It's All About People

21st August - 3 minute read

Welcome back

This week’s It’s All About People covers:

 💷 A quick reminder as to the cost of staff absence and why it is about to cost you a lot more

😷 A proven technique to reduce absence and how to use it

📆 Events this month

I am back from my week in super sunny Cyprus, and am feeling well rested. As mentioned last week, it is so important to take breaks away from work.

If we do not take breaks then the chances of us becoming ill are much higher - and then we are forced to take a break.

At lunchtime today I am running a lunch and learn session on Absence Management, and in today’s email I am sharing one of the top tips.

💷 Why absence is about to cost you a lot more, if you don’t take action

For those of you that are new to these emails, a couple of weeks ago I highlighted that in 2023, approximately £76 million was paid out by organisations in SSP alone 😲 

The average days sick per employee is 7.8 days/year.

So if you employ 30 people, you could be losing 234 days per year - can you really afford to lose that much productivity in your organisation?

As many of you will know (possibly from our emails and events) the government plans to make Statutory Sick Pay be payable from the first day of absence - at the moment there are 3 "waiting days", so it is only paid from day 4 onwards.

So….your 234 lost days could be costing you around £5500/year in SSP alone, let alone lost productivity and stress to others 💰️ 

AND… the minimum earnings threshold will be going too - so all employees will entitled.

So what does this mean? As with the above, sickness may increase in those who earn less, as they will now get SSP and also people may be more likely to go off sick if they are paid from day one.

What should I do? - read on my friend.

😷 The Return to Work Interview

The return to work interview is crucial to managing sickness absence and I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago.

In the simplest terms it is the conversation that a manager has with a team member when they come back from a period of sickness absence - whether one day or 6 months; always do one.

Train your line managers to have these conversations and ask the right questions. Make sure they keep a record - we have forms for this in our HR Hub

The best way to structure a return to work interview is using the WARM format.

W - welcome back 🤗 

Make sure the team member knows that you are glad they are back, and of course you need to check they are well enough to be back.

If they have been off for a while make sure they are given any updates and feel confident to get back to their role.

A- absence details 😷 

Talk about why they were off and if they need any support now they are back.

If they are having a lot of time off then talk about this and what they are doing (see next section) and also what you can do to support.

This is where perhaps someone may open up about other challenges they are facing (work or home) and you can then see if you can help.

It may be that with someone confides that their workload is making them ill, and once a manager knows this they can do what they can to help and reduce the chance of more absence.

It could be with some small changes to their role or hours, or some extra training, that the absence is not repeated.

R - responsibility 📋️ 

This applies to both the team member and the manager (organisation).

For the team member who has had lots of time off with similar ailments, you can ask if they have seen their GP. If not, advice them to do this and let you know how they get on.

You can also, in a sensitive and non-prying way, ask some basic questions around lifestyle and what they are doing to look after themselves (if you feel that is relevant).

As mentioned before, as with so many things in life, prevention is better than cure. As an organisation you need to promote a wellbeing culture and support for team members to look after their health.

M - moving on 👷 

As a manager, if you commit to supporting the person then make sure that you do the things you say you will to support them.

Make a note of what each person has said they will do - and follow up (not just if they have more time off).

If you have a specific question around managing absence or want some advice, then do come along to our FREE HR clinic on 27th August at 12pm and I will be more than happy to help.

That’s all for this week – have a great week all.

Emma 

P.S. For those of you reading this who are members of our HR Hub then there are LOADS of resources on managing absence in the Hub. You can find them in the “Wellbeing” section and also ““When Things Get Tricky”

 P.P.S.  If you are not a Hub member you can find out more and join here for only £45/month for all your HR needs.

P.P.P.S If we have not connected on LinkedIn yet, I would love to connect

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

HR Clinic (free to all, come and ask your HR questions) - 27th August 12pm 

Menopause Café (free for all to attend, and not just for the ladies!) – 11th September 12pm 

Make Work Pay – Labour’s 100 Day Plan for HR & Leaders Session 2 (Free Webinar) - 28th August 12-1pm