Staff sickness

Overview

This page outlines the steps for reporting sickness absence and calculating sick pay entitlements for MPs’ staff.

It covers when and how to notify IPSA Payroll, the documentation required for different lengths of absence and how Statutory and Occupational Sick Pay are calculated based on your length of service. It also explains annual leave accrual during sickness, conditions for carrying over unused leave and proxy responsibilities in ensuring accurate records.

For more guidance on sickness absence, contact Members HR on 020 7219 2080 or by email at membershr@parliament.uk.

If your query relates to payroll, speak to your payroll officer on 020 7811 6400 or by email at payroll@theipsa.org.uk.

Using IPSA Online

Payroll proxies can record staff sickness and unpaid leave.

Sickness absence must be recorded on the system to maintain accurate records.

  1. Note!

    To record sickness or unpaid leave for your staff, open IPSA Online.

  2. Step1

    Select the Main menu tab.

  3. Step2

    Select the Time and Expenses tab on the left-hand side.

  4. Step3

    Select Absence entry from the menu.

  5. Step4

    To view and amend historical or draft sickness and unpaid leave records, select Open.

  6. Step5

    Type the resource name and select Load.

  7. Step6

    Select the Add button.

  8. Step7

    Select the Resource ID field, press the space bar to produce a list of staff members and select the relevant member of staff.

  9. Step8

    Select the Absence code field and select (SICK) Sick from the list.

    Do not enter the absence reason.

  10. Step9

    Select the Date from calendar and select the first date of absence.

  11. Step10

    Select the Date to calendar and amend the last date of absence. The system will default to a single day's absence which could be incorrect.

    If the staff member has not yet returned to work yet, select the Open-ended absenceOpen-ended absence button and enter the preliminary end date for their expected return.

    If the staff member was sick for part of the day, you can include the time in the Time from and Time to fields.

  12. Step11

    If the staff member was sick for more than seven days, please provide a doctor’s certificate. If this doesn’t apply, go to Step 14. To attach, select the Paperclip icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen.

  13. Step12

    A new window will open, select Add a document.

  14. Step13

    Select Upload to find the doctor’s certificate in your file explorer.

  15. Step14

    Select Save and the document is uploaded to your document archive.

  16. Step15

    Select the X icon to close the document archive.

  17. Step16

    Select Save to add the absence.

Only managers can record caring leave.

  1. Note!

    To record caring leave for your staff, open IPSA Online.

  2. Step1

    Select the Main menu tab.

  3. Step2

    Select the Time and Expenses tab on the left-hand side.

  4. Step3

    Select Absence entry from the menu.

  5. Step4

    Select the Add button.

  6. Step5

    Select the Resource ID field, press the space bar to produce a list of staff members and select the relevant member of staff.

  7. Step6

    Up to five days per year may be taken at full pay at the discretion of your employer/manager.

    If you wish to choose paid caring leave, please select the absence code “CAREPAID” (Caring Leave – Paid).

  8. Step7

    If the employee is not to be paid for caring leave, or the caring leave extends beyond five days, select the absence code “CAREM” (Caring Leave – Unpaid).

  9. Step8

    Select the Date from calendar and select the first date of absence.

  10. Step9

    Select the Date to calendar and amend the last date of absence. The system will default to a single day's absence which could be incorrect.

  11. Step10

    Select Save to add the absence.

  12. Step11

    To make a caring leave record ready for payroll, during the recording process, select the box marked Draft, then select Ready, and then select Save.

    If this step is not completed, Payroll cannot load the caring leave entry on the system.

Guidance

Employees should report sick to their MP or proxy as soon as they are aware they will be unable to report for work.

Your sickness absence must be entered on IPSA Online by a full payroll proxy. See guidance on recording sickness.

If you are sick for seven days or less, upon your return to work, you need to provide the proxy or the MP with confirmation of the first and last date of sickness absence, as well as the reason for absence. This is known as ’self-certification’. Sickness absence includes Saturdays and Sundays, and any other days not normally worked.

If you are sick for eight days or more, you must provide the proxy or the MP with a ‘fit note’ (medical certificate) from a registered healthcare professional. IPSA Payroll require a copy of this fit note. The proxy or the MP should attach a copy of the fit note to the sickness submission on IPSA Online (see Step 11 of the guidance).

Your proxy can access your sick record (see Step 4 in the guidance).

You will receive Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) as required by law and depending on your length of continuous service in your current employment, you may also be entitled to Occupational Sick Pay.

