ABSENCE MANAGEMENT

Latest figures suggest that sickness absence costs employers £601 per employee every year and in terms of working time an average of 9 working days per employee – CIPD March 2006.  As well as this direct impact on cost and productivity, high levels of absence can affect other employees’ morale and motivation therefore compounding the problem.

As a business you need to be firm but fair in dealing with unacceptable levels of attendance and ensure you have an effective policy and procedure in place.

Absence Policy

All too often policies can be left open to interpretation so it is essential that any absence policy is clear about what an employee must do if they are going to be absent from work and detail what as an employer you offer in terms of support and leave entitlement.  Areas that should be included in the policy are:

• Notification of absence
• Non notification of absence
• Documentation required to support a period of absence
• Payment
• Return to work meeting
• Absence Target for individuals
• Calculation of Absence Percentage
• Disciplinary action
• Long term absence
• Occupational Health support

Returning to Work

Whilst you may manage an employee's absence when they are away from the workplace by maintaining contact and receiving doctors notes it is important that this continues on their return.  By arranging a formal meeting with the individual concerned the cause of the absence can be discussed to see if there are any underlying trends which are having an impact.  There are times absences may be due to work pressures or concerns, an issue with another employee which may constitute bullying or harassment or in fact a domestic situation. If time isn’t spent with the individual concerned reviewing the absence period then the employer won’t know the full facts and therefore is unable to help support the individuals return by taking the appropriate action.

Absence Monitoring

As an organisation you need to determine how you are going to calculate an individual's percentage as there are a number of methods available.  By monitoring this on a regular basis you will be able to review peaks and troughs in the business and see if this is trend related.  On an individual basis the person who you once thought was taking every Friday off once a month you will now have the documentation to support your concerns.  However under the Data protection Act 1998 you do need to set out this policy of monitoring in an employee's terms and conditions of employment.

Long Term Absence

Any employee who is off for more than 15 days could be deemed as long term.  It is important that the business is supportive and looks at all the opportunities available to assist this person in returning to work.  This could include a job adjustment programme which offers reduced days or hours, a temporary change of job or even a permanent change in position.  If at this time the individual still does not look like they are going to return even with a supportive programme having a relationship with an Occupational Health Advisor to help manage the process is advisable.

If a job adjustment programme is agreed monitoring is essential to see that it stays on track and to make any further amendments if necessary.

Organisation Support

Managing absence is a team effort and therefore it is important that your managers have had all the relevant training to enforce the policy but to also ensure that they stay within the legal framework which encompasses the Disability and Discrimination Act (DDA), Medical Reports Act and the Data Protection Act

Disciplinary Action

As an employer you need to be clear as to when disciplinary action will be taken for an individual’s absence.  Will it be based on percentage, number of times absent over a given period or in fact both.  All employees should be given an opportunity to improve and usually oral and written warnings suffice.  However if the situation doesn’t improve you may have to consider dismissal, this however should be seen as a last resort and you may need to consider seeking expert advice before making any decisions.

Positive Approach

It is important to develop other initiatives to encourage good attendance such as looking at the provision of:

• Healthcare and prevention facilities
• Improvements in working conditions
• Counselling service
• Celebrating good attendance with bonuses or incentives

Food for thought

So what is happening in your business?

• What is your organisation's absence percentage?
• Where are your worst affected departments?
• What are the underlying causes?
• What are you doing to improve it?