UAP/UPP - A Supervisor's guide

UAP and UPP - A supervisor's guide

With all of the above-mentioned processes do not forget your local Federation Representatives are here to help. We are not just here to represent officers in trouble.  You pay your subscriptions.  You are as entitled to fed guidance and advice during this process as the officer under scrutiny, so ask for some guidance and sense checking from a Fed Rep.  Please don’t try to battle through these processes on your own.

Initial Sickness Management

Having an officer on your team off sick is not uncommon as a supervisor. They may be off for a short period (few days) or longer term, either way the officer will require a Return-to-Work process to be completed. This should be conducted by yourself as their immediate line manager, should be constructive and be in person. It is your opportunity to check in with the officer, understand if there are any underlying issues, what support they might need and signpost accordingly. Any support plan should follow the SMART principles and be reasonable and practicable – examples have been used such as “DO NOT BE SICK IN THE NEXT 6 MONTHS” are not helpful to you, the officer or the organisation, nor are lifestyle demands.

Some useful examples are:

Continue to engage with treatment and advice afforded by your GP / Physiotherapist / counsellor etc.

Abide by restrictions and advice put forward by the forces Occupational Health department.

Raise any concerns or issues at the earliest opportunity with your line manager so that suitable support and adjustments can be put in place.

Dynamically risk assess any activities or situations to avoid further injury or aggravating or exacerbating the existing condition.

Report any future sickness in a timely manner and by the correct channels as per force policy (not texting you when you are on a day off) and obtain a sick note from your GP immediately if this goes beyond the self-certified period.

Maintain and respond to any contact from your line manager during any future period of sickness and engage in providing updates on your condition and discussing any adjustments or support which may aid a return to work.

If the officer’s sickness is prolonged there is of course an expectation that the officer makes themselves available to you or someone else in the organisation (if there is conflict and this person may well be nominated by HR if you are not the most appropriate person). As the nominated point of contact, you are responsible for their welfare and support, signposting to support (OH, Police Federation, charities etc) – ultimately the aim is to get the officer back in to work and support them in a meaningful way throughout the process.

Any contact must be meaningful – make the time to actually listen to you’re the officer and please ensure that any contact whether it be via phone, text or in person is recorded. It is also important to remember that sickness should be recorded under the appropriate category on DMS. HR can advise you if you struggle to find a category. If agreed with OH/HR that the officer has a Disability, then any sickness related to that Disability should be recorded as such on DMS and not as general sickness. It may well be that there is an agreement around trigger points for the officer for this Disability or you may want to consider one for any future UAP processes, again HR can help with this.

The following is useful advice around contact and recording:

28 days of continuous sickness is a trigger point which classes the absence as Long-term absence. It is now that you must have an attendance support meeting. It is a requirement to complete the forms with any discussion or action points and once completed return the form to HR.

You should be making regular contact with the officer. If necessary, make an arrangement with the officer that you will call once a week at a time convenient to them.  Make that contact meaningful and discuss how they are, how their illness or recovery is progressing, what timescales are anticipated and what can you do to help or support them.

Signpost to sources of further support and assistance. This may include the chaplaincy team, counselling services, the wellbeing team, or a referral to one of the police treatment centres.

Consider an OHS referral through HR, this enables the officer to discuss their condition and assist OHS to make recommendations on their fitness to return to work, any support that could be offered and what adjustments/ongoing support might be required. OHS may also make some recommendations for any work placed restrictions or limitations.

If it is not possible to agree a return to work, then a review of the Attendance support should take place at the three-month point. Consideration should be given to any further absence management procedures such as a return-to-work meeting or Stage 1 UAP if the officer remains off work – unless there is an exception under the Equality Provisions (such as Disability), however it is recognised that this does not necessarily stop the UAP process, and your HR adviser can assist you with this. It is often usual to continue with the UAP meeting but then make provisions and adjustments using the OHS referral and Equality Act as guidance.

