Suspension on medical grounds letter

Some jobs are covered by special health and safety regulations under which employees may be suspended from work on medical grounds. Use our letter to suspend an employee in this scenario but be aware of the circumstances which may give rise to a medical suspension and the fact you may be obliged to pay a medical suspension payment.

Employees covered

Essentially, the regulations apply to employees who work with ionising radiation, lead or some other potentially hazardous substances. Employees have to be suspended from work if continued exposure to these substances might damage their health.

A medical suspension

An employment medical adviser at the Employment Medical Advisory Service, or another appointed doctor, may decide, as a result of medical surveillance, that a particular employee should not be engaged in the work with ionising radiation or lead or which exposes them to the hazardous substance. The doctor would then inform you and you must suspend the employee from working in that particular role. The employee cannot recommence that employment until the doctor declares it is safe for them to do so. Your employee can apply to the Health and Safety Executive to review the medical decision to suspend them if they’re not happy. We have included an acceptance slip in our letter for the employee to sign. This isn’t strictly required legally so you could take it out, but they are less likely to complain if they have signed the acceptance.

Medical suspension pay

Employees suspended on medical grounds are entitled to receive their normal pay for up to 26 weeks. However, this does not apply either where the employee has unreasonably refused to do suitable alternative work that you have offered (this work doesn’t have to be the same as that they were employed to do under their contract of employment), or where they have not complied with reasonable requirements that you’ve imposed with a view to ensuring their services are available. Our Suspension on Medical Grounds Letter covers both scenarios.

Not covered

Note that the medical suspension payment provisions don’t cover anyone who has not been continuously employed for at least a month before the day on which the suspension begins.