Absenteeism
Absenteeism comes in many forms, from frequent short-term absences to long-term sickness and issues of medical capability. All can put a strain on your workforce and prevent your business from reaching its full potential.
While absence management may appear a relatively straightforward exercise, it’s important to follow the correct process, and quickly, as getting it wrong or letting issues linger can greatly impact your bottom line.
Get your FREE consultation
Submit your details and one of our team will be in touch.
Visit our free employer hub for expert guidance and resources.
COVID-19 | FREE expert guidance for employers, including sample policies, template risk assessments and more
How we help
Drive down absences with unlimited expert support
No business is immune to absences. From policy creation to pragmatic advice, take a proactive and confident approach to absence management with our full range of Employment Law and HR solutions.
Whether you’re bogged down in these low-level issues or facing a particularly tricky situation, our experts can help you deal with bogus absences, long-standing conditions that may be disability-related, and everything in between.
- Manage absences fairly and consistently with your own team of Employment Law experts
- Set out your management and reporting arrangements with a robust sickness absence policy
- Utilise our MI reporting to understand and proactively tackle absence trends
- Develop staff confidence with absence management training and expert guidance notes
- Get peace of mind with our optional, FCA-regulated Legal Expenses Insurance
Related resources
Maximise productivity, minimise legal risk
When it comes to sickness absence, it’s important to get a handle on it early. Our comprehensive support will enable you to tackle any scenario and ensure operational and service levels are maintained.
With ongoing advice and support from your small team of legally-qualified specialists, you can get guidance and clarity on all your employee hurdles, including your obligations in relation to disability discrimination, adjusting procedures and absence trigger points to maximise attendance, and any resulting disciplinary issues.
Plus, if you’re not confident going it alone or facing a particular complex issue, our seasoned HR Consultants can conduct welfare and medical capability meetings for you – or manage the full process – for complete peace of mind.
Popular FAQs
Can employers terminate employment for sick absence?
While occasional sickness absence is normal, some employees may call in sick far more than you’d expect of your average person. In these situations, you should refer to your sickness absence policy, which should set benchmarks, known as trigger points, for unacceptable levels of short and frequent sickness absence. These should be reasonable and using the Bradford Factor formula will help you to determine when short-term absence levels have become excessive. Your sickness absence policy should also establish what actions will be taken once those triggers have been met.
How long is long-term sickness absence?
There is no hard and fast rule about this. Each case will turn on its facts considering, in particular the nature of the employee’s condition, whether it amounts to a disability and how long it is likely to last for. Medical evidence will always be key in answering these questions and when considering how to deal with people off on long-term sick.
How can sickness absence be monitored?
Monitoring and recording employees’ absences and the reason for it can prove useful in uncovering trends or patterns. For example, you may notice that an employee’s absences coincide with certain events, or that certain individuals seem to follow a particular pattern of taking Fridays and Mondays off sick. Equally, you may notice that employees who carry out particular tasks are often absent for similar reasons, for example back pain, or that employees who are taking frequent short-term absences have challenging deadlines and intense workloads. Spotting these trends will point you in the right direction and should enable you to rectify the problem. The best way to monitor sickness absence is by holding return to work interviews once the employee is back at work to ask why the employee was off, consider any adjustments to prevent future absence, and spot patterns in behaviour. In addition, it may help to use HR software to log and monitor absences and run MI reports.
Can you provide MI?
Yes. For organisations with larger case volumes that want to get to the bottom of their sickness absence issues, we can produce MI reports to uncover absence hotspots, then work with you consider root causes and agree a plan of action.
Can you help us to produce the documentation we need?
Yes. If you’re time-poor, or perhaps feel out of your depth producing more complicated documentation, our fixed-fee Employment Law and HR support includes bespoke document drafting from your employment documents, from correspondence with employees to letters to medical practitioners.
Can employers ask about sickness absence?
As a general principle, it is not permissible for an employer to ask a job applicant any questions about their health or disability until they have been offered a job. It is also not advisable to ask someone how many sick days they took in their last role. In very specific circumstances, you can ask before offer stage.
