absence management Archives - Fitzgerald Human Resources

Measuring Absence: Sickness Absence Rate Calculations

September 4th 2026April 18th 2013 by Lucy Fitzgerald

Measuring absence in the workplace. We outline sickness absence rate calculations.

There are four main ways of measuring time lost to sickness absence in the workplace. These are: In this article, we provide an overview of each of these methods and explain sickness absence rate calculations using these approaches. Let’s dive straight in and learn about measuring absence in the workplace. Why we need to be … Read more

Managing Employee Sickness Absence: A Guide for Employers

September 2nd 2026June 8th 2019 by Vicki Ellis

Managing short-term and long-term sickness absence

Managing employee sickness absence effectively can be challenging for employers. It often requires a sensitive approach, coupled with a good understanding of the law. It can also be difficult to strike a balance between supporting your employee and managing him or her to reduce the unacceptable absence levels.

How to use metrics and action triggers to manage absence

August 22nd 2024April 17th 2013 by Lucy Fitzgerald

The Health and Safety Executive reports that sickness absence costs UK businesses £12 billion each year. That’s an extraordinary amount in a struggling economy. Of course, absence in small businesses has a huge impact. According to the Federation of Small Business, small companies are more likely to suffer from employees taking periods of short-term absence and it reports that long-term absence can be a very expensive problem for them.

The bad news is that small businesses are less likely to monitor sickness absence and manage it proactively. This is probably due to competing priorities and a lack of knowledge in dealing with such situations, especially if the business owner knows the employee well.

Putting an absence policy in place and alerting employees to it will pay dividends. Research suggests that good absence management helps to lower costs and time spent off sick.

How to manage staff during major sporting events

July 29th 2024September 17th 2015 by Emily Errington

Different sporting events will bring different challenges, and this usually depends on the popularity of the event. Whilst we know that employees enjoy these sporting events, organisations need to carefully balance this with the need to operate as normal for their customers during these periods. And, the way we manage staff during major sporting events … Read more

How to manage capability when an employee is dishonest

June 20th 2022June 8th 2019 by Charlotte Pengelly

Malingering: How to manage dishonest employee sickness absence

When an employee is unable to undertake the full duties of their role or they have high levels of sickness absence due to an illness, this can be difficult for employers to manage. From time to time, we all have unavoidable periods of illness, and need time to recover. In rare cases however, you may … Read more

How to implement “trigger points” to help manage absence

September 14th 2020April 18th 2013 by Lucy Fitzgerald

It’s important to establish set action points for both short-term and long-term absence as both types can cause difficulties for employers. If an employee regularly takes one day off, you won’t be able to count on them being in the office when you really need them. In the case of an employee who has been off sick for a few months, you need to know if they are likely to return in the foreseeable future and if there is anything that you can do to facilitate a return to work.

Establishing an absence monitoring culture

The first thing to do is introduce an automatic return to work interview after any period of sickness, even if it was just for one day. This should be regarded as the first step in the absence management process, where all employees are asked about their absence and how they are feeling. This gives the message that you are supportive but are also taking note of the absence on your records.

Beyond that, you will need to choose a certain number of stages at which you will take action to manage absence. Some examples are:

Fit for Work rolling out across the UK

August 6th 2020March 5th 2015 by Lucy Fitzgerald

Fit for Work, previously the Health and Work Service, is being re-launched following a review of the country’s sickness absence system. Currently being rolled out nationwide and expected to be fully available by the end of 2015, it will offer free occupational health assistance to employees, employers and GPs. The review, conducted by Dame Carol … Read more

Handling staff absence effectively in your school

August 5th 2020November 3rd 2015 by Charlotte Pengelly

Staff sickness can be highly disruptive to a school. It’s often unpredictable, making it difficult to organise cover, which is often done by other members of staff who take up the strain to fill-in for their absent colleague. Of course, most absences are for genuine reasons and no one would want someone who was ill … Read more

Establishing an absence monitoring culture

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