A good absence policy sets out acceptable levels of absence and guides managers to review absence patterns early on. It should also provide a clear guide for follow-up actions. When more serious consequences should follow from a poor attendance record. Quite often the first meeting or referral is not the end of the story. The condition may cause another absence further down the line. There may also be follow-up actions like workplace adjustments and risk assessments to complete as a result of the initial review. Managers should review regularly if the measures are working and check in with how the employee is doing, especially if they have a further absence from work.
Category Archives: Blog
Make your absence policy simple
The most common mistake we see in absence policies is unnecessary complexity. Honeydew’s mission is to make good absence management easy. In this article, we’ll go through the do’s and don’ts of writing absence policies. We will explain how to write a policy that is an effective tool for line managers.
Data exporting made easy with APIs
Engage helps employers keep complete absence records but it is not enough to have your Absence Data stored in Engage. You should be able to use your data to help with scheduling, payroll etc. Therefore, we are always working to improve the data flows to other HR applications. We don’t believe that your absence data should not be locked inside one system. Continue reading
Why SaaS absence management is the best choice for smaller companies
Engage SaaS (Service as a Software) lets companies accurately manage and track their absence data. Even SMEs with fewer than 250 employees benefit from using Engage and can reduce related costs and risk by recording full absence data. Did you know that reducing absence by even a fraction of a percent can save you hundreds of pounds per employee? Designed by industry experts, Engage helps you make effective change in your organisation. Continue reading
New eBook coming in November!
From the desk of Honeydew Director of Product, Inka Howorth:
I began my work in the absence management sector in 2008. That’s a lot of years of HR discourse and I’ve met a lot of practitioners of all kinds in that time. I’ve also encountered many approaches to writing an absence policy. This puts me in a privileged position to evaluate these approaches and provide a best practice guidance on what actually works, in the form of a new eBook. Continue reading
SMS to absentees
If you subscribe to Honeydew’s Day-1 absence reporting service, Engage can send SMS reminders to absentees whose expected return date was today. These reminders are sent if the absence record has accidentally been left open. Now we’ve also added a further feature to the SMS reminders that will remind tomorrow’s returning employees to confirm their return. The message goes out the day before the planned return. If you are coming back to work as planned, you can simply reply with the word CLOSE to confirm their return. If you are still absent, you’re asked to call the absence line to update their record. Continue reading
Stop overpayments of sick pay
More often than you maybe realise, communication breaks down somewhere along the line between reporting an absence and updating sick pay records. Many companies rely on cumbersome, manual processes to notify payroll about which absences are paid and which are not. Continue reading
How to make your Return to Work interview more meaningful?
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?
How to pick a holiday destination 2021?
Summer is finally here, both in weather as well as schools breaking up. Time to take holiday and put your feet up. For many, this year’s summer plans have been the source of even more stress due to the uncertainty about travel abroad. Cost of tests and worry about being pinged just before departure don’t help either.
If you’ve resolved to overcome all those challenges, then how to pick a safe(ish?) holiday destination? Data crunching is our bread and butter at Honeydew so let’s pick one using the Covid-19 statistics. Continue reading
Staying safe at work in the Covid era
We are once more in the middle of a whirlwind of ever-changing government advice about Covid. On 19th July, only days from now, workplaces can re-open normally – in theory at least. The rising Covid infection rates in the UK mean that there is a lot of anxiety about the re-opening. Employers have decisions to make about how to best serve their business and customers whilst looking after employee welfare. Continue reading