However, it is permissible and advisable to hold return to work meetings with employees after they return from sickness absence for the reasons highlighted above. Whilst there is nothing to force an employee to give detailed reasons as to why they were off, it is in the best interests of both parties that there is a degree of honesty. If the employee has an underlying condition affecting absence, it is advisable to tell their employer about it. That will allow them to make any reasonable adjustments to accommodate it.
How should I address absenteeism with an employee?
You should always hold a return to work meeting after every instance of absence. This is best practice as it will enable you to understand the reason for the absence, address any health concerns and look at ways to accommodate any underlying illness. Holding a return to work meeting can also discourage future absences. You should ensure that you follow any absence procedure as set out in your Employee Handbook. That will usually explain what steps to take once a certain number of absences are reached.
What should I include in a letter inviting an employee to a meeting to discuss absenteeism?
The letter should contain all the information you wish to rely on during the hearing, so perhaps a copy of the employee’s attendance record, copy of doctors’ notes and/or other medical evidence, and copies of the minutes from return to work meetings. The letter should also state the possible outcome of the meeting, for example a first written warning for poor attendance.
Is sickness an unauthorised absence?
Unauthorised absences are absences that employees do not have a contractual right or the employer’s permission to take. While staff should stay at home if they are sick, it is reasonable to expect employees to notify their employer at their earliest convenience if they will not be able to attend work. This will typically be laid out within the employer’s sickness absence policy.
In this way, while an employee is within their rights not to work when they are ill, if they fail to inform their employer in the way outlined in the policy, this may qualify as an unauthorised absence and may lead to disciplinary action.
What is the process of a disciplinary for sickness?
Technically, employees with poor attendance records would not be disciplined. They would be subject to a formal absence management process with meetings convened as and when trigger points are hit. Please note that it will never be fair to dismiss someone with over two years’ service for persistent poor attendance without going through the full range of warnings first. Any warning should be issued following a fair procedure and should be accompanied by a timescale and suggestions for improvement, together with details of the action the employer will take if there is no improvement within the specified timescale.
Explore our fixed-fee Employment Law support
Advice Line
Fast, pragmatic, commercial. Our Employment Law & HR advice line gives you and your managers access to truly unlimited advice on all of your people-related challenges, from the seemingly straightforward to the most complex.What sorts of things can you advise on?
HR matters come with the territory when you run a business or manage an organisation and we’re here to help you through it all. Whether you’re battling absenteeism, struggling to manage an underperforming employee or need help navigating a complicated exercise like redundancy, we can walk you through the steps required to handle the situation appropriately.
Is everything dealt with through one team?
Yes. All of our advisers are qualified legal professionals or on the road to formal qualification, which means a full range of employee issues can be dealt with within your dedicated three-person team. In the event that you’re presented with an Employment Tribunal claim, we will conduct a full handover to our Litigation Team so that they are well equipped to defend you.
Find out moreContracts and Handbooks
Whether you have nothing in place or just need an expert review, our Employment Law specialists can carefully craft your employment contracts and employee handbooks to guarantee compliance and provide the flexibility you need as an employer.What are the risks of not having the right contracts in place?
Failing to provide an employee with a contract could lead to additional compensation being awarded to an employee who successfully makes another sort of claim against their employer. In addition, a number of practical problems could be caused by having incorrect contracts, such as paying too little (or too much) notice, getting holiday entitlement wrong and failing to protect legitimate business interests in the face of an employee leaving for a competitor.
How often do HR policies need to be reviewed?
Whenever there are changes to UK employment legislation, such as the recent changes to bereavement leave or the Good Work Plan, it’s important to make sure your contracts, handbooks and policies are updated accordingly. We can take the pressure off by alerting you to any such changes and helping you to implement them in your documentation and practices.
Find out moreDrafting Letters and Documents
From the most straightforward warning for poor attendance to complex grievance outcome letters and everything in between, our Employment Law solicitors can draft all your employment documents to save you valuable time and stress.What sorts of documents can you draft?
