Top Tips for Managing Sick Absence

The management of sick absence is complex and dependent upon a mix of approaches to support those who are sick and to deter the minority whose absence is non-health related. In this article, Helena Broderick, outlines their top tips for managing sick leave.

The key elements of good practice in managing sick absence include:

• All employees should be aware of procedures that they must follow if they are unable to attend work due to sickness.
• The employees should also be fully aware of the procedures which their employer will follow during a short absence or during a longer absence.
• Managers should be expected to handle certain aspects of sick absence and trained to do so.
• Managers should expect to receive professional HR advice and support in dealing with sickness absence.

HR should be proactive, professional and fully competent in managing sick absence. 
The rst key procedure is the ‘Notication’ procedure. Notication given by the employee must follow prescribed rules. Breach of the procedure may result in loss of sick pay and the invoking of the disciplinary procedure. The handling of the Notication by the line manager is critical for setting a sympathetic yet professional tone about the absence. It should be clear to employees when and what type of sick certicates will be required. These can include, for example, a self-certicate for 1 or 2 days sickness, a sick cert from the GP after 2 or more days, certs weekly thereafter from their GP if out for longer. The employee should know that certs must be produced ‘while’ they are out sick – it is not sucient for an employee to produce a bundle of certs on their return to work. All employees should be made aware that any breaches of this procedure may result in loss of sick pay and the invoking of the disciplinary procedure.

The general manager and HR manager, if appropriate should, at this point, discuss matters on a ‘case-by-case’ basis and take appropriate actions at this point depending on the issues emerging. For example, sick certs which state ‘work related stress’ should be acted upon, usually by referring the employee to the company doctor. Managers may take a similar approach, but must be consistent in doing so, to other illnesses e.g. depression.

The Manager may review trends and patterns on a case by case basis. For example, employees who are missing on Mondays, Fridays, before or after a long weekend, before or after a holiday, and other such examples. If the employee remains out sick for an extended period, the manager should maintain contact with the employee from time to time. The employee should be aware that “Fitness to Return to Work” certificates from their GP should be provided on their return to work after sick leave. The company should be clear about when these Fitness to Return certs are required. For example, are they required for all absence or just if the absence has been certied by a GP; are they required when the absence is more than say, 2 days long; or are they required for all Friday and Monday absences (to cover the weekend).

When the employee returns to work, the “Return-to-Work” or “Back-to-Work” meeting is considered one of the most effective means for dealing with short-term absence. Managers should conduct return to work interviews after every absence. Accurate recording of absence is critical for this to work well. The ‘Back-to-Work’ meeting should include the dates (and days of the week) of the absence, if it was certified or uncertified, were notification procedures followed, were “fitness to return to work” certificates provided, sick certificates, and what, if any, supports the manager or organization can provide to support the employee and encourage them to full attendance. It may also include a summary of all absence to date this year, showing dates (and days of the week) and total number of absence year to date.

‘‘Trigger’’ points should be dened and agreed by managers i.e. agreed across the organization and once an employee arrives at a trigger point, a full review of an employee’s attendance for the year should take place. Trigger points can be, for example, after x days sick, or after x number of times being out sick, or based on a points score, the Bradford Score, which is a factor of days sick and number of times the employee has been out sick. At this point, the manager, may request information from the employee’s medical practitioner or may request they attend the company’s doctor. It may be appropriate and prudent for the manager to consider working arrangements that may support the employee in full attendance e.g. exible working hours, special leave for family circumstances, etc. Of course, such arrangements would be aligned with organisation policy in this regard.

Source: HortiTrends News Desk