In the meeting you should discuss their return to work. Don’t leave the officer hanging about what they will be doing, where they will be working, what hours they will work or what support will be in place for them.  Discuss what their return will look like, what they need to aid that return and begin to think about drafting a recuperation plan to incorporate those restrictions and adjustments detailed by them and OHS.

ALWAYS LOG AND RECORD ALL OF THE ABOVE WITH RELEVANT TIMES AND DATES.

Whilst the above and the contact may feel like a lot on top of your duties, it is important to remember that when it comes to UAP or UPP, it is often that there will be gaps or inconsistencies in the contact/support plans already in place. This is not useful for you as the line manager, the officer involved or HR – please just remember everybody involved just wants the best for the officer. The officer should be valued and supported throughout the process, feeling confident that when they return to work they are equipped to complete the duties agreed and supported in that process.

There will always be an organisational need, so always bear this in mind, whilst the officer may have a long list of adjustments they deem reasonable (and they genuinely will be to them), they may not always be achievable or appropriate to formalise and agree. Take the time to explain this to them rather than dismissing them instantly, again OHS and HR can advise you on what is able to be achieved to assist the officer – something as simple as a rise and fall desk may make a huge amount of difference to the officer.

You, as a manager, should know your staff and know when someone is genuinely struggling and when the time has come to take more robust supervisory action.

For full details on the welfare and support services available, see the Health and Care page on the Intranet, or ask Lincs Police Federation.

Reasonable Adjustments

I have touched upon the need to ensure an OHS referral is made during a period of long-term sickness.  These should automatically become a consideration after 28 days of absence, but the relevance of an OHUS referral is not limited to this.  Nor is the advice they can afford limited to confirming if they are simply fit for duty or not.  OHS reports can detail and guide us as supervisors with regards reasonable adjustments which may be made in the workplace to both assist in a return to work for the officer, and if necessary, aid them long term in being able to remain in work and manage more complex or chronic health conditions.  OHS will be able to advise on the long-term impacts of the officers health condition or where relevant, recognised disability, assess what they can and cannot safely do in the workplace, how suitable is their current role, what adjustments could be considered and accommodated to aid them.

Do bear in mind at this point that we have a legal responsibility under the Equality Act of 2010, to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate recognised disabilities and create a suitable working environment for those colleagues.  Those key responsibilities under the Equality are;

Recognising Disabilities: Understand that disabilities include visible and non-visible impairments impacting daily activities, such as physical, mental health, or neurodivergent conditions.

Implementing Adjustments: Proactively remove workplace barriers, including.

Modifying equipment or workstations.

Offering flexible working patterns.

Altering duties or providing alternative roles.

Offering additional training or support.

Assessing Reasonableness: Adjustments should be practical, effective, proportionate, and considerate of operational needs and available resources.

Compliance and Documentation: Document decisions clearly to mitigate legal risks. Non-compliance can result in discrimination claims.

Ongoing Communication: Regularly review adjustments with employees to ensure effectiveness.

This is a legal requirement under the Equality Act, and often this is missed by not recognising and supporting the officers needs early. Further down the line is where employment tribunals come into play, this area is a common area we get wrong, so read up on it and come see us or HR if you have any concerns the Fed are there for you as supervisors too!

Once again, the key here is in the detail, and the important phrase to remember here is “Reasonable”.  The Equality Act places a duty on us to make reasonable, practicable, affordable adjustments to accommodate disabilities.  The act also recognises the limitations to what we can do, both financially and practically and in terms of safety.  Examples of unreasonable expectations or adjustments could include;

Compromising Safety: For example, allowing an officer unable to safely handle firearms to continue in an armed role.

Excessive Cost: Is it reasonable to completely restructure or rebuild a police station rather than implementing simpler accessibility solutions.

Operational Disruption: Permanently removing night shifts or emergency response duties solely because an individual prefers daytime work.

Unnecessary Job Creation: This is a topical talking point. The fact is that as an organisation we CAN prioritise those with existing needs or disabilities for existing roles. Indeed, the Equality Act requires us to make all reasonable efforts to find such individuals a suitable role to perform.  However, we should not be creating an entirely new administrative position which never existed before and is without operational justification purely to accommodate a staff member.

