- Conference
- 2007 National Delegate Conference
- Date
- 21 February 2007
- Decision
- Carried as Amended
Conference notes that:
1)employers are adopting increasingly Draconian procedures which allow for an increase in the disciplining and dismissal of genuinely ill employees;
2)these procedures sometimes fail to abide by equalities legislation including the Disability Discrimination Act;
3)sickness absence can often be traced back to the workplace;
4)employers’ actions such as holding vacant posts, increased workloads, long hours, workplace conditions, constant uncertainty and reorganisations and a failure to deal with bullying and harassment are a cause of sickness absence;
5)these sickness procedures must be seen in the same context as the attacks on public sector pensions. They want workers to work longer, leading to a deteriorating effect on their health;
6)the employers are being driven by Performance Indicators to adopt a league table approach to sickness.
Conference therefore calls on the National Executive Council to:
a)fight these attacks on a national collective basis;
b)vigorously support branches fighting these procedures;
c)oppose the disciplining or sacking of genuinely ill workers;
d.campaign against these discriminatory procedures;
e)campaign for the introduction, by employers, of positive policies such as Disability Leave Schemes;
f)provide the necessary training and support for branches fighting these procedures;
g)link this training to the work being done through UNISON National Safety Committee on Managing Sickness Absence.