Sick leave guideline

This guideline is intended to inform about two different procedures. On the one hand, the general principles that all Vizzuality employees must follow for internal communication. And on the other hand, report on the legal processes to be followed in each country in the event of prolonged sick leave.

The guideline is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all possible scenarios that might arise; flexibility for individual and unique circumstances will be accepted and considered.

Please remember that working and sending emails and/or slack messages when you are on a sick leave prescripted by a doctor is not permitted and it may induce to legal actions against the company

Applicable to all employees

As soon as you know that you are sick and will not be able to work/go to the office, you should let your PM/team know so they can organize the workload.

The next step should be using the “I’m sick” workflow option, using the workflow found on the left-hand side of the message box at the #general channel.

Also, update your slack status with the sick emoji :face_with_thermometer:. This will be helpful for anyone trying to contact you that missed the previous steps.

And lastly, make sure to record the sick leave in BambooHR. Click on “Request time off”, introduce the days of the sick leave and select the “medical leave” option.

*In the event that you wake up feeling a bit under the weather but are able to work from home, please let your PM/team know about it and explain your availability in case you need to go to the doctor, pharmacy etc.

Spain employees:

Following the labour law in Spain, employees should go to the doctor to get a certificate (justificante médico) when they are sick and will not work, but the company will be flexible in this aspect and will only request it in specific cases. Only after the third day of sickness, the employee needs to go to the medical centre and request a sick leave (la baja médica), only granted by a doctor after a medical exam.

Please make sure to scan or take a photo of the sick note and send it to @Liuba and @Daniel Galvez so they can contact the “asesoría” and send the documents to process the sick leave.

If the sick leave is due to COVID-19, you need to let us know specifically, as the Asesoría will process it as an “accidente laboral”. You will benefit from this by receiving 100% of your salary during the sick leave.

COVID-19: During this uncertain period, if you are sick for any reason, you need to call your designated medical centre and they will give you all the steps to follow in case of sickness and the admin information needed to request a sick note. You can also find some information here

Portugal employees:

Due to the special context of the labour law of Portugal, employees must go to the doctor on day one to request a sick leave but in effort to be equal to other employees, the company will be flexible for the first 3 days, so the employee does not need to get a document from their family doctor.

After the third day of sickness, the employee needs to go to the Médico de Família and request a sick note (baixa médica), only granted by the doctor after a medical exam. Please make sure to scan or take a photo of the sick note and send it to @Liuba and @Daniel Galvez so they can contact the consultancy company (Edit Value) and send the documents to process the sick leave.

UK employees:

Employees must request a fit note to the GP if they’ve been ill for more than 7 days in a row and have taken sick leave. This includes non-working days, such as weekends and bank holidays. Please make sure to scan or take a photo of the sick note and send it to @Liuba and @Daniel Galvez so they can contact the consultancy company (Kingston Smith), and send the documents to process the sick leave.

Fit notes are free if the employee has been ill for more than 7 days when they ask for one. The doctor might charge a fee if they ask for the fit note earlier. The fit note will say the employee is either ‘not fit for work’ or ‘may be fit for work’.

If it says the employee ‘may be fit for work’, employers should discuss any changes that might help the employee return to work (for example, different hours or tasks). The employee must be treated as ‘not fit for work’ if there’s no agreement on these changes.

COVID-19: if employees are self-isolating and cannot work because of coronavirus, they can get an ‘isolation note’ online from NHS 111. They do not have to go to their GP or a hospital.

Remote employees:

For those specific cases where a Vizzuality employee is working in a different country than those mentioned above, please make sure you get the correct information on how to proceed in case you need to request sick leave. If you need any help with this, please contact @Daniel Galvez and he will be happy to assist you.