Hi Gaynor,
You may be making an unwise assumption that your employee is on holiday just because they are in Poland. They could have fallen ill whilst away and be unable to travel home. This would be a legitimate reason to be absent and be in another country.
When the employee returns, you (or the line manager) should conduct a RTW meeting and ascertain the facts before jumping to a conclusion.
So yes, you can accept it.
Debi
it was in the middle of her sick shes travelled to poland and we started recieving polish sock notes so we have 3 english sick notes and the rest are polish?
A lot will depend on her circumstances. Is she Polish or have Polish family? She appears to have been off sick for some time so could she have gone home to be looked after?
It will also depend on the nature of her illness. For example, if it is depression then often going on holiday is something that can aid recovery.
A lot will depend on her circumstances. Is she Polish or have Polish family?
in terms of accepting or rejecting the sick note i am not sure this is hugely relevant. They have presented a valid sick note - unless the employer believes this to be fraudulent then I am not convinced their nationality is that relevant
I wasn't suggesting the validity of the sick note was dependent on her nationality. Merely that her nationality might explain her presence in Poland outside of it being a holiday.
The issue is however that its largely irrelevant why shes in Poland in many ways. She is and has a "valid" certificate, its that I would be focusing on rather than second guess why shes there.
Yes you can accept it. If you dispute her entitlement to SSP HMRC offer a translation service to translate the note so you can determine if you are happy to accept it as proof of entitlement to SSP.