Ignoring Essential Tasks: Allowing an officer to omit core policing duties indefinitely (e.g. attending emergency incidents), without exploring alternative roles.

Once again, this is about judgement, empathy and discretion as a supervisor.  Managers must balance inclusivity and practicality to meet obligations under the Equality Act 2010.  This is why seeking early advice and support from Occupational Health will be important.

Making an occupational health referral is driven by HR, and the reality is all you need to do as a supervisor is contact HR to advise you would like an OHS referral raising and they will do the rest.  What you will need to clarify are three things. 

1)  Why do you want the referral raising.  These will usually be due to either;

Long term sickness over 28 Days

Poor general sickness record

An injury at work

Where the officer has a specified medical condition or Disability which may impact their role or work

Where in the most acute cases, consideration needs to be given as to whether an officer is permanently disabled from being able to perform the role of a police officer.

2)  You will need to detail what it is you actually want to know.  OHS will not know what information you require unless you tell them.  Do you want to know if the officer is fit for work, fit to perform their current role or fit for serving as a police officer long term?  Do you want to know what considerations or short-term adjustments should be made for a return to work and recuperation plan, or do you want to know and understand if any long-term adjustments are required and what you can explore or put in place to aid them?

3)  Finally, HR and OHS will need to know if the officer is aware of and agrees to an OHU referral.  In addition, do they agree to OHS making enquiries about medical information and any subsequent reports being shared with you.  Agreement on this will aid in giving you the best possible advice and picture of their capabilities.  OHS advice can still be sought without the officer’s agreement to participate or allow access to medical information, but the advice you will receive will be significantly more limited without a more detailed medical picture and input from the officer.

If Adjustments and restrictions are required, ensure you keep your own supervisor and RMU updated so that adjustments and restrictions can be reflected on duties, and RMU can maintain relevant staffing levels.

UAP

Having managed an officer’s sickness for a prolonged period, you may well approach the point as a supervisor where either the 3-month Attendance Support Meeting review is required or it may be that the 6-month half pay point looms for that officer (long-term absence). There could also be a review point reached in the 6 months after the Attendance Support Meetings was held due to further sickness (short-term absence).

It may be that there is the requirement to move to Stage 1 UAP and you will receive an email from HR.

This is usually when the officer has been either:

Continually absent from work for 3 months or more

The informal stage has been exhausted – an acceptable level of attendance has not been maintained.

There have been 2 further absences or 32 hours – whichever comes 1st within the 6 months period following the Attendance Support Meeting

So, the first and crucial question.  Do you have to follow that instruction from HR and instigate UAP at this point.  The very simple answer to that question is NO – however it must be recognised that moving to UAP stage 1 at this point may indeed be appropriate and justified.  It may also not be. 

YOU are the officer’s supervisor and therefore responsible for making the decision to move to the UAP process.  HR will advise you the process, history and any mitigating factors, enabling you to make the best decision for the officer and the organisation. 

It is important to remember mind you the process cannot be delayed to infinity.  As a supervisor you need to justify why UAP is not appropriate or suitable at this point.  You cannot, where it is suitable and necessary, simply keep putting off or refusing to initiate UAP for months and years. It does not assist the officer or the organisation.

There will come a point where Senior Leadership or your own line manager can and will insist it is now the only option.  We can’t realistically have officers spending half their career outside of work because, whatever the reason, you don’t want to instigate UAP.  However, at this early stage of the process, the decision is for you to make and at this point ask yourself some basic questions.

Have I done everything I practicably can to help and support this officer and help them back to work?

Have I been in contact with sufficient regularity and logged that contact and the content of those conversations?

Have I signposted that officer to other lines of support such as chaplaincy, counselling services or a police treatment centre?

Have I arranged an up to date OHS referral to assess that officer’s fitness to return to work and what they can and cannot do should they return?

Have I conducted and documented the Attendance Support Meetings with the officer at the correct points?

