Supporting staff off sick

Regular contact with the person off sick is essential to ensure they do not feel isolated from the workplace and that support is available to them. Any sickness absence will be managed sympathetically and sensitively. Every case will need to be handled according to the individual circumstances.

Guidelines

• if you don’t talk to the individual on the first day of absence, contact them as soon as is practicable to discuss
  • the nature of the illness and
  • the likely duration of the absence which may impact on their work
• discuss and agree with the individual the frequency of contact
  • reporting requirements  – daily for the first week to plan cover and then weekly thereafter
  • weekly communication should take place although this may vary on the nature of the individual’s illness
• as a manager/supervisor you should take an active interest in the people that you manage and have a duty of care towards them
• managers/supervisors should offer support to the person off sick
• maintaining contact is to show genuine interest in their wellbeing and recovery – it is not a checking up procedure

Contact during ongoing periods of absence

1. Before contacting the person off sick, consider whether there may be possible factors contributing to the absence, as addressing these may support their return to work.
   
   
2. While the reporting requirements provide for the person off sick to regularly update managers/supervisors during periods of sickness absence, it is a key responsibility of the manager/supervisor to ensure regular contact is maintained.
   
   • keep the individual up to date about work and any changes which might be happening to alleviate any worries
   • if no contact has been made by the individual after the first day of absence, the manager/supervisor should make contact to ascertain the reason for absence
   • all contact needs to be handled sensitively and should be recorded on the notification of absence form
     
     
3. The purpose of maintaining contact is to monitor the wellbeing of the person off sick and their progress so that appropriate support can be given, where possible, as well as enabling adjustments to be made to operational planning or workforce management
   
   • contact may be by telephone, home visit or meeting
   • it is important to agree a mechanism for keeping the member of staff up-to-date with work issues that is appropriate to their state of health and is reasonable in terms of ensuring they are abreast of issues on their return to work
   • seek support and advice from the Office of Human Resources if contact cannot be maintained or medical certificates (sick notes) are not provided in a timely manner
4. Managers/supervisors should liaise closely with the pay section over reductions in sick pay.
   
   • the manager/supervisor is responsible for informing the person off sick about any reduction in sick pay in good time (approximately 1 month's notice) unless there are other departmental arrangements in place
     
     

Here is a list of questions which will be helpful for you to ask the person off sick during their period of absence during contact with them:

• how are you doing?
• are you making progress?
• are you waiting for any specialist appointments?
• what part of your role are you unable to carry out?
• when do you feel you may be able to return to work?
• are you able to undertake any duties of your role if we were able to make any adjustments?
• is there anything I can do to assist your return to work (for example reduce hours, vary duties, etc)?

Frequent short-term absences can be more disruptive to the organisation than occasional or long term absences, which can usually be more easily planned for.

Certain ‘triggers’ may give cause for concern as part of a manager/supervisor’s continuous sickness absence review.

These triggers should be used as a guide and discretion should be exercised by the manager/supervisor in individual cases.

Pattern of Sickness Absence

Patterns of sickness absence may be identified which cause concern, either of odd days or patterns of absence, such Mondays and Fridays, or just before or after a holiday.

Bradford Factor Score

The Bradford Factor score is a diagnostic tool that helps managers/supervisors to identify frequent, short-term absences:

• the higher the Bradford Factor score, the greater the number of short term sickness absences
• a Bradford Factor score of 128 or above within the previous 12 month period will act as a trigger for the manager to undertake a more formal review.

The Bradford Factor score is in no way intended to penalise genuine sickness absence, but introduces a transparent and fair means of identifying an unusually high number of short term absences.

What to do if concerned about Frequent Short Term Absences

Before your meeting:

1. Gather all of the relevant information and have a clear idea of what the issue is
2. Arrange a meeting with the individual
3. Discuss the causes for concern, see if there are any underlying issues that may be having an impact, ask the individual for their views
4. Remind the individual of expected attendance standards
5. Put an action plan in place with appropriate timescales for improvement (for example fortnightly reviews for first month followed by monthly reviews for three months once standards of attendance are being met)
6. Record all meetings and outcomes and keep records on the individual’s management file
7. Have any relevant information to hand on support available (Staff Welfare, Occupational Health, available courses)
8. If you think that capability is an issue, familiarise yourself with the relevant policy and procedures

It is important to remember to:

• keep an open mind
• be supportive, mutual respect
• be sympathetic and sensitive
• record Managing Sickness Absence meetings – they will be used if the capability procedure is activated

Long term sickness absence is defined as a single period of absence of 20 or more working days. Such a period of absence will ‘trigger’ a more formal review by the manager/supervisor.

As with all sickness absences, clear, comprehensive and accurate records must be maintained, as detailed in the Management of Sickness Absence Policy and Guidance.

A Long Term Sickness Absence ‘trigger’ may be an indication of whether further action may need to be taken, for example:

• an Occupational Health Referral
• progression to the formal capability procedure linked to the terms and conditions of employment of the individual

During long term absence, a visit by the manager/supervisor at an alternative venue (such as their home) will be undertaken where practicable and with the agreement of the person off sick, if a meeting in the office is not feasible.

The purpose of the meeting is to:

• assist with maintaining contact with the individual
• monitor their wellbeing and progress
• offer appropriate support

Information for individuals

• it is important that each medical certificate (sick note) relates to the period commencing immediately after the expiry of the preceding sick note – days not covered by a doctor's certificate will not attract sick pay and may be treated as unauthorised absences
  
  
• if you wish to return to work within the certified sick period, you must obtain a certificate from your GP to confirm that you are fit to return to work at an earlier date than that specified on the original sick note
  
  
• where sickness occurs during periods of annual leave, you must personally contact your manager/supervisor to advise them of this – provided the manager/supervisor is notified and the full absence is covered by a doctor’s certificate approval should be given for the leave to be taken at a future date, subject to the demands of the service and the provisions of your terms and conditions

What you need to know

• before speaking to the person off sick consider if there is anything key you might need to know – for example work commitments, meeting scheduled, deadlines, work in progress – that you may need to cover
  
  
• how will you cover their work whilst they are off sick
  
  
• clarify with the individual what communication they want you to make to other members of the team – it may be they wish to keep their absence reason private
  
  
• agree with the team how the work will be covered ensuring that the team members are not over stretched

What you need to know in detail

Talk to the individual about their illness as you will need to consider:

• the length of time they are intending to be off
• how will you cover their work
• how will you communicate to the team
• agree maintaining of contact 

Ensure all your team members know how to do each other's duties to ensure continuity of work flow.

Make sure you are approachable to your team, be supportive, positive and clear.

Respect the employees wishes if they do not want their colleagues to know the nature of their illness.