Can you really manage sickness absence?

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Organisations often dread the impact sickness absence can have on their business.  There’s a common misconception out there that, when it comes to sickness absence, there’s nothing an employer can do about it and your hands are tied.  In fact, this is not the case...
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​Let’s start with the basics:  as an employer what do you have to provide in the way of sick pay?  Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is payable for upto 28 weeks and is currently set at £88.45 per week.  It is only payable to staff who have been off work sick four or more days in a row.  This is something employers often don’t realise and means that you are not obliged to pay staff anything for the first three days of sickness absence.  Employers sometimes feel that they would rather, pay staff as normal if they are off work ill, than sit down with the individual and discuss the absence.  This is because there is a perception that speaking to someone about their sickness isn’t allowed and is far too embarrassing for all concerned.  However, that's not necessarily true.​

Whilst I would never advocate commenting on the reason a worker was off sick or whether their sickness was genuine or not (after all, I’m not a medical professional), that doesn’t stop you having what is known as a, ‘return to work’ chat.  These conversations can be very beneficial.  You are legitimately allowed to talk to an employee about the level of their sickness absence, the impact it has on the business, the knock-on effect for fellow workers who have to pick up the slack and any patterns you might see emerging in the sickness absence (watch out here for Mondays and Fridays in particular).  Having these conversations is likely to have a positive impact on overall sickness levels as well as demonstrating to staff that you are interested in their wellbeing.
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Other useful points to note, are that an employee is required to provide a Fit Note from their GP if they are absence for 7 days or more, including non-working days.  And finally, something that might be of interest if you ever have to deal with long-term sickness absence is the new Fit for Work scheme which was launched in September.  Go to www.fitforwork.org for more information.
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Sickness absence, not necessarily the headache it’s made out to be – pardon the pun!