Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 5 February 2013
389. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if any disciplinary action taken against an employee working in the private sector who presents a sick certificate to explain their absence is legal and justified; and the safeguards in place to protect the employee. [6068/13]
View answerBest practice for employers seeking to manage employee absence includes putting in place clear, written guidelines to cover situations when an employee is unavoidably absent from work due to illness. Such guidelines should specify how and when the employee should inform the employer of his/her absence; the circumstances in which an employee must provide a certificate from a medical practitioner; whether the employee can be referred to the employer’s occupational health advisors etc.
In circumstances where employees absent themselves from work on grounds of illness but fail to comply with an employer’s documented guidelines, they can reasonably expect to be subject to their employer’s disciplinary procedures. It is also the case that employees who are frequently absent from work through illness or who are on extended sick leave, even when they adhere to the employer’s notification requirements, may be liable to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal. However, employees are afforded significant protection against unreasonable disciplinary action and dismissal through the provisions of employment legislation including the Employment Equality Acts, the Unfair Dismissals Acts and the Industrial Relations Acts.
If an employee believes he or she has been unfairly disciplined or dismissed in any circumstances, including those referred to in the Deputy’s question, that employee, having exhausted the employer’s internal procedures, may refer a complaint to the State’s employment rights dispute resolution machinery. This machinery currently includes the Early Resolution Service (ERS), the Rights Commissioner Service, the Equality Tribunal, the Labour Relations Commission, the Labour Court and the Employment Appeals Tribunal.
