NASUWT attacks 'downright inhumane' sickness absence policies
A motion to be debated today at the NASUWT Annual Conference in Bournemouth will highlight how teachers are being pressurised into not taking sick leave.
Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union in the UK, said:
“Sickness absence policies clearly have to strike a balance between supporting those who are sick and managing the needs of the service, but some are just downright inhumane.
“Teachers telephoned at home while off sick and pressurised to send in work, surprise home visits by senior managers to check whether the teacher is genuinely ill, threats of disciplinary action if a teacher is seen out the house when off sick and return to work interviews in which interrogation techniques usually reserved for those suspected of mass murder are just a sample of the complaints we have received.
“In one school, if teachers were absent, their name and the details of their illness where posted on the notice board in the staff room like a wall of shame, stripping staff of any dignity or privacy.
“These draconian attitudes not only cause unnecessary stress and distress to those who are ill but also are some of the reasons why some teachers who would qualify for help and support under the Disability Discrimination Act fail to declare their disability. There are many examples of those who have developed a disability while at work being forced out of the profession.
“The NASUWT handled the case of a teacher who developed an illness that affected her mobility. She asked for reasonable adjustments to her workplace to accommodate this. Meetings called by the employer to discuss this were deliberately held in rooms up flights of stairs that she could not access.
“Ironically, employer attitudes that promote managing the sickness absence in this way often contribute to staff falling ill in the first place.
“The NASUWT will be working to produce a model sickness policy that recognises that an effective teacher is a healthy teacher.“