Have I actually had a proper discussion with the officer about returning to work, what they feel they are capable of, what adjustments they require, hours they can do and where they can travel to? Have I drafted and discussed with them a recuperation plan off the back of this?

If there are multiple periods of short-term sickness, am I fully aware of the circumstances? Is there an underlying condition? Would an OHS referral assist the officer and the organisation and reduce the frequency of these absences.

It may be the case that during their sickness, supervision of the officer has changed, maybe more than once.  If you have only supervised the officer for a part of their absence, then ask or find out, did my predecessor do the above, again work with your HR adviser who will assist you with the history for the officer.

A final critical question should be:

Is UAP actually going to be detrimental to this officer? 

This is a key question for those officers away from work with a condition where the treatment plan may be longer that the UAP processes essentially allow for. Entering UAP is a stressful process, and it may well make the officer feel they are now in trouble for being ill, or that the suggestion is their illness is not real.  As their line manager it is important to re-assure the officer that this is not the case, however it may be a difficult conversation.

Considerations need to be made regarding is UAP the most practicable and sensible way to support an officer in overcoming stress and depression, or will we in fact take them backwards in their recovery?  We have pushed the idea in force that its ok not to be ok.  Nowhere on the posters does it say: its ok not to be ok, but only for 6 months, but do be mindful that as previously mentioned the process cannot be delayed forever.

If you can honestly answer these questions and conclude yes, all the relevant steps and actions have been completed, and the officer has been offered every chance of support then UAP should be progressed.

If the officer is not in a position where UAP could make their condition worse, then it’s likely to be the case that you will have exhausted all other options, UAP is suitable and necessary. 

If the answer to many of these questions is no, you have not been in regular contact to discuss their illness and what you can do to help, you have not signposted them to relevant support, and you have not had meaningful conversations about their return to work and what that will look like, then take a breath and a step back. 

Before considering UAP, you need to have all your ducks in a row and start to undertake those actions and offer that support before moving to UAP.  Remember, UAP is the process in place for when all of these things have failed.  We can’t say they have failed, if we never did them!

It is likely that the officer will feel like they are entering into a disciplinary process. Whilst this should be a supportive process, in reality, they are entering a disciplinary process, the ultimate outcome of which can be dismissal.  The new regulations have made the removed the 3rd stage so now it maybe that the officer is at Stage 2 before treatment plans are in fact completed. Work with your HR rep around this to discuss the most suitable process and what mitigation can be made; the policy does allow for adjustments under the Equality Act so don’t be afraid to ask for them. Sickness related to a Disability can be recorded separately on Crown DMS, therefore easing the pressure around trigger points – again OHS can advise you on more suitable trigger points dependant on the condition and treatment plan. Adjustments can be made in the Attendance Support Meeting and recorded in any Written Improvement Notice (WIN).

Entering UAP stage 1 does not afford the job a sudden set of magical options and support mechanisms which did not exist before.  If you find yourself in that position where all that has been offered to the officer is the occasional text or watts app to check up on them, and chasing a sick note when needed, then can we honestly say we are at a point where we have exhausted all offers of support, assistance and guidance to encourage and help that officer to return? It may well be that the UAP process needs to be revisited.

If you have now reached the point where you believe UAP should be instigated, notify HR who have the knowledge and experience required to guide you and who will facilitate the necessary letters and formal notifications to the officer arranging an initial stage one meeting.  The stage one meeting will be led by you, with a HR team member present to assist and guide you throughout the process.  In essence, it will run very much like the old ARM meeting, whereby you will highlight and outline the reasons for concern about their attendance and point out where this doesn’t meet the requirements within force policy. It is really important to then then explore what now can be done to get that officer back into the workplace and understand what this will look like.  Ultimately, the likely outcome of that meeting will be an agreed date on which they must aim to return (alongside any adjustments, recuperation periods etc which have been agreed).  At this point the ball is very much in the officer’s court.  They either return on or before the specified date, or if they fail to do so, HR will guide you as to what the UAP Stage 2 process entails.  Commonly stage two will involve exploring the question of whether the officer is physically too ill to be able to return to work and whether Ill Health Retirement is an option which should be explored.  This would very much be led by HR and the officers Federation Rep.

