What measures do I need to manage short term absence effectively?

There was a grim warning from the NHS on 30th October: “The flu season has hit the NHS more than a month earlier than usual, with cases three times higher than this time last year.”

Of course, people don’t need to catch the flu to be off work sick. A heavy cold, covid, or any other number of ailments can strike, forcing people to lay low. And as we all know, sometimes staff may fake it to have a day off for varying reasons too.

So there is no escaping it. Now is a prime time for short-term absences. For smaller businesses, this can be challenging, with insufficient capacity to absorb the loss. It could:

• Put undue stress on the remaining team (including you!).
• Mean that crucial work is not completed on time – especially if you have a festive rush.
• Have a knock-on effect on operations in the coming weeks.
• Negatively impact cash flow, particularly when you consider upcoming legislative changes (see below).

That said, presenteeism (when people show up to work when ill) causes problems too, spreading illness amongst colleagues.

Getting worse?

In fact, in the medium to long term we may see short absences become even more common. 

Under the Employment Rights Bill, statutory sick pay (SSP) will soon be extended to become payable on the first day of sickness (rather than the fourth), and have the Lower Earnings Limit removed; making it accessible to lower paid people including casual and part-time workers.

This will make it financially easier to take one or two days off, whether sickness is legitimate or not. It is thought 1 - 1.3 million more workers will become eligible for SSP.

How to manage short-term absence

If you do not have a system for managing short-term absence effectively, now is the time to put it in place. But where should you start?

Here are some core areas to focus on.

Your absence management policy

An absence management policy underpins all action you take, so should be thoughtfully crafted to fit your business. There is much to cover, including: how you monitor absence, how staff report it, and other management measures which it is wise to adopt such as return to work interviews. We can help you write a bespoke policy that includes all these points plus much more. Ensure that the policy is well communicated to staff during induction and at other strategic times, if necessary.

Attendance tracking 

While one-off short-term absences may be felt acutely at the time, to really keep on top of this you need a system to track and report on absence. In past times a spreadsheet may have been an advanced way to achieve this, but nowadays cloud systems are very accessible to SMEs. They make it effortless to record attendance and all forms of absence (including sickness), and automate much of the admin of it, whilst giving you all the data you need. Ask us about our highly regarded system.

Your absence processes

We highly recommend that you ask employees to phone in themselves on any morning of sickness if they are able to. Additionally, set the expectation that you will conduct a return-to-work interview when they are back. Both of these show that you take absence seriously, but also that you are supportive of them. Taking the time for the return-to-work interview will help you assess if they are up to their normal duties, or if any reasonable adjustments need to be made.

A positive culture

The importance of running a positive workplace environment and culture shouldn’t be underestimated in managing absence. Having an employer they want to show-up for, have a loyalty towards and know has their back when they have been poorly can make all the difference to managing short-term absence well.

Need help with short-term absence management?

At The HR Dept, we have local HR experts across the company, specialising in supporting SME businesses. We are on your side and pride ourselves on telling you what you can do, not what you can’t. So if you would like help implementing any of the above or addressing any other aspect of absence management, please do not hesitate to get in touch.