Managing Absence and Ill Health
Absenteeism and ill health are some of the biggest challenges facing employers and currently absence is one of the most talked about topics.
Absenteeism and ill health are some of the biggest challenges facing employers and currently absence is one of the most talked about topics with Spectra HR. There has never been a better time to be proactively managing absenteeism, but many employers are still “treading on eggs shells” when it comes to tackling absence and ill health head on.
Statutory Sick Pay Reforms – April 2026
From April 2026, we will potentially see an additional 1.3 million workers being entitled to SSP for the first time!
Currently workers earning below the lower earnings limited are not entitled to SSP and for those workers who are entitled to SSP, it is only paid from the fourth day of absence onwards.
From April 2026, all workers will be entitled to a payment, from the first day of sickness absence, regardless of their earnings. Workers earning below the SSP rate will now be entitled to be paid 80% of their wage whilst off sick!
How can I prepare my business to minimise the impact of absenteeism?
Absenteeism is easy to manage if you have a robust absence management policy in place and your managers have been trained. A good policy must include:
- Trigger points, to highlight your expectations around absence levels.
- The rules for reporting absences.
- The procedures for short term and long term sickness absences.
Why do I need an absence management policy?
A robust policy shows your commitment to taking a proactive approach to managing absences in a fair and consistent manner, to improve attendance levels, reduce costs, and avoid grievances and claims of discrimination.
Long term sickness absence
In some cases, employers will “overlook” an employee who has been off for over 28 weeks and exhausted their SSP entitlement. This is because they are not seen as a cost to the business, but in fact that employee will still be accruing holiday pay! Communication should be a 2-way street, but it often dries up and employees may stop sending in fit notes. Often the initial reason that the employee went off sick becomes a secondary issue and we see employees then being signed off with anxiety and depression because their mental health has been affected, with a lack of engagement by employers regularly being cited as the cause. Keeping in touch with employees who are off long term sick is crucial.
Spectra case study
We have recently supported a client to manage absence within their team. They were already addressing absenteeism to an extent, but as employees were hitting the absence trigger point, the correct process was not being followed when it came to issuing warnings, which meant that any steps to dismiss employees on the back of these warnings was unsafe and would most likely have resulted in a successful unfair dismissal claim.
For further information and support on managing ALL types of absence please, check our website for free guides and resources.
Contact us and find out how our HR experts can support you either remotely or on site.
We can advise you on the best approach, coach you on how to have that difficult conversation with your employee or even have that conversation on your behalf.
We can also provide training for you and your managers on how to manage short term and long term sickness absence.