Everyone is different, and people have different experiences of illness, so some sensitivity can be important. However, all businesses are adversely impacted by sickness absence and research demonstrates that smaller businesses are more impacted.
Some sickness absence is inevitable but it can be managed.
Your essential checklist
- Ensure that you capture each period of sickness so it can be tracked and measured
- Have a back to work interview each time the person returns to work
- Identify if there are any links between the types of absence – is it all related to the same medical condition? Or are they all different?
- Are the periods of absence regularly on a Friday / Monday or following a holiday?
- Do you have company absence triggers such as 4 periods of absence in 12 months or using the Bradford points system. Discuss with FieldHR if you want to introduce trigger points, or if your team member has breached these triggers.
- Look at the absence history of the person– is there a good history of attendance? Has there been a lifestyle change or issue? Has the work environment changed? Could there be a disability aspect to the sickness absence?
- If there is an ongoing issue, introduce an action plan
- Continue an action plan on a rolling basis
- Talk to FieldHR if the action plan is breached.
- Identify if you offer sick pay, and if it is discretionary. This can be a useful tool to manage absence.
Refer to the Absence Management Process. Talk to FieldHR to develop a process if you do not have one in place. A proper process can reduce your costs, and improve productivity.
Top tips
- Understand the whole picture before making decisions
- Talk to the employee at all stages
- Ensure that the action plan is a rolling plan, so you are actively managing absence