With winter’s arrival, the days are now getting shorter, darker and colder, and like every year illnesses are spreading rapidly in these conditions. As such, it is important for workplaces to have effective absence and sickness policies, so as not to worsen the spread of the various respiratory illnesses being transmitted both in terms of the productivity of the business and the health of its workers.

Having an effective absence and sickness policy can bring clear benefits to a business, such as lower insurance costs, higher rates of staff retention and motivation and improved productivity, profitability and morale.

You may also find that the reputation of your business is improved and that this, in turn, aids employee recruitment.

From a management point of view, having an absence and sickness policy can help you to:

• prevent small problems from developing into larger ones;
• measure and monitor employee absence; and
• identify and tackle underlying problems, such as workload demands, poor working conditions, work-life balance issues, conflict at work, or lack of adequate training/career development.

An absence and sickness policy could include the following:

• When time off might or must be permitted.
• How the worker should notify you if they are ill, going to be late for work, or absent for other unexpected reasons.
• When workers should submit a medical statement, known as a fit note, from their healthcare professional or self-certify their illness and the implications of failure to provide appropriate certification.
• An indication of what is deemed unacceptable levels of absence and trigger points for taking action to review.
• Statutory - and any contractual - sick pay arrangements.
• The circumstances when absences will be dealt with as a capability issue and the circumstances when absences will be dealt with as a conduct issue.
• Possible procedures for using the employer's own doctor/medical adviser or the procedure for seeking an employee's consent to obtain a medical report from their GP/medical practitioner.
• If applicable, the need to attend a return-to-work interview.
• Consequences of not complying with the policy, e.g. when disciplinary measures will be taken.

Legal Island Training Resources for Your Staff

HR Toolkit | eLearning Course

Are you responsible for overseeing the implementation of training for all employees in your organisation?
Legal Island has created an HR Toolkit that aims to provide comprehensive training to assist HR professionals in supporting line managers and employees throughout the employee journey. The suite of courses will offer practical advice to assist you in updating your processes and procedures and help you understand your legal obligations.

Click here to view our HR toolkit.