Elevate Your Absence Management Framework

As lockdown lifts, employee absence is concerning many HR teams, with many businesses bracing themselves for a spike in ‘sickies’ as employees bunk off to enjoy the warmer weather, take advantage of the open sporting calendar and spend time with family and friends.

Having clearly defined policies and procedures and a robust absence management framework is therefore critical and will help to promote a positive attendance culture. Join us to learn how.

24 June at 14:00

According to the HSE, 828,000 workers suffered from work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2019/20, with professional services being the most affected sector. This resulted in 17.9 million working days lost.

Exacerbated by limited access to mental health services during COVID, mental health related absence is one of the most common causes of long-term sickness in the workplace. In fact, in a recent CIPD and Simply Health and Well-being survey, 37% of respondents said they had noticed an increase in stress-related absences this past year.

In this free 40-minute session, we will explore this growing issue further, focusing on staff mental health and wellbeing and the positive impact that the right support and absence management framework can have on attendance.

We will also take a look at the other types of absence that may hamper organisational performance this summer, including complex areas such as pregnancy-related illness, elective surgery and concerns that absences might not be genuine, all of which need to be handled carefully to avoid claims of unfair treatment, discrimination and other legal risks.

Hosted by our Head of Team and solicitor, Alexandra Farmer, this session aims to equip HR professionals and people leaders with the knowledge and confidence to deal with these tricky scenarios efficiently and compliantly and will cover:

The importance of effective absence management;
Mental health awareness and staff wellbeing and the positive impact on staff attendance;
COVID-19: methods for managing short-term absence, including keeping in touch and returns to work;
COVID-19: travel-related quarantine periods and the implications for employers;
How to handle sensitive or difficult situations, including stress-related absence, pregnancy-related illness, elective surgery or concerns that absence is not genuine;
How to protect your organisation from potential disability discrimination claims or medical capability unfair dismissal claims: and
Notice pay for employees that are unfit to work.

This session will support you in creating a robust absence management framework, which will enable you to enforce your absence policy, avoid any negative backlash and facilitate a smooth return to work.

Have a specific query? Submit your questions to our experts in advance via the registration form so that we can answer them live during the session.

Register below

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