It's All About People - 1st May 2025

READ TIME - 3 minute read

WOW - what a weekend for rugby. England ladies won the 6 Nations, claiming the Grand Slam title for the 7th time.

Just as exciting was the record breaking crowd for women’s rugby -over 58,000 in the crowd and 2.6 million watching on TV!

But more significant than all of that, for me at least, was it was our daughters last match with her under 18’s team - next stop University team (hopefully). Rugby has very much played true to its values of teamwork, respect, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship - and had been so good for our daughter. I can genuinely say I will miss standing pitch side in the cold and wet cheering them on.

Yesterday we did the drawer for Quarter One’s prize for referring this newsletter to others. Congratulations to Amy Garratt who won, and thank you to all of you for referring this newsletter to others. How to be in with a chance of winning Quarter Two £250 voucher are at the end of this newsletter.

Last week’s topic clearly hit home with a lot of readers as we had so much great feedback and questions from it. As I always want this newsletter to be about what the readers want and so this week I have two things for you on this topic:

1 - this week’s email is also on the topic of sickness absence

2 - I will be recording a webinar on this topic that you will be able to access anytime, so a time to suit you. This will be recorded and released by the end of May, if you would like to be sent a link when it is ready simply click here.

Sickness absence isn't just a cost on your balance sheet — it affects your team, your productivity, and how your whole organisation runs day to day.

📉 The Financial Toll: Workplace sickness cost UK businesses an estimated £103 billion in 2023, a sharp increase from £73 billion in 2019. Much of this rise comes from reduced productivity, not just an increase in sick days.
(Source: GoodShape Health and Work Report 2024, via People Management magazine, April 2024.)

🤒 Presenteeism: The Hidden Cost It’s not just absence that creates problems. Employees working while unwell — known as presenteeism — are now losing an average of 44 productive days per employee per year, up from 35 days in 2019.
(Source: GoodShape Health and Work Report 2024, reported by The Guardian, April 2024.)

Presenteeism often flies under the radar, but its impact is huge — from reduced quality of work to mistakes, slower team performance, and hidden costs.
👉 We’ll be looking at how to spot and tackle presenteeism in a future edition of It’s All About People later this month, because getting this right can be a real game-changer.

👥 The Ripple Effect on Teams: When one person is off, or struggling through illness, the rest of the team often pick up the slack.
That adds pressure, risks burnout, and eats into management time — making sickness absence a much wider issue than simply counting days lost.

🛠️ Changes Coming in 2026: In Autumn 2026, key changes to Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) are due:

• SSP will be payable from Day 1 of absence, rather than after 3 waiting days.

• The Lower Earnings Limit will be removed, making more employees eligible for sick pay.
  (Source: Department for Work and Pensions consultation response, 2024.)

✅ What You Can Be Doing Now: If sickness absence or presenteeism are issues in your organisation, now is the perfect time to get ahead:

• Review your absence policies — are they clear, supportive, and do line mangers know how to use them?

• Invest in wellbeing and health initiatives to help prevent problems before they arise. These do not need to cost a lot money but do take time and thought. What can you be doing to encourage and support team members to look after their health, and is the working environment that you provide a healthy environment.

• Train your managers to spot early signs of issues, and support employees effectively. Managers need to follow your policy, especially return to work interviews and, where relevant, taking action as per policy for high levels of sickness absence.

• Create a culture where employees feel supported to recover properly — not pressured to work while unwell. Similarly a culture where people enjoy coming to work and so wouldn’t dream of calling in sick unless they actually are.

By taking action now, you’ll not only support your team’s wellbeing — you’ll also protect your business when the sick pay changes come in.

🎥 Coming Soon: Free Webinar Invitation! Later in May, I’ll be releasing a free webinar all about managing sickness absence — understanding the real costs, reducing absenteeism, and preparing for the 2026 changes.
If you'd like me to send you the webinar link when it's ready, just click here to register your interest.

Best,
Emma

P.S. There are SO many resources in the HR Hub to help you manage absence, if you are not yet an HR Hub member then why not try it free for a month here.

P.P.S. Perhaps you know that absence is an issue in your organisation and you need a bit more help from our HR team. If that is you then why not try our Peace of Mind service for a one month trial, you can sign up here.

Events to Join in the coming weeks (click on the links to join us)

^{HR Clinic - FREE to all. 8th May 12-1pm}

^{Lunch & Learn: Managing Sickness Absence - free to all clients, £35+VAT for non-clients). 13th May 12-1pm}

^{HR Masterclass: Effective Grievance Management - free to all clients, £150+VAT for non-clients). 15th May 9.30am-12.30pm}

🌟 Our Referral Program!

Do you know someone who would benefit from reading this weekly newsletter? We have just awarded the prize to Quarter One’s lucky winner, so start referring now and you will have lots of chances to win the Quarter Two £250 voucher! The more referrals you make, the higher your chances of winning – let’s spread the word and help even more people navigate HR with confidence. 💌🎁