sick leave 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

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.

Council complied with employment law in dismissal for sickness

March 8th 2022September 24th 2013 by Lucy Fitzgerald

An after-school club manager who lost her job after failing to return to work on grounds of family illness was not unfairly dismissed, an Employment Tribunal has ruled. Dismissal for sickness Workplace Law reported this week that Ms Nicola Gardiner, who worked for Fife Council, was diagnosed with “stress relating to family illness” and declared … 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:

Sickness absence and holiday pay

August 6th 2020September 27th 2013 by Lucy Fitzgerald

IBB Law recently ran an interesting piece on a worker’s right to annual leave whilst on sickness absence. The article highlighted one case in particular in which Mrs Larner, an employee with NHS Leeds, was refused payment in lieu of her untaken annual leave while on sickness absence between 2009 and 2011 when she was … Read more

Establishing an absence monitoring culture

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