Ask the expert: Sick employee

What should an employer consider before dismissing a sick employee who is regularly absent from work for long periods of time? Esther Smith, partner at Thomas Eggar, and Charlotte Cooper, solicitor at Mills & Reeve, advise.

The question:

We have an employee who returned to work two weeks ago, following seven months' sick. He has already had four sick days since his return a fortnight ago and is still off. This current sickness is unrelated to why he was off for seven months.

We have held the position open for him during his seven-month absence period, believing following his recovery he would return to work. A temp is not an option as it will take six to nine months to get them fully trained. We want to investigate dismissing him, however we are worried as he has diabetes which is covered by the DDA.

We feel that if he stays employed with us, this will be an ongoing pattern of a couple of weeks at work then a couple off sick.