The Supreme Court recently upheld a high court judgment,
establishing that it was okay to summarily dismiss an employee who
refused to participate in a sickness absence
interview.
When an employee is absent due to illness, the employer is
entitled to require a sickness absence interview and completion of
a fit for work statement. According to the Sickness Benefits Act,
the employee is obligated to attend such an interview, and
non-attendance may lead to the employee losing their entitlement to
sickness benefits. But the Act does not regulate the
employment-related consequences of the employee's
non-attendance. That was the issue to be decided by the Supreme
Court in this case.
The case concerned a technical manager who was on sick leave. On
several occasions, he had refused to attend a sickness absence
interview with the employer. The technical manager e.g. stated that
such an interview would be a ”waste of his time” but
did not otherwise refer to being unable to
