Managing Sickness Absences
Monitoring and reducing sickness absence can be done easily with the right processes in place.
What is sickness absence?
Sickness absence could be described as absence from work attributed to sickness by the employee and accepted by the employer as such. It is the employee’s sickness absence, not that of a dependent child or relative.
Sickness absence is usually separated into two types, short-term and long-term absence, with the separation occurring after 7 days of absence.
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How can I manage sickness absences?
Effective absence management involves finding a balance between providing support to help employees with health problems stay in and return to work and taking consistent and firm action against employees who try to take advantage of organisations’ occupational sick pay schemes.
Your business should have a clear policy which supports the business objectives and culture and explains the rights and obligations of employees when absent due to sickness. The law requires employers to provide staff with information on any terms and conditions relating to incapacity for work due to sickness or injury, including any provision for sick pay.
Managing short term sickness absence
There are many tools that a manager can use in order to control the short term period of sickness within their teams. These include;
- return-to-work interviews
- use of trigger mechanisms such as the Bradford Factor to review attendance
- disciplinary procedures for unacceptable absence levels
- restricting sick pay
- undertaking training in absence management
- involving occupational health professionals
- providing leave for family circumstances
- flexible working
All of the above techniques used in conjunction with each other can often help reduce periods of short term sickness.
Managing long term sickness absence
The role of the line manager is vital in managing long-term absence but other interventions are also important to aid in the recovery and return to work process. These include;
- occupational health involvement and proactive measures to support staff health and well-being
- trigger mechanisms to review attendance
- risk assessment to help return to work after long-term absence
- changes to work patterns or environment
- return-to-work interviews
- flexible working
What help can we give to you?
As well as providing legal advice on any aspect of sickness absence management, our Employment Law and HR Advisor team includes HR practitioners who can come in and help to implement sickness absence procedures for you, leaving you free to run your business.
Our HR practitioners are trained to understand the important HR issues and to make sure sickness absence procedures are compliant from an employment law perspective – giving you the peace of mind that if any disputes arise you will be in the best position to deal with them.
We work on day and half day rates and remember, if you are a Watertight member, you get 10% off our fees.
Upcoming Events & HR Training for Employers
As experienced HR Advisors and Employment Law solicitors we see first-hand how HR issues can affect both the employee and the employer.
Our training is very well received by attendees and is delivered by lawyers and HR advisors, with combined knowledge and expertise, in a practical way which works for your business.
Bhayani Law clients and charities get discounts on our training and some of our training is available at discounted rates with public funding between 40-100%.
Our events allow you to meet other businesses and build your connections, so do book if you want to come along.
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October Meet-Up and Networking: Employment Rights
Mums in Leadership For this month’s Mums in Leadership networking event we will be joined by Jay Bhayani, who will...
- 11:00am - 12:30pm
- October 3
Navigating Labour’s New Deal for Working People
About us We are an independent employment law firm established in 2014 to provide expert professional advice to help businesses...
- 11.00am - 12.30 pm
- June 18
Sexual Harassment Training – Half Day (Aimed at Line Managers and Leaders)
In October 2024, there will be a significant change in the law which puts thee responsibility on employers to prevent...
- 9:00am-12:00pm
- October 8
Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Online Workshop – Extended Version Covering Sexual Harassment
The workshop is designed to be an interactive and informative session to equip all employees from junior members of staff,...
- 9:00am-12:00pm
- October 29
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