It is worth noting that the UAP process has been reviewed and changed at the start of 2025.  The UAP process previously involved three stages, but this has now been reduced to two.  In effect those elements covered at the old stage two meeting will still be covered, but stage two and stage three have effectively been merged.  While a stage one meeting will be led by you as the line manager, a stage two meeting will be chaired by a panel, consisting of a senior officer of at least superintendent rank and a senior HR representative.  The panel can consider an extension of a written notice of improvement in exceptional circumstances, which would lead to in effect a second stage two meeting be scheduled to review this later, redeployment, or dismissal. 

Further help, support and policies can be found on the Force LincsNet in the Human Resources page.  If in doubt, please don’t try to navigate this alone in a state of confusion, but speak to someone at the Federation for help and guidance.

UPP

UPP is in many ways, from a process perspective, not dissimilar for you as a supervisor to the UAP process.  You need to ask yourself many of the same questions but phrased around performance rather than purely sickness and attendance. 

The poor performance needs to be properly recorded, with support plans being in place – nothing in the process should be a shock to the officer. It may seem obvious, but it is often the case that officers who find themselves in UPP may not have had development plans to address their poor performance and offer additional support that may be required. Often officers may not have had any face-to-face conversations with their line manager where concerns were raised about their performance, and specifically what that is, what support can and has been offered to improve the areas of poor performance i.e. file work / traffic knowledge / interviewing skills etc. The PDR should also reflect concerns detailed, and if the answer is that there have been no development plans, no support put in place, and all of their PDR Pause Points say they turn up to work on time and have shiny shoes, then it is not appropriate to enter into UPP.  If the processes have been followed and all support and development opportunities have been exhausted, then it is now appropriate to enter into the UPP process with the officer. Again HR will advise on the next step and often the HR Advisor may well have attended some of the performance meetings prior to the start of the UPP process.

UPP is in many ways a more complex and involved process than UAP.  The key to UPP, simply put is evidence.  The old policing adage that if it isn’t written down, it never happened, is never going to be truer than during the UPP process.  The bulk of your time and effort as part of UPP will not be the time spent within the UPP process itself, but in gathering the evidence over several months in order to reach a point of being able to enter that process.  This puts many off trying to even engage with the process, but it does not have to be that daunting if you are organised and simply take an approach of logging and recording everything relevant.

At this point, it is not going to help you or bring you any closer to a UPP, if you take the approach of shying away from difficult or challenging conversations.   Remember, you cannot ambush someone with the UPP process, and it should not come as a total shock to an officer that it is being discussed.  You MUST in the preceding months have sat down face to face with the officer to make them aware that you have concerns about their performance.  You need to identify and point out the specific concerns you have, with examples, and tell them that:

they must improve

what they need to do and how they should go about improving and

within what reasonable timescale.  Log all conversations, getting the officer to agree it as an accurate record and if necessary, have another supervisor join you as a witness.  From this point on, and for possibly the next several months, your job as a supervisor is NOT to simply get an officer to UPP stage one.  Your job is to assist in supporting and developing that officer.  Don’t highlight your concerns and then leave them to it.  Just like UAP and ticking the boxes of what support and help you have offered to get an officer back to work, what help and support are you going to offer this officer to improve?

The following should be considered:

Development and support plans to detail the improvements needed and how the officer can achieve it with sensible goals which adhere to the SMART principle.

Is there training available for the officers’ areas of weakness.  Have you raised this with L&D and submitted requests for training via the correct forms?

Would a detachment help? If the officers interviewing and file work is poor, will a period in an investigative team help?  If they struggle with traffic process, can they spend time with RPU?

Consider mentoring. Is there a trusted and experienced colleague or tutor constable on shift who can be crewed with the officer and asked to assist in bringing them up to speed with the areas of concern?

