The time spent dealing with short and long-term absences can incur significant costs for organisations, both in terms of management time and the ripple effect on the rest of your workforce who are left to pick up the slack.

Having an effective absence management framework enables you to understand the correct process, be mindful of the legal position, and support the health of employees by providing clear and consistent guidance.

However, some types of absence can be particularly tricky to deal with. Absences due to stress, serious medical conditions or a pregnancy-related illness, for example, must be handled with care. We’ll be sharing with you tips to ensure you correctly handle sickness absences, including guidance on implementing reasonable adjustments, and what you can do if these can’t be met. Plus, we’ll discuss what steps to take if you suspect an absence is not genuine, and the part social media can play in this.

During this informative one-hour session, Senior Employment Law Adviser and Solicitor Jane Nicholls will address key sickness absence considerations, such as:

• The absence policies and procedures every business should have in place, including the legal requirements employers need to factor in.
• The best way to handle employees who take frequent sick leave, including returns to work, written warnings and dismissal.
• How to handle sick leave related to a physical or mental health condition, including reasonable adjustments and your medical capability procedure.
• The correct process to follow when faced with various long-term absence scenarios.
• How to protect your organisation from potential disability discrimination and medical capability unfair dismissal claims.

Have a question?

Submit it via the registration form so that Jane can review it in advance – we’ll aim to answer as many as possible live during the session.