How to manage staff on sick leave with the Burgundy Book Scheme 

Most teachers will, at some point, need to take sick leave. Are you making sure your staff are receiving all the benefits they are entitled to by following the Burgundy Book Scheme?

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on the National Education Union

Most teachers will, at some point, need to take sick leave. Are you making sure your staff are receiving all the benefits they are entitled to by following the Burgundy Book Scheme?

For most teachers, sick leave and sick pay entitlements are set out in the Burgundy Book scheme (BBS).

What are the BBS entitlements? 

Teachers’ national sick pay entitlements, as set out in the BBS, give a sliding scale entitlement according to aggregated length of service, as follows:

• During the first year of service: full pay for 25 working days and, after completing four calendar months’ service, half pay for 50 working days.
• During the second year of service: full pay for 50 working days and half pay for 50 working days.
• During the third year of service: full pay for 75 working days and half pay for 75 working days.
• During the fourth and successive years: full pay for 100 working days and half pay for 100 working days.

This sick leave sliding scale is a minimum; employers have the discretion to extend it in any individual case. It should also be noted that the BBS operates on the basis of ‘working days’. It is only those working days for which the teacher is absent that count against the above sliding scale entitlements; holidays and weekends do not count against these entitlements. 

As a rough guide, therefore, teachers can reckon on the following approximate periods of full and half pay, subject to the variations caused by any periods of school closure:

• During the first year of service: full pay for one and a half months and, after four calendar months’ service, half pay for three months.
• During the second year of service: full pay for three months; half pay for three months.
• During the third year of service: full pay for four and a half months; half pay for four months.
• During the fourth and successive years: full pay for 6 months; half pay for 6 months.

How does this apply to part-time employees?

Sick leave days relate to the school’s working days, not the individual teacher’s working days. Part-time teachers receive sick pay based on their actual salary for up to 100 of the school’s working days.

When does the ‘year of service’ begin?

The sick leave year normally runs from 1 April to 31 March, and a new entitlement starts each year on 1 April. However, teachers absent due to illness on 31 March will not be entitled to the subsequent year’s allowance until they are recovered and back at work; sick leave will continue to be counted against the previous year’s entitlement.

Medical certification and fit notes 

The BBS requires teachers to fill in a self-certificate form to cover any period of sickness absence lasting between four and seven calendar days. Doctors’ certificates (often referred to as ‘fit notes’) are required for sickness absences lasting more than seven calendar days. Doctors’ certificates may also be required at an earlier stage, or more frequently in the case of prolonged or frequent absences, when teachers may be required to be seen by a medical practitioner nominated by the employer.

Many schools operate absence monitoring procedures which aim to address absence levels that are causing concern; these procedures may place additional burdens upon teachers in terms of filling in forms and attending return-to-work interviews. Their terms do not, however, form part of the BBS and failure to comply with any certification requirements of such procedures cannot affect teachers’ entitlement to sick pay under that scheme.

If a teacher’s sick leave extends into the school holiday, you must continue to submit doctor’s certificates, as required, even though the school is closed.

How can you support staff through prolonged absences?

If there is concern about a prolonged period of absence, or frequent spells of absence, the BBS specifies that a teacher can be required, at any time, to be examined by an approved medical practitioner.

The teacher’s own doctor may be present during such an examination, at his/her request. The cost of such an examination is covered by the employer. Teachers who are not covered by the BBS may be subject to different arrangements.