Just about anything and everything you might need during the employment relationship. All of our advisers are qualified legal professionals or on the road to formal qualification, which means we can support you with a full spectrum of advice and documentation, from first written warnings to new contractual clauses, to a policy you might not have in your handbook, plus more complex legal documents like settlement agreements and redundancy outcome letters.
I’ve got a HR team and just want templates we can use. Do you have a resources bank?
Yes, our fixed-fee Employment Law and HR support includes full access to our Knowledge Hub, available through myWorkNest, which contains most of the templates we work from. If you have an internal HR team, you may prefer to access these and tailor them yourselves. However, for more complex cases, we would always suggest engaging with our legal advisers as it can be all too easy to word something in a way that leaves you exposed.
Find out moreeLearning
Tired of classroom training, or unable to take time out? Raise awareness of best-practice around workplace issues and prevent HR headaches with our flexible, cost-effective eLearning courses.
What types of courses are available?
Our ever-growing library of eLearning courses currently covers over 100 topics, including HR courses such as Equality & Diversity, Sexual Harassment and Social Media Use; soft skills courses such as Communication, Leadership and Change Management; and compliance courses such GDPR, Anti-Money Laundering and the Bribery Act. We also offer an extensive range of Health & Safety courses, including Accident Reporting, Risk Assessment and First Aid. Download the full course catalogue.
How much do the courses cost?
All of our eLearning courses are free for the first year when you purchase our Employment Law & HR or Health & Safety managed service. This means you’re not paying per head or per course, which not only keeps down but gives you complete cost certainty over your training expenses. This is particularly handy if your workforce is growing, as you won’t need to purchase extra licenses, giving you exceptional value for money.
Legal Expenses Insurance
An optional component of our Employment Law and HR support, by underpinning our advice with Legal Expenses Insurance (LEI), you have maximum reassurance that your business is protected against unfair dismissal and other costly employee claims.
I’ve never had a claim before – why would I need to take LEI?
For the same reason you take out any insurance policy – to guard against the high cost of defending an Employment Tribunal claim. The premium cost is very low compared to the potential payout, especially as it covers the cost of representation as well as any potential compensation. You don’t have to have LEI, but it could significantly impact your bottom line if something goes wrong, given that the cost of even the most basic unfair dismissal claim could be £20-25,000 when legal costs are factored in. Unfortunately, the latest Tribunal statistics suggest that employers now are more vulnerable than ever.
Can you deal with Employment Tribunal claims, or is this triaged outside of WorkNest?
Should you receive a claim, your dedicated Employment Law adviser, who will have dealt with the matter up until that point, will conduct a full handover to our Litigation Team. They will explain the case history, share all the relevant documentation and offer their views on the prospects of the claim. Our Litigation Team will then take over all the prep work, including drafting a defence, producing bundles, dealing with Acas and the other side, and briefing counsel. Rest assured this is a smooth process, with everything kept inside WorkNest, and you will be in safe hands throughout.
Management Information
Discipline, performance, absenteeism. We’ll show you exactly where your dedicated Employment Law advisers are spending their time so that you can target key problem areas for more productive, high-performing teams. Recommended for large organisations with high case volumes.What detail does the MI provide?
The report will highlight what sorts of issues we are advising on and who/where in your business those questions are coming from. That way, we can easily spot problem areas, bring them to your attention and recommend steps to address the issues.
What sorts of recommendations do you typically provide?
We will provide practical and pragmatic recommendations to address whatever common problems are arising. The exact nature will depend on the sort of issues but could include training of managers in certain areas or the production of additional guidance and documentation to guide them through tricky subjects.
Find out moremyWorkNest
From document templates to HR Software, myWorkNest gives you all the tools you need to manage even the trickiest employee issues, improve efficiencies and get the answers you need, fast.
What sorts of issues can I find guides and templates on?
We have hundreds of guidance notes and accompanying templates covering a full spectrum of employment-related issues, including Maternity, Pay, Flexible Working, Holidays, Performance and Redundancy. All of these resources are created by our experts, and if you require further support or have any questions, you can contact your dedicated team of advisers for practical advice and guidance.
