Myths of absence management: Day-1 Absence Reporting increases absence because employees don’t have to speak with their manager. In fact, Day-1 Absence Reporting – initially – increases absence levels because all absence is recorded. Relying on managers to report absence data is prone to under-reporting and gaps in the data. Furthermore, with Day-1, the absence […]

I am going to be bold enough to assume that no absence policy was ever written with a global pandemic in mind. Until now. At the time of writing this, we are still in the midst of the chaos caused by Covid-19. The disease has been with us for nearly two years and the situation […]

28 calendar days is a common definition of long-term absence. There’s nothing wrong with this definition in itself. However, waiting 4 weeks to offer support or consider referral to support services is a missed opportunity. This often means that medical appointments don’t take place until the 6th or 7th week of the absence. It also […]

Instead of a disciplinary atmosphere, managers should use the time with the employee to show that they care. Managers’ attitude to the interviews will have a direct impact on the usefulness of the meeting. So how to make sure your return to work interviews feel meaningful to manager and employee alike?

Many HR teams spend a lot of time putting together a comprehensive absence policy. Sadly, their efforts are watered-down if managers don’t know or understand the policy, or if they forget to check what absences meet the trigger criteria. However, some absence triggers are so complex that you definitely need a computer to check who […]

Absence is a management issue, not a medical one. That is why similar organisations with similar work profiles can have very different absence levels. The difference is not that the employees in one company are more ill. The difference is that one company is managing absence better than the other one. Any absence is a […]

Early intervention has always been our mantra. The sooner an absence is reviewed and the appropriate action taken to put a plan in place for a return to work, the better the outcomes. Short of spotting any warning signs for problem before it escalates to an absence, there’s no better time for early intervention than […]

Wellbeing champions are employees, who choose or are chosen to focus on improving the wellbeing of their fellow colleagues as part of the company wellbeing initiatives.

Employee wellbeing is not just a nice company value but it can become an important factor in productivity. As Susan Silcox outlines in her report published by XpertHR, poor wellbeing has many detrimental consequences to the business.

We’ve written about this before, but now it’s finally here. Employers in England and Wales are now able to refer employees to Fit for Work, the government service set up to help working people on long-term sickness absence. Fit for Work provides occupational health services to people who have been, or are likely to be, off work […]