Sickness
Sickness
27.—(1) If an office holder who is in receipt of a stipend is unable to perform the duties of his or her office because of illness for a period of one working day or longer he or she must report the absence to the person nominated for the purposes of regulation 3 above, who shall inform the Commissioners and, if the report is in writing, send them a copy thereof.
(2) If an office holder is absent from work because of illness for a continuous period of more than seven days he or she must supply the person nominated as aforesaid with a certificate signed by a qualified medical practitioner and that person shall send a copy of the certificate to the Commissioners.
(3) An office holder who is absent from work because of illness must use all reasonable endeavours to make arrangements for the duties of the office to be performed by another person during the absence which may, where appropriate, consist of notifying a responsible person or authority of the absence.
(4) If an office holder is entitled to receive statutory sick pay under Part XI of the Social Security and Contributions and Benefits Act 1992(1) for any period of absence from work, the office holder shall be entitled during that period to receive in full any stipend which is payable in respect of the office.
(5) The diocesan bishop or, in the case of an office holder who is a diocesan bishop, the archbishop of the province in which the diocese is situated, may, if he is satisfied that the office holder is, by reason of illness, unable adequately to discharge the duties of his or her office, permit the office holder to be absent from work for such period as he thinks appropriate and may make provision for the discharge of those duties during the period of absence of the office holder.
(6) When giving any directions under section 5(2) of the Diocesan Stipends Funds Measure 1953(2) in relation to the payment of a stipend to an office holder who is absent from work for illness for any period after the date on which he or she is entitled to receive statutory sick pay under the said Part XI, a diocesan bishop shall have regard to any guidance issued by the Archbishops’ Council in the exercise of its functions as the Central Stipends Authority.
Medical examination
28.—(1) The diocesan bishop or, in the case of an office holder who is a diocesan bishop, the archbishop of the province in which the diocese is situated may, if he has reasonable grounds for concern about the physical or mental health of an office holder, direct that the office holder shall undergo a medical examination by a medical practitioner selected by agreement between the bishop (or archbishop) and the office holder or, in default of agreement, by medical practitioners consisting of a practitioner chosen by each party.
(2) If an office holder fails to comply with a direction given under paragraph (1) above or fails to disclose or authorise the disclosure of any relevant medical records, when requested to do so, any person or body responsible for operating any capability procedures in respect of the office holder may draw such inferences as appear to that person or body to be appropriate having regard to all the circumstances.