Top tips for Managing Sickness Absence with Q&A

According to the latest government data for 2022/23, teachers who took sick leave missed an average of 7.6 days during the academic year, contributing to a total loss of 2.26 million teacher working days. This highlights the scale of sickness absence and its impact on schools’ ability to maintain continuity in education and staffing.

But what can schools do to manage these absences effectively—especially when patterns of repeated or long-term absences emerge?

This is an excellent opportunity to delve deeper into how sickness absence is managed in schools and to ask more specific questions about policy ideas, best practices, or how to engage staff effectively!

During the session we will be covering the following:

• Some top tips for managing sickness absence 
• The difference between managing short and long-term absences
• Sharing of best practice guidance

Let us introduce you to this week's professional speakers

Jenny Salero

Jenny qualified as a solicitor in 2012 and joined Judicium as a consultant following her qualification. Her grasp of complex HR queries such as restructuring MATs to operate as efficiently as possible has enabled her rise from a consultant to Team Leader of the HR Advisory Team. Her responsibilities still include dealing with the variety of queries in schools HR as well as supporting the team on a daily basis. Jenny is also an experienced trainer. She runs the training sessions for the NAHT’s HR Essentials Course. In her spare time she likes to participate in park runs as well as get creative with crafts and baking cupcakes.

Kelly Rayner

Kelly is the Deputy Head of the Judicium HR & Employment Law advisory team. She is a qualified solicitor and has specialised in Employment law since 2002. Kelly advised both employers and employees on a wide range of employment law issues and represented clients in litigation matters in the Employment Tribunal. She joined Judicium in 2013 and over the last 11 years has specialised in supporting our clients within the Education sector with the management of day-to-day and complex employment law and HR issues. Kelly spends her spare time with her very lively five-year-old daughter. She loves to travel, especially to sunny places!

Suzanne Ravenhall

Sue is CIPD Level 7 qualified and has worked across several commercial environments, before moving into Education HR. She became an HR Director where she was an active participant of the SLT, taking on a range of extra duties. She served in a combination role as School Business Manager/Finance Director, taking the school through an Academy conversion and resultant reorganisations. Her finance and HR experience has led to an increased commercial awareness and understanding of the financial impact of HR decision-making. Sue is married to a Royal Navy diver and bomb disposal officer. She has two teenage children, three dogs and a cat. Her favourite things are whippets and tiramisu!