If you have worked for less than one year for your current MP, you will receive one week’s full pay for every four weeks of continuous service, including any SSP due (see example 1).

If you have worked for more than one year for your current MP, you will receive a maximum of 26 weeks on full pay, then a further 26 weeks on half pay, including any statutory sick pay due. This is your maximum entitlement during any four-year rolling period.

Note that the four-year rolling period begins on the first day of your most recent absence. Once the four-year rolling period is up, i.e. four years since the first day of absence, your entitlement will reset to 26 weeks on full pay/26 weeks on half pay.

What staff members are entitled to for each sickness absence will be calculated according to these rules and will take into consideration the staff member’s current absence record and any previous payments for sickness absence.

Sickness relating to an employment with another MP (previous or current) is not considered during the four-year rolling period. In other words, the four-year rolling period exclusively relates to a single employment with an MP.

If you, the proxy or the MP want to check whether you will receive occupational sick pay for a period of absence, you should contact IPSA Payroll for details.

Example 1

You have worked for your MP for less than one year. Your employment started on 1 November, you were off sick from 4 January and are due to return three weeks later on 25 January.

The period of employment considered is from 1 November to 25 January: 12 weeks and one day, although only full weeks are counted.

The calculation: sick leave accrual (12 weeks) / 4 weeks continuous service = 3 weeks.

In this example, you would receive full Occupational Sick Pay for the whole three-week period that you were off sick.

In instances during the first year of employment where the sickness is ongoing and the return date is not yet known, sick pay will be calculated on a month-by-month basis.

Example 2

You have been employed with your MP for three years and you are currently off sick. Your sickness record indicates you previously received 26 weeks’ full pay during a separate period of long-term sickness within the last four years.

As a result, you are unable to receive occupational sick pay at full pay and would only be entitled to occupational sick pay at half pay for a total of 26 weeks. If the sickness continued after these 26 weeks at half pay, you would move to zero pay. This is because you would have also exhausted your Statutory Sick Pay, which is paid to you as a portion of the full/half pay you receive. After 12 months, your entitlement to statutory sick pay would reset.

Example 3

You started work for your MP on 13 March and went off sick on 31 March. As you were employed for less than four weeks, you are not eligible for occupational sick pay. Therefore, any absence less than four days will be unpaid. For any absence period over four days, you will receive Statutory Sick Pay.

Example 4

You’ve worked for your MP for six years but in the last four years your sickness record shows you have exhausted your full occupational sick pay and three weeks of your half pay. This means that any further sick pay will be capped to 23 weeks at half pay.

Accruing annual leave while on sick leave

Statutory holiday entitlement continues to accrue if you are off sick.

You may choose to take annual leave while on sick leave and be paid at your usual rate (for example, if you are not entitled to sick pay). This will pause your sickness absence for the annual leave duration.

If you fall ill or get injured just before or during a period of annual leave and you are consequently unable to take the holiday, you can take your annual leave at another time with the time off work treated as sickness absence. You must report your sickness to your proxy/MP if you want to take any holiday as sick leave in advance.

If you have accumulated annual leave because you have been off sick and are unable to use it, you are entitled to carry over up to 20 days into the following leave year.

However, you must use it within 18 months starting from the end of the leave year in which it was accrued. This is pro-rated for part-time staff.

Carrying over 20 days unused annual leave can only be done in exceptional cases of long-term sickness absence.

If a staff member is sick, they must inform you or the MP on the first day of absence, explaining the reason for the absence and when they hope to return to work.

If the absence is likely to be more than a few days, you or the MP should set up a time for regular contact with the staff member for updates.

Keeping and maintaining good records ensures the staff member will receive accurate sick pay.

Ensure you inform IPSA Payroll as soon as possible when receiving a fit note from a staff member by attaching it to the sickness submission on IPSA Online (see ‘Reporting sickness’ above).

If a staff member is sick for two weeks or more, IPSA Payroll will use the staff absence budget to pay for the cost of the sick staff member instead of it coming from the staffing budget.

A phased return to work is when someone who has been absent gradually builds up to returning to work. For example:

  • starting on reduced hours

  • doing work that is different to their usual job

  • having a lighter workload

A phased return to work might be appropriate after:

  • long-term illness

  • serious injury

  • bereavement

You can use this phased return-to-work plan to outline how an employee can return to their role in a managed way.

Download the phased return-to-work plan.

Contact IPSA

To get additional support, contact us.