Staff Absence - How Do I Manage It?

In the UK, staff are absent from work anInvolving trained line managers in absence
average of 7.4 days per year and thesemanagemento Restricting sick payo Involving
absences equate to an average cost to youroccupational health professionalso Effective
business of £710 per employee per year.wellbeing preventative initiatives
So if your business employs 15 staff and has anEvery business has different needs and so certain
'average' absence rate, you could be losinginterventions will work for some and not others
approximately £10,650 per year throughbut one thing that is consistent across all
staff absence. On top of that you've got thebusinesses is that where suitable procedures are
additional costs associated with staff absenceimplemented and appropriate actions are taken to
such as reduced productivity, overtime, poormanage staff absence, the level of staff
customer service, all of which could easily takeabsences reduces, often significantly, and this has
the true cost of staff absence well beyonda direct and positive impact on company costs.
£1000 per employee per year, providedRemember, when implementing and/or updating
you don't incorrectly dismiss someone along theyour HR policies and procedures, be sure to
way...do that and it could cost you up to ancommunicate things formally to all of your staff
additional £63,000!!and ensure your managers are trained in how to
Deploying a variety of absence interventions willeffectively manage HR issues.
immediately start reducing absence levels.HR Management and UK Employment Contract
Effective interventions in managing staff absenceLaw is a proverbial minefield that professional HR
include:o Return-to-work interviews (widelyServices providers are well equipped to navigate
regarded as most effective way to reducethrough on behalf of their Clients.
absence)o Disciplinary procedures for unacceptableThe cost of getting things wrong far outweighs
absence levelso Use of trigger mechanisms suchthe cost of doing things right!
as the Bradford Factor to review attendanceo