In the communication from 16 November 2020 regarding sick pay for colleagues with CEV status, it mentions a letter...

[POSTMAN]

In the communication from 16 November 2020 regarding sick pay for colleagues with CEV status, it mentions a letter will be sent to these individuals. As a manager, is there anything I need to action for my CEV colleagues?

The letters to employees on half/nil pay or SSP will be sent out centrally by HR Services directly to employees. For employees who are not able to work from home during shielding, you should make sure:

• • The employees have provided you with the letter they received from the Government/NHS advising them to shield and not come to work, if they cannot work from home, during the lockdown period
  • Their absence is recorded correctly on PSP using the ‘‘SDU070 – Shielding Self’ code (Remember, this absence code should only be used for CEV “shielding-self” employees who have received a Government/NHS letter, and not for any other COVID-19 related absence)
  • They book and take all of their full annual leave entitlement this holiday year (ending 31 March 2021), even if that overlaps with shielding
  • They take any pre-booked annual leave, even if that overlaps with their period of shielding
  • The employee’s booked annual leave has been recorded correctly on PSP

One of the conditions of the extension of Royal Mail sick pay for employees with CEV status is to book and take all of their full annual leave entitlement this holiday year. Do they have to take the holiday entitlement before they would be entitled full sick pay, like they did with furlough?
No. This is different from furlough where employees had to have taken 2 weeks of their annual leave entitlement before being eligible to apply for furlough.

The condition for receiving the extension of Royal Mail sick pay during this current shielding period is to book on PSP and take all annual leave entitlement in this holiday year (i.e. by 31 March 2020).

Will RMG sick pay for colleagues with CEV status who are shielding due to the English lockdown be backdated to 5 November?
Yes. Providing employees meet the annual holiday conditions noted in their letter from HR Services, the pay will be backdated. They will receive RMG sick pay from 5 November up to 2 December, unless they are taking annual holiday during this period.
Please make sure the employee’s booked annual leave has been recorded correctly on PSP.

The annual holiday ceiling in our office has already been reached. How can I deal with this for CEV employees who are required to take their full annual leave entitlement this holiday year?
We appreciate we are entering Christmas peak period and it is only a few months until the end of the holiday year. However, the number of employees who are shielding during lockdown are small, so we expect units to be able to accommodate any additional holiday requests from colleagues with CEV status.

Managers should:

• • Talk with the employee to ask when they would like to take the holiday
  • Check what dates are currently available and whether this meets the employee’s requests. Remember, during this pandemic many employees have been absent from work at short notice due to self-isolating, so these holiday requests should be able to be accommodated
  • If the dates the employee has requested are not available, provide two or three alternatives
  • If the above options do not allow the employee to meet the holiday conditions of the extended sick pay, they may have to take some or their holiday during the shielding period
  • Remind the employee that the taking of annual holiday this year is a condition of receiving RMG sick pay during their shielding

2nd post PDF in the Global Announcement...
https://www.royalmailchat.co.uk/communi ... 71&t=94715

[POSTMAN]

On 16 November we communicated our approach during the national lockdown in England.

We have extended Royal Mail sick pay to colleagues with clinically extremely vulnerable (‘CEV’) status as we did during the last lockdown. Exceptionally, we will also offer full sick pay to support CEV colleagues who are due to move on to half pay/nil pay or Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).

This means CEV colleagues with less than a year’s service are also covered. This will apply where you cannot work from home. Employees who are on half / nil / SSP and in this category will receive a letter confirming the arrangement.

This approach will be in place until 2 December when lockdown and shielding are due to end. The extension of our policy is at our discretion and we will review the situation again once we know whether lockdown or shielding are being extended.

As a condition of extending sick pay colleagues must:

• • Provide their manager with the letter they received from the Government/NHS advising them to shield and not come to work, if they cannot work from home, during the lockdown period
  • Agree to book and take all their full annual leave entitlement this holiday year (ending 31 March 2021) even if it overlaps with shielding
  • Agree to take any pre-booked annual leave, even if that overlaps with shielding

Employees will receive their usual pay when taking holiday

Managers should record any shielding self absence on PSP using, ‘Sick Coronavirus’ from the absence type drop-down box then ‘SDU070 – Shielding Self’. This absence code should only be used for CEV “shielding-self” employees who have received a Government/NHS letter, and not for any other COVID-19 related absence.