sickness absence may—for example—be due to the employee having problems in the workplace.
Long-term sickness absence
An employee who is sick for a consecutive period of more than two weeks will often be requested to present a sick note or a fit-for-work certificate. The costs for this will be paid by the department/unit.
A fit-for-work certificate consists of two parts. The first part is filled in by the employee and the manager based on an interview. The second part of the certificate is filled in by the employee’s general practitioner based on a consultation with the employee as well as on the information provided in the first part of the certificate.
The employee’s immediate manager may request a fit-for-work certificate at any given time in the course of the sickness or in connection with a history of repeated notices of sickness. In this connection, the manager will call in the employee for an interview at a reasonable notice, and the employee is obliged to attend the interview. If the employee is too sick to attend the interview, the interview may be conducted by telephone if the employee’s condition permits this.
Depending on the reason for the sickness absence, the parties may consider whether part-time sick leave could be a possibility, so that the employee who is on sick leave can—for example—attend work for a few hours or perform some tasks from home.
The employee is obliged to present a sick note or fill in a fit-for-work certificate, and is also obliged to participate in the contact with the municipal authorities to ensure that DTU can receive pay reimbursement.
Caring conversations and sickness absence interviews
A close dialogue between manager and employee is important in connection with sickness absence, and both parties are obliged to participate in the dialogue on this.
Caring conversation
If an employee has called in sick, and there has been no dialogue between the manager and the employee since then, the manager must contact the employee for a status report no later than on the fifth day of illness. The caring conversation may thus be held before the fifth day of illness. The purpose of this conversation is to organize the employee’s work during the employee’s sickness absence and to receive a status report on the employee’s return to work.
If—after the caring conversation—it is not clear when the employee can return to work, the manager must take the initiative for a new caring conversation in the near future.
These status conversations must not be confused with the statutory sickness absence interview, which is described below.
Sickness absence interview
In the event of long-term sickness absence, the immediate manager must call in the employee who is on sick leave for a sickness absence interview about how and when the employee will be able to return to work. The sickness absence interview must be conducted no later than four weeks after the first day of illness. If it is not possible to conduct a personal interview, the sickness absence interview will—in so far as possible—be conducted by telephone. If the employee so wishes, an observer—for example the union representative—is always welcome to participate in the sickness absence interview. The employee is responsible for inviting the observer.
The employee is not obliged to provide information about his or her diagnosis.
Contact between the employee and DTU
To ensure as easy a return to the workplace as possible after long-term sickness absence, the immediate manager must keep in regular contact with the employee on sick leave by telephone and/or email to ensure that all important information to the office is also provided to the employee on sick leave.
The immediate manager must offer employees with long-term sickness absence to keep in electronic contact with DTU so that they are able to keep up to date. However, this is voluntary.
When an employee returns after long-term sickness absence
When an employee is ready to return to work after long-term sickness absence, the employee and his or her immediate manager will agree a start-up plan. The plan must take into consideration the reason for the sickness absence, and it must ensure that the employee is fully back at work within a period of around three months in so far as possible.
Employees who have had long-term sickness absence will be offered a (re)introduction programme. This programme will be composed in cooperation with the employee’s immediate superior and with due consideration for the period of sickness absence in question. This may be an introduction to new colleagues, a review of an action plan, a mini-employee development interview (MUS), etc.
If it turns out during the start-up period that full resumption of the work is not possible or desirable, the parties will agree on an adjustment of the terms of employment, possibly in connection with the expiry of the three-month period.
If the sick leave is due to stress, reference is made to DTU’s stress policy, which can be found here.
PhD students—extension
The same rules apply to PhD students as to other DTU staff. However, PhD students may request an extension of their contract by a period corresponding to the period of sickness absence for documented sickness, as they are in the course of a study programme. if the PhD student wishes to extend his or her contract, he or she must enter into a written agreement with the department. The agreement is then sent to the PhD Office in 101 together with a fit-for-work certificate. The PhD Office will then see to it that a new end date for the PhD programme is forwarded.
The role of LSU and AMU
It is recommended that sickness absence is discussed once a year in LSU or AMU. It is decided locally how best to handle sickness absence. The starting point for handling sickness absence may be a review of the guidelines and the anonymized sickness absence statistics for the department or unit.
Commencement
The guidelines on illness and sickness absence were approved by the Executive Board and discussed on the Cooperation and Joint Consultation Committee (HSU) in December 2017. They will enter into force on publication at DTU Inside.
Amendments
The guidelines may be amended at three months’ notice following a review by the Cooperation and Joint Consultation Committee. Any amendments will be communicated via DTU Inside.