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Employee absence results in a significant cost to businesses, even small absences can have a huge impact on productivity and profitability. Ignoring sickness and believing that nothing can be done to prevent it, is a huge risk to take. All absences must be monitored and managed.
When an employee is away from the workplace due to any form of ill health or injury, they often need support from their employer. Creating an effective absence management policy and developing a return to work programme will help promote health and wellbeing, build trust, reduce employee absence and prevent issues from escalating.
Monitoring absence
Having a HR Management System in place to record absences, such as MyHR System, provides organisations with the processes needed to effectively manage absenteeism, identify trends and take decisive action.
Absence management policies
By law, companies must provide their workforce with information on the terms and conditions surrounding absence through sickness or injury including sick pay details. To support a positive workplace culture the company should also have clear policies explaining the employee’s rights and obligations. These should include:
contractual sick pay details
who and when the employee should contact to notify about their absence
when to complete a self-certificate form or obtain a fit note
details of any requirements for the employee to attend an examination or for their medical records to be requested from a GP
return to work interviews
what appropriate adjustments are available to assist the employee’s return
Short term absences
It is imperative to hold return to work interviews, even for short absences, as these discussions can identify any underlying issues and be an opportunity to offer support. Before these discussions take place, it is key that the manager obtains all previous absence data from the HR Management System.
In two thirds of all UK organisations, it is the responsibility of the line manager to manage their teams’ absence. Given the detrimental effect absence can have on productivity and profitability it pays to invest in training enabling them to fulfil this role effectivity.
We suggest all managers understand the following:
Employee absence policies
Attendance Management processes
How to act on the advice given by a GP on a fit note
How to interpret absence data
Occupational Health’s role and when to involve them
HR’s role and when to involve them
The promotion of health and wellbeing in the workplace
How to conduct a successful return to work interview
The Employment Rights Act 1996 covering the termination of employment on the grounds of ill health
The Equality Act 2010 which deals with disability and other forms of discrimination
Long term absences
Long term absence, defined as lasting more than four weeks, is more challenging to manage. In these cases, the manager must allow the individual time to recover from their illness or injury, maintain communication as well as reduce the immediate impact to the day to day running of a department
On receipt of the fit note, it should become more apparent as to the length of absence. Understanding this, the manager is better equipped to put in place plans to cover the individual’s workload.
With the agreement of the member of staff, inform their team members of the likely duration of the absence.
Discuss with the team ways that they can support the increased workload.
Depending on the length of absence and the duties performed by the individual it may be necessary to recruit for a temporary position.
Ensuring that their workload is being covered benefits both the company and the individual. Feeling supported when absent can take away some of the stress of being away from the workplace for a considerable length of time and knowing that the workload is being managed can prevent the fear of returning to work.
Communication with the absent employee
For short-term absences there is usually no need for a manager to be in touch, waiting for the employee to recover and return to work is usually best practice. However, when an individual is absent for longer, communication is crucial. Striking the right balance is key, the employee must be given time to rest and recover, but they should also be reminded that they are a valued member of the team.
We understand that these conversations can be difficult, but they must not be avoided. The longer an individual is off work, the harder it may be for them to return. Sensitive and supportive communications will help the transition back into the workplace and when an effective return to work programme is put in place the employee may be able to return quicker.
Agree with the individual how frequent the communication should be.
Agree the type of communication, this can be a mix of face-to-face, email, phone calls etc.
Ask about how they are feeling, but never rush the employee or pressure them into returning to work before they are well enough to do so.
When appropriate start talks on returning to work and discuss any reasonable adjustments they may need to ease their return.
How we can help you
If you’d like to discuss any of the issues detailed in this blog, get in touch with us today. We’re here to help.
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