Persistent staff absence can be a huge drain on practices. It’s not necessarily about believing your staff are ‘at it’ (though you might suspect this on occasion!), but even the most genuine and sympathetic of cases can challenge organisational ability to provide efficient patient services. For managers, it may feel like the hardest of problems to solve. However, there are ways of keeping persistent absence under control, and this blog will talk through the main points.

First of all, let’s think about what the term ‘persistent sickness absence’ covers. It usually refers to short-term situations when individuals aren’t fit enough for work. Put aside childcare problems, boiler breakdowns or funerals for now; they’re not sickness absence. We’re talking here about unplanned absences caused by colds, stomach bugs, back problems, migraines, mental health dips, or similar issues. By ‘persistent’ I’m obviously referring to situations where these absences happen repeatedly, rather than just once or twice a year.

Next, it’s worthwhile considering the aims of any persistent sickness absence process. You’re not trying to terrify your team into maintaining zero absence for evermore. That’s just unrealistic. I doubt any of us want sick colleagues coming into work when they should be tucked up at home! But it’s still a reasonable objective to maintain levels of staff attendance that support the running of effective and efficient services. In other words, the overall aim of your sickness absence management process is to prevent absence levels from getting out of hand.

A sickness absence management process should also reflect the supportive values of our sector. I mean, it’s not as if GP practices are unfamiliar with the concept of encouraging health, understanding and wellbeing! There’s no use in having low absence levels if teams are miserable and looking for opportunities to find new jobs as soon as possible. Management processes connected with persistent absence must contain balance, and they must contain some kindness as well.

So, what should these processes include? I could talk for hours on this subject. Here, though, are the main aspects to keep in mind.

1. A solid (and practical) policy for sickness absence management which managers have been trained on and staff are aware of
2. Ongoing monitoring of individual absence levels – for everyone, not just the one poor attender you’re currently fed up with
3. Consistent use of absence management triggers or targets
4. Good dialogue with staff so they’re aware of concerns well in advance
5. Support and reasonable adjustments where appropriate, which may include adjusting absence management targets or triggers for some individuals with disabilities
6. Formal steps and processes which encourage greater attendance – such as absence warnings, cautions or improvement notices as defined by your policy
7. When necessary, a fair process for dismissal of very persistent non-attenders

You might already be familiar with the above steps and wonder what makes the real difference. What is it that distinguishes some organisations as having particularly effective absence management processes?

Lots of people assume this is about the specific monitoring system you use. Does a Bradford Factor system guarantee effective management of absence, for example? It certainly helps in some cases, but in my experience, sadly guarantees nothing by itself. (In fact, personally, I prefer other absence trigger systems instead of the Bradford Factor, but that’s a story for a different blog…)

In my experience, the real secret behind effective absence management is leadership. This includes:

• Management’s commitment to consistency in process – even when it’s a pain!
• Positive relationships built with staff
• High-quality communication (and listening) relating to absence issues
• The application of flexibility and support, where needed
• The willingness to make difficult decisions, where reasonable and appropriate

Practice Index has various resources and templates for supporting [PLUS] members with good absence management, including this Sickness absence management policy. Most recently, the website also includes a brand-new guide for running short-term absence review meetings. Do check it out and tell us what you think!

Susi O’Brien

Useful resources:

Sickness absence review meeting guidance for managers (short-term absences) [PLUS]
Sickness absence management policy [PLUS]
HR Masterclass (Part of Learning Package)
Upcoming webinar – HR Clinic: Managing Persistent Short-Term Absence – Wednesday 11th September at 12.30pm