There are several reasons why an employee can get a medical suspension from work. An employer can suspend their employees from working if their health and safety is in danger.
MEDICAL SUSPENSIONS: There needs to be a valid reason before an employee can get suspended from work on medical reasons.
There are two basic types of workplace medical suspensions.
If health and safety is a danger the employer can enforce either:
Employers must review the risk assessment of each employee before suspending them. The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides further guidance on medical risk assessments.
Many organisations choose to perform a workplace risk assessment themselves. The law does not require you to be a health and safety expert. But, you should be confident that you understand the process of doing a risk assessment. As a rule:
Other reasons for medical suspension regulations may apply if an employer wants to suspend staff who either:
Employers must follow these specific steps and in order. You should only move on to the next step in the process if the previous situation does not get resolved.
As a rule, suspended employees have the right to receive normal pay during a medical suspension. It can continue for up to 26 weeks and must include any bonuses. But, to qualify the employee must have been in their job for at least one (1) month.
Note: Receiving this pay is not the same as getting Statutory Sick Pay. Thus, thee employee does not need to get 'signed off' by a General Practitioner (GP).
Employers should continue the business payroll procedures in the usual way. That means deducting tax and National Insurance contributions. But, in some cases employees will lose their right to pay, such as when they:
Employees can raise a grievance any time an issues fails to get solved using an informal process. If that happens, employers must respond to the grievance according to UK employment laws.
As a rule, that would mean following the written company grievance procedures that apply to medical suspension employment law.
Suspension from Work on Medical Grounds in the United Kingdom