“The Honeydew team goes above and beyond by holding bi-monthly service reviews and helping us to identify different areas of opportunity to make our absence reporting process even better and how to utilise the data and information available. We are more than satisfied with the service, we enjoy working with Honeydew and would recommend the Day-1 Absence Reporting service to any business looking to improve absence reporting and management” Continue reading
Category Archives: Top Story
Best practice absence policy: how to manage exceptions
Your absence policy should be a blueprint for managers to follow but not so rigid that there is no space for discretion. Discretion doesn’t mean that managers should be able to pick
and choose when to implement the policy. Quite the opposite, meetings and discussions should be held on all occasions.
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Mental health at Christmas
Even though Christmas is a time of celebration, it can be a difficult time for many. Rehab4Addiction have put together this useful infographic about the scale of negative mental health issues faced by some people in the UK during this time of year. Read the infographoc for some tips on how to cope better this Christmas. Continue reading
How to manage complex absence cases
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 delays the welfare review meeting with management further to the 8th or 9th week of the absence.
Keeping track of sick and fit notes
Under UK law, employees can self-certificate for the first 7 days of a sickness absence. After 7 calendar days they need to get a fit note from a doctor. The 1-week rule applies to everyone, regardless of how many days per week they normally work. The fit note is essentially a legal document that entitles the employee to statutory sick pay. Continue reading
Indirect cost of absence measured in management time
Absence costs are made up of a lot of parts you may not have considered. The direct costs are perhaps more obvious, but are you aware of everything that makes up the indirect cost of absence? Continue reading
How to address recurring absence in your policy
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.
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