Pay during a phased return to work

An employee who agrees to a phased return to work on temporarily reduced hours will lose out financially unless an agreement can be reached to pay sick pay for the working hours the employee is not yet fit to perform. Sometimes extra pay to cover a phased return can be collectively negotiated as a term of a sickness absence procedure.

DWP Fit Note Guidance says: “If your employee returns to work on reduced hours, you should consider whether your employee may be financially disadvantaged. In such cases, you may decide to pay sick pay for the hours not worked, or to pay full pay despite the reduced hours”.

Adjustments to pay during a phased return can be a reasonable adjustment for a disabled worker, as long as they aim to support the person’s return to work. There is no fixed rule that extra pay can never be a reasonable adjustment. It all depends on the individual circumstances of each case (G4S Cash Solutions UK Limited v Powell [2016] UKEAT/0243//15/2603).