Sick greenkeeper lands golf club in unnecessary bunker

There’s been a lot of change around sick notes in the past couple of years.

From April 1, 2022, you’ll likely have noticed that fit notes / sick notes are now only digitally certified and no longer signed or stamped, which the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) stated would “simplify the process of issuing and receiving fit notes”.

And from July 1 last year the list of who could sign a fit note was expanded from just GPs to include:

• Registered nurses (such as a diabetes specialist nurse)

• Occupational therapists

• Physiotherapists and

• Pharmacists.

We can all understand perfectly well why they made these changes – GPs were and still are overwhelmed. But now the onus is on the employer to do the legwork in making sure documents are genuine.

Easier said than done.

While researching these changes, we found a website where employees can get a sick note ‘for entertainment purposes’.

You could always buy a fake fit note, but now it is even easier as they are all digital, and no signature needs to be forged. My colleague delighted in showing me her fit note signing her off for two weeks with prostate problems!

Who’d have thought that we have to check sick notes with the same level of detail as we do right-to-work documentation?!

And because of these changes, some golf clubs are choosing to turn a blind eye to the whole question of sickness documentation.

A golf club I’ve been talking to recently called me up the other day – they wanted some advice to deal with a delicate situation.

One of their greenkeepers had been off sick for a year, and they wanted to terminate his employment.

Because he had been off sick for a year.

Apart from the fact that it is never a good idea to ‘just fire’ someone for being sick, this employee had been with them for much longer than the two years he needed to claim protection from unfair dismissal.

So if they didn’t follow the right process, the whole thing could well have gotten very expensive.

At the very least, they could have had a claim for unfair dismissal, which is currently capped at a year’s wages or £105,707, plus a 25 percent uplift if you have not followed the correct process – redundancy consultation or disciplinary (the only two options, other than a settlement agreement to part company if staff are over two years’ service).

Here’s what had happened

The greenkeeper went off sick a year ago.

They only found out he was sick because he told one of his colleagues – one year ago – that he was sick.

They never got any sick notes from him.

They haven’t heard anything from him for a year.

They have not tried to contact him at any point in that year.

As far as they know, he could be dead (morbid but true!)

And now they want to just send him his P45, take him off the payroll and not wake any sleeping dogs!

(Oh, and by the way, despite not hearing from him in any way shape or form, they had paid him six months of full pay as sick pay, and then 28 weeks SSP. The money had now run out, which is why they felt they could now dismiss him!)

The employee was on £20,000 per year. So over the course of the last 12 months the club had paid him £10,000 (gross) and then £3,052 in SSP (which is not reclaimable from the government).

A club that was struggling for money had thrown away over £13,000 that they didn’t need to.

(I did point out that for that money, we could have done all their contracts and handbooks and given them years of HR advice, preventing this sort of ludicrous situation from occurring).

Here’s the lesson

Unless you have a self-certification form from the employee (valid for the first seven calendar days of absence) or a fit note (signed by one of the list of people above), treat the absence as unpaid and potentially unauthorised until you have the paperwork.

And once you send the employee an email reminding them that their absence is unpaid and unauthorised until you get the fit note, it is amazing how quickly they are able to provide the necessary documentation!

If they delay beyond payroll cutoff, do not pay them. The employee won’t be out of pocket forever, just until the next pay date. Worst case, you make an interim payment. But only when the sick note comes in!

How did the situation work out?

In the case of the absent greenkeeper, given that we hadn’t heard from him in a year, and bearing in mind the fact that he was definitely quids in with the money, we took the risk of just sending the P45. (Please do not do this without checking with your trusted HR advisor!) Absolutely no comeback. Just a very red-faced committee!

For further advice on this matter or any other staff or member issue affecting your golf club,  please contact Carolyne Wahlen, Golf HR, on cw@golfhr.co.uk or 01491 598 700