Top Tips for Managing Sickness Absence

These are the top tips and most frequently asked questions taken from Judicium’s Top Tips for Managing Sickness Absence ‘Sofa Session’ from the 22nd January with Employment Law & HR consultants Jenny Salero, LL.B (Hons), and Suzanne Ravenhall, Chartered MCIPD.

Top Tips for Managing Sickness Absence

1. Use RTW/welfare meetings to support staff, but also your process.

If a member of staff is absent for a short period and returns to work, try to make the most of the return to work meeting. Ideally these meetings should take place after every absence.

The RTW meeting should be used to discuss the reasons for the absence and any ways in which absences can be avoided moving forward.

The benefit of these meetings is twofold:

• Firstly, it allows to you to keep track of absences and flag to staff that perhaps did not need to take a day away from work that you are keeping a record of this. We have seen a reduction in short term intermittent absences for clients where RTW meetings take place after each absence.
• Secondly, the meeting can be very helpful in flagging signs of potential ill health – particularly for example absences due to stress. If you meet with an employee after a short period of absence it may be that you can take steps to reduce or alleviate their concerns and avoid a further or future period of absence all together.

Likewise, welfare meeting can be very useful in identifying any issues or concerns at an early stage, before they escalate and help to reduce absence. So do ensure that welfare meetings take place with staff there you have noticed a change in them – you do not need to (and should not) wait for a member of staff to be absent before a welfare meeting takes place.

If you are utilising these meetings regularly with staff you will then be in a good position to take an informed decision on the appropriateness of inviting the employee to a more formal absence meeting if/when any trigger points are reached.

2. Don’t be scared to make contact

So often we are contacted by clients who will say to us that they cannot make contact with staff when they are off sick. This is absolutely not the case, particularly with some absences for example work related stress, the sooner we can get to the bottom of the problem, the sooner we can take action.

If you do not speak to the employee to find out what the problem is, there is nothing you can do to tackle this and support an employee in a return to work.

Employers can and should therefore make reasonable contact with their employees when they are signed off as unfit for work.

The School should of course not hound an employee and if the employee requests some space that request should be respected. However, you can make reasonable contact with any members of your staff when they are signed off as unfit for work.

3. Don’t use a policy as a tick box exercise

It is important that any sickness absence process is not treated as a tick box exercise. Each individual and period of absence needs to considered separately. How members of staff are impacted by illness, the reasons for their absence and any support they may need will vary as of course everyone is different. A one size fits all will not be appropriate for managing absence.

Frequently Asked Questions:

If my member of staff is part time when do they need to provide a fit note?

If any member of staff is absence for seven consecutive calendar days they should provide a note signing then off as unfit for work (if this is the case) from the 8th day of absence onwards. This applied regardless of working pattern – all staff are able to self-certify for the first seven calendar days of absence.

Does someone have to be signed off to be seen by Occupational Health?

No, an employee can be referred or may request to be seen by Occupational Health at any time. On some occasions an early referral may help to avoid an absence.

Do I have to put in place all the recommendations made by Occupational Health?

Not necessarily. Employers are required to make reasonable adjustments where a colleague is disabled to try to remove or ameliorate the disadvantages the employee faces. However, what is reasonable very fact specific and will depend on (amongst other things) your setting, the employees role, the adjustments that have been suggested and any impact they may have on the organisation.

What can I do if an employee is refusing to do attend Occupational Health?

It is in the employee’s best interest to attend such an appointment, otherwise any decisions the organisation makes will be made on the basis of the limited information that you have. We would always suggest that you remind the employee this and try to persuade them to attend in the first instance. If the employee is still refusing to attend and you follow the Burgundy Book (for teaching staff) or Green Book (for support staff) you can remind the employee that if they do not attend occupational sick pay can be withdrawn. This reminder then often results in attendance at the appointment!

What can I do if the employee has not reported their absence?

In this instance you would need to find out the reason for this – why was the absence not reported in line with the policy? Has the employee been very unwell or has there been a serious emergency? If so, it is not likely to be reasonable to take any sort of formal action, other than to remind the employee of the need to report in as per the policy, wherever possible. If however, the employee just did not wake up on time or repeatedly keeps sending messages rather than phoning in in line with the policy, it may be appropriate to treat the failure to comply with the absence procedure as a disciplinary concern.

Can an employee be accompanied at a welfare meeting?

Legally, there is no right to be accompanied at a welfare meeting, this is generally an informal meeting. However, double check your policy, as your policy may allow this. If the policy does not provide for this you may wish to allow an employee to be accompanied by a workplace colleague, trade union representative, or on some occasions a family member to allow any discussion to take place.

Should I take notes of a welfare meeting?

Yes – ideally all meetings should be noted, these notes do not need to be verbatim, but should be a record of your discussions. As welfare meetings often form the early part of an absence management process you should keep a record of this.

Do I need separate policies for managing short and long term sickness absence?

You do not need separate policies, but your managing absence policy should have a section outlining the procedure for managing those who have repeated, short term, intermittent absences and a section that outlines the procedure for those who are absent on a long term basis.

Useful Information

If you would like to see what HR and Employment Law training we have coming up, please see our training page here.

Relevant CPD accredited Training coming up:

‘Supporting mental health in the workplace’ – Friday 24th January 2025 – 9.30 – 12.30pm

‘Managing Short Term Sickness Absence’ – Tuesday 28th January 2025 – 9.30am – 12.30am

‘Managing Long Term Sickness’ – Tuesday 25th March 2024 – 9.30am – 1.00pm

Relevant Briefings:

‘What is a disability? Common myths and misconceptions’ – Thursday 30th January 2025 – 9.30am – 10.15am

‘Reasonable adjustments – when to make then’ – Tuesday 4th February 2025 – 9.30am – 10.15am

If you would like more information of how we can support you or more information regarding our Employment Law and HR Advisory service, please see more details regarding the service here.

Alternatively, you can contact us on: 0345 548 7000 or email enquiries@judicium.com

You can follow us on Twitter: @JudiciumEDU

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