Sick leave

Sickness

If you are unable to make it into work due to illness you are expected to phone in and inform your line manager as soon as possible, and by 10am at the latest.

Please use the 3CX direct dial numbers or if you are calling out of office hours, you can use the mobile number. Staff numbers are available on the intranet.

Please don't use Slack or book yourself directly off sick in Timetastic, since it's hard to keep informed via these methods.

You are expected to contact your line manager on a daily basis to keep them updated. After five continuous days sick leave, you are expected to notify your line manager on a weekly basis.

Sick pay

Studio 24 operates a discretionary sick pay scheme for all employees based on length of continuous service as follows:

For part time employees the above will be pro rata to the days and hours worked.

For any sickness over these allowances you are entitled to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) only. Any sickness that doesn't qualify for SSP can either be taken as holiday or unpaid leave.

The sick pay year is from 1 January to 31 December each year and all payments are inclusive of any Statutory Sick Pay entitlement due. Employees who exhaust their sick pay in any one year will not have a fresh entitlement in the following year until they have returned to work for at least six consecutive weeks.

The above limits are within any twelve-month period and all payments will be inclusive of any Statutory Sick Pay entitlement due.

Studio 24 reserves the right to withhold payments under the discretionary Sick Pay Scheme should an Employee be absent prior to or during disciplinary or grievance proceedings.

Returning to work

You must report to your line manager when you return to work at which time you will be required to attend a return to work interview. In the event of that absence exceeding 7 continuous days due to sickness or injury, you must submit a Fit Note as soon as possible (please note the 7 days includes weekends).

We will discuss the options available with you if the Fit Note states that you may be fit to work. However, we reserve the right not to allow you to return if suitable work cannot be identified.

Failure to follow the above rules could result in any payment from Studio 24, including Statutory Sick Pay, being withheld and disciplinary action being taken against you.

Studio 24 reserves the right to contact you at home or arrange a home visit whilst you are off sick, and you are obliged to be contactable during your normal working hours.

Studio 24 also reserves the right to arrange for a Medical Examination by an Independent Medical Examiner, or to request a report from your own Doctor/Specialist, in order to ensure that you are fit to continue or undertake your job, or to determine your current state of health. You hereby authorise Studio 24 access to any such reports. Full consultation will take place with you in this event.

Medical appointments

We allow staff to take short time off (up to half a day) for essential medical or dental appointments. Prior permission must be obtained from your line manager before you take any such time off.

Where possible, you must try to arrange such appointments outside normal working hours or at the start or end of the day. Any such absences from the workplace should be minimal and we expect you to give your line manager as much notice as possible.

Line managers & PM responsibility

The line manager or PM who takes the call is responsible for marking time off in Timetastic.

They should inform the PM team, line managers and office manager via email. You can send an email to this group at absences@studio24.net. They should also inform the wider team by posting a message to the general channel in Slack.

The PM team is responsible for marking the person off in Runn and re-arranging work.