Your input. This is a vital one.  Arrange to meet with the officer on a more regular basis to discuss progress, check workloads and investigations, provide feedback on ongoing areas of concern or recent incidents or investigations.  Continue to point out the areas of concern at these meetings but also offer support, and don’t forget again to log and detail the content of these meetings.

Finally, and perhaps even more vital, welfare. As well as discussing concerns, have you investigated any welfare issues?  Is something going on inside or outside of work that is affecting their performance?  Do we also need to signpost them to welfare support services such as OHU or counselling?

With this final one it is important to take seriously how others on shift treat, or behave around, this officer.  Nothing will undermine UPP more than a suggestion of bullying or isolation for that officer.  We know it can be a source of deep frustration if colleagues feel they are carrying a team member or they are not contributing.  There could be a degree of simmering resentment among colleagues and it may be necessary for you, as the supervisor, to speak to other members of the shift and make it clear that derogatory comments about the officer, excluding them, refusing to crew with them and refusing to help them are both not acceptable, but will undermine the support you are trying to put in place to improve their performance and resolve the issue.  Do NOT get drawn into shift “banter” about the officer and discuss their performance or your frustrations behind their back.

Everything that takes place above should be documented and retained (securely and privately) in a file relating to the process.  In addition, record and retain other evidence relevant to their performance, such as:

Pause Points and PDRs. These should detail the concerns you have with performance and should detail that they have been discussed with the officer who is aware of the concerns and the support measures in place or being considered.  As time progresses, these Pause Points should reflect any progress, or lack of progress.

Example incidents and investigations. Those examples of jobs which you have concerns about or feel the officer has handled badly should be logged.  Don’t print out OEL’s and incidents.  Logging Niche and CAD numbers with a summary of the incident and the concerns will suffice.

Testimony from other colleagues. Do you have emails from colleagues in other departments highlighting concerns about statements or handovers?  Have other officers on the shift approached you with concerns?  Log, date and retain these.

Throughout the process you should also be updating your line manager and HR about the concerns identified and any development plans and support being put in place.  They may have further advice and suggestions you might consider.  Record and log all correspondence.  

Just as with UAP, UPP becomes relevant, proportionate and appropriate if we reach a point where we have offered that officer all the time. support, developmental help and opportunity we can, and, having had it made clear what their shortcomings are and where they are failing to improve, we reach a point where we have exhausted all the support possible.  At this point HR will be able to offer you guidance and assistance in progressing with the UPP process.  Remember though, it’s about having all your ducks in a row.  Make sure you have a file of evidence containing:

Details and content of face-to-face meetings with time and dates recorded and details of any witness to the meeting.

PDRs completed and up to date with the current concerns, progress and support put in place detailed.

Copies of support / development plans and details of how or why they have been failed

Details of training / development / detachment opportunities afforded

Details of correspondence from colleagues from other departments, other shifts, colleagues on shift or an assigned mentor raising concerns or observations about performance

Details of welfare support offered or provided

Copies or correspondence and advice from HR or supervision.

Examples of incidents, investigations or situations where poor performance or concerns have been demonstrated.

Finally, be objective.  It is not a good look if the entire process appears to be driven by a dislike or targeting of the officer.  Keep your observations and records professional.  Keep your conversations or comments to colleagues professional.  Demonstrate that you have made every effort to help the officer in meeting the standards required.  And if there are examples of improvement or effort made by the officer, albeit not sufficient for the targets or expectations set, detail it.  Think along the lines of disclosure.  If there is evidence of someone being positive about the officer, include it, because if you don’t, they are sure to turn up with it!

At this point again, notify HR and your supervisor of your intentions and HR will guide you through the process.  Much like UAP, that stage one meeting will involve you detailing to the officer the shortcomings and concerns you have as well as the support you have instigated, and the likely outcome of that meeting will be written notice of improvement.  What will be imperative after that point is to continue as before documenting everything.  Are the goals set being met.  If so why and how and what examples have you logged.  At this point the officer will either show the necessary improvement, or HR will guide you onto the next steps of the process.

UAP/UPP - A Supervisor's guide

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