27.1 Employees are entitled to reasonable leave on full pay in the event of their personal illness or accident or that of a close family member, and on the bereavement of someone with whom they have had a close association.
27.2 This provision includes any statutory entitlement to paid special leave for similar purposes.
27.3 An employee who falls ill during a period of approved annual leave may be entitled to paid sick leave for the period of that illness and have those days credited back to their annual leave balance. The employer may require a medical certificate where the period of the illness exceeds three working days. Similarly an employee who suffers bereavement during a period of annual leave, for which they would otherwise have been entitled to paid bereavement leave under Clause 27.1, shall have that time credited back to their annual leave record.
27.4 Where the absence on account of illness or accident exceeds five working days the employer may require the employee to produce a medical certificate for verification. The employer shall have the right to require the employee to undergo an independent medical assessment paid for by the employer.
27.5 When a period of leave on account of accident or illness exceeds three months the employer is entitled to seek a review of the employee’s condition and likely fitness to return to work. The review will be done by a representative of the employer, a representative of the employee and a mutually agreed medical practitioner, or such other group as the employer and employee may agree.
27.6 The reviewers shall advise the employer on the prospects and timing of the employee being fit to return to normal or other duties.
27.7 On receipt of that advice, the employer after consulting the employee and taking into account any other relevant information, shall decide whether to extend the period of sick leave (with or without pay) or to terminate the employment. Termination in these circumstances shall be on notice.