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Sickness absence – what is the current status?

At ViewHR, we are receiving many calls from employers hoping to understand the current status of the Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) situation regarding the covid changes and where they stand in relation to the management of absence in a remote working model. See our guidance on the best models to follow in all situations when managing sickness absence below.

There are tools and practices at an employers’ disposal to effectively manage sickness absence. The key is to do it the right way and to have good practices in place.

So what do we recommend to our clients?

  • The first step is to have a sickness absence policy in place. This provides you and your line managers with a framework to work with in order to manage sickness absence.
  • Ensure you are consistent in your management of each employees’ sickness absence – one person shouldn’t be ‘targeted’.
  • Manage sickness absence – this requires return to work meetings for every day of absence and completion of self-certification forms.
  • Monitor sickness absence – consider if there are any patterns or whether there is a common theme in the employee’s reasons for absence. For instance, they could be suffering from depression or undergoing investigations for an illness.
  • Train your managers to deal with sickness absence – give them the tools to address their concerns.
  • Follow correct sickness absence processes and obtain all necessary documentation.

Recently, we undertook a challenge to reduce a new client’s absence levels in their business. Upon completing our review, it became clear that the business was not conducting return to work interviews, it was not compulsory for employees to complete self-certification forms and they had never followed any formal sickness absence procedures. By implementing changes to their processes, taking a firm approach to managing sickness absence through return to work meetings and self-certification forms, then conducting few sickness absence meetings, the results were astonishing. Sickness absence dropped by 40% in the initial 2 months.

More often than not, businesses which struggle with high levels of sickness absence are ignoring the problem and shying away from the awkward conversations. What is more, employees fail to understand the impact of their perhaps regular or intermittent absence on their colleagues and their employees.

Considering long term sickness absence –

Long-term absence is a delicate matter and requires consideration on a case-by-case basis. It is important that long-term absence is dealt with professionally and considerations are given to the condition(s) causing the absence, any treatment undertaken, medical reports and appropriate levels of contact with the employee. As an employer, you need to be mindful of the possible risks of a disability and how this affects your duties to the employee. Furthermore, it is imperative that a correct and fair capability/sickness absence management process is followed from the beginning, just in case the employment relationship reaches a point of being untenable.

So what do you do about unauthorised sickness absence?

Unauthorised absence is a different matter, if necessary, this can be dealt with through your disciplinary procedure. However, we would always recommend clients investigate matters before rushing into disciplinary procedures. Tread carefully, just because the absence is unauthorised, doesn’t mean there wasn’t a genuine reason for their absence. It might just be that they were genuinely unwell and they are trying to hide their illness from you. If you do invoke the disciplinary procedure, make sure you follow it fairly to avoid any discrimination allegations.

You will never weed out all sickness, the reality is, we are humans and we all get sick! What is certain about sickness absence is that, in action leads to more difficulties for a business. It is important that a business manages sickness absence and creates a culture where genuine sickness absence is supported but unjustified ‘sickies’ are unacceptable!

If you require external support with your sickness absence policy, your sickness absence levels or have particular concerns regarding an employee’s sickness absence, please get in touch – we can help!