Parliament to Consider Sick Leave Extension Due to Swine Flu
The Cabinet Office is revising a proposal under which employees suffering from swine flu or any other epidemic breakout would be able to stretch their self-declared sick leaves from 7 days to 14 days. This rule, applicable only for a short period, would come into force only if the
Government’s Civil Contingency Committee is looking at all aspects of this plan and the initial manuscript of rules and regulations is about to be presented to the Parliament for its assent. If the need arises, the about to be implemented law would last beyond the initially decided period of 6 months.
CIPD Senior Public Policy Adviser, Ben Willlmott observed that healthcare professionals would benefit greatly from this sensible decision and it would check the spread of the pandemic. By increasing the sick leave from 7 days to 14 days, employees would not have to report to office in spite of being unwell. He said that employers who could manage their workload should not be distressed by this new step. He only expected a minor section of workers to use this new rule as an excuse for not going to work.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) elaborated that the new scheme proposed by the Department for Work and Pensions, to increase the number of leaves because of illness from 7 to 14 days, should not be viewed with cynicism by the employers.
According to a representative of the Department, people should not be forced to go to work if they were still unwell or asked to produce a doctor’s not, which would trouble the doctors needlessly in case of an outbreak.
