Sickness absence - ouch!

How best to deal with this common employment problem

Long term sickness absence can be a real headache

I deal with a lot of enquiries in respect of sickness absence. Today I want to touch on long term sickness absence, as many employers tend to bury their heads in the sand and simply do nothing, hoping the situation will resolve itself. It always does, but more often than not the situation becomes acrimonious.

The first thing I advise is to determine what is considered ‘long term sickness’. In my opinion, anything over one month should be considered long term, so when that point is reached I believe it is time to take action.¹

When I say take action, I mean in a positive way. A way in which an employee is feeling supported and valued by the business. Keep in touch with your employee. Don’t ring them every morning to ask when they’re coming back - that’s harassment, but be sensible - maybe weekly or fortnightly depending on the nature of the illness.

An ailment with a recognised healing time is not going to cause any problems. A broken leg will entail a minimum time away from the workplace to heal, but something more complicated,