What does the HR Software do?
There can be a great deal of administration involved in managing employees, and the burden only increases as your business grows. If filing cabinets of employee information is no longer cutting it, our HR Software will help to automate your processes, save valuable time and manage HR tasks at the touch of a button. Use it to store and organise employee data and essential documents; manage and report on holidays, absence, timesheets and rostering; stay on top of employee reviews; maintain a comprehensive employee directory, and keep a record of training and development.
Why choose us?
Experts in Employment Law & HR
At WorkNest, we’re known for our bespoke service and the quality of our support. Not only is our expertise unmatched, but we take the time to know you so that we can function as a true extension of your team.
- Your own small team of dedicated experts
- Commercial, pragmatic advice tailored to you
- Bespoke contracts, policies and handbooks
- Trusted by over 35,000 organisations
- Recognised as a leading firm by the Legal 500
Who you’ll be working with
Angela Carter
Director of Legal Services
Toyah Marshall
Head of Team
Toyah Marshall
Principal Employment Law Adviser
Client stories
“
Gus Hosein
Executive Director, Privacy International
“
WorkNest supports our 280 staff members with Employment Law and Health & Safety and has provided quality management training too.”
Lisa Best
Head of Service Delivery, Catalyst Choice
“
We get a great deal of comfort and satisfaction knowing that we have support as and when we need it, in a decisive and responsive way.”
Richard Berry
Group HR Director, Culina Group
“
We moved our legal support to WorkNest (formerly Law at Work) having previously used a time and line law firm. It was important, though, that an all-inclusive fee structure did not come at the expense of quality. Thankfully we’ve been delighted with the service we’ve received from WorkNest.”
Chief Executive
Waverley Care
“
What we recognised in WorkNest is the background that they have. They are able to supply knowledge and experience in a number of disciplines, which enables us to develop our business in a way that’s safe, to do it on time and with a quality to it.”
Debbie Rainbow
Director of Human Resources and Health & Safety,
Bluestone National Park Resort
“
Celia McKeon
Chief Executive, The Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust (JRCT)
“
As the company started to get larger, we knew we had to protect our employees and our contractors both onsite and in the offices. WorkNest is exactly what we needed to move the company forward.”
Joanne Beaver
Operations Director, Beaverfit
“
Pineapple have worked with the team at WorkNest (formerly Law at Work) since 2003, and we have built a trusted partnership together. We particularly like WorkNest’s concise and practical advice concerning employment law/HR issues and also appreciate their totally supportive approach in all areas of health and safety.”
General Manager
Pineapple Dance Studios
“
I’ve taken WorkNest into every organisation that I’ve worked with. I’ve introduced them to many teams and many colleagues and referred them with absolute pleasure because I genuinely trust in the service that we get.”
People Director, The Works
Latest news and insights
Sickness Absence | Frequently Asked Questions
BLOG Sickness Absence | Frequently Asked Questions 1. Can employer terminate employment for sick absence? While occasional sickness absence is normal, you may have noticed that a particular employee seems to be sick far more than you’d expect of your average person. In these situations, you should refer to your sickness absence policy, which should set benchmarks, known as trigger points, for unacceptable levels of short and frequent sickness absence. These should be reasonable, and using the Bradford Factor formula
Use it or lose it? | New rules on carrying over annual leave lost to long-term sickness absence
With 2019 almost over and many employers approaching a new annual leave period, if you have staff off on long-term sick with annual leave left untouched, you may be wondering what the rules are when it comes to carrying it over into next year. Get your FREE consultation Right on cue, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has handed down an important judgment on the matter, offering some long-awaited clarity on whether employers are obliged to permit
The dangers of treating maternity-related sickness absence like other illness
When it comes to employment law, it’s typically advised that treating everybody the same is the best way to avoid claims. However, in relation to sickness absence, this notion can actually lead employers down the wrong path and into dangerous territory. In reality, not all sickness absence is equal in the eyes of the law, and employers must ensure the correct categorisation of absence or they may leave themselves exposed to legal risk. This is an issue that has come
