The key to managing short term absence is ensuring that employees are aware of the standards expected of them and applying the procedures consistently. Vital tools for managing sickness absence include:

• The monitoring of trigger levels
• Effective use of the Return to Work Interview
• Stage 1 and Stage 2 absence review meetings
• Referral to Occupational Health as appropriate

The Council's agreed absence trigger levels are:

• 3 absences of any length in 3 months
• 4 absences of any length in 12 months
• 10 days or more absence in 12 months
• 2 or more absences equating to more than 15% absence in 2 out of the previous 3 years.

The purpose of triggers is to ensure that you review an employee's attendance record and provide them with appropriate support and assistance to enable them to attend work.

Each employee and his/her absence record is a unique case. You should therefore look at the circumstances of each period of absence leading up to the trigger, including:

• The reason for each sickness absence and whether there is any connection between them
• The duration of each sickness absence
• If any patterns are identified
• The impact on service delivery/staff morale
• The percentage (%) absence and days lost
• Cost of the absence to the Council.

Various types of patterns can emerge when sickness absence is being regularly reviewed. For example, an employee may often be absent before or after weekends, annual leave or public holidays. Absences could also be related to a variety of personal circumstances, such as caring for dependants, financial issues affecting travel to work, etc.

Do not assume that a pattern indicates that an absence is not genuine but discuss this with the employee and try to establish whether a genuine health problem exists. If it is not health related, there may still be other support that the Council can provide to assist the employee.

Patterns may also become evident which may be connected to the working environment, such as several employees in the same area being off with similar complaints. This may indicate problems such as:

• Inefficient lighting, heating and/or ventilation
• Inadequate training on manual handling
• Improper workstation setup
• Low morale, stress.

This list is not exhaustive. You should be prepared to investigate any such patterns, check risk assessments, and find ways of alleviating problems.

Further guidance is available in the Health and Safety Policy, Infectious Disease Policy and the Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy.

A Return to Work Interview (RTWI) must be undertaken for each and every period of sickness absence, to ensure that it is used as an effective means of reducing absenteeism.

Stage 1 absence monitoring is undertaken in line with the Managing Sickness Absence Policy. This would usually be undertaken when an employee's sickness absence becomes more frequent and meets or exceeds one or more absence trigger levels.  

Managers may apply discretion when monitoring as there may be situations where it is not appropriate. For example, where an employee previously had an excellent attendance record or in cases of pregnancy related absences, industrial injury, bereavement, disability related absences etc.  

Exceptional provisions for Covid special leave ended on 30 June 2022. From 01 July 2022, any absence due to Covid-19 has been treated as normal sickness absence and normal absence reporting arrangements apply. Sickness absence due to Covid may therefore be taken into account for the purposes of absence monitoring. You should consider this on a case-by-case basis.

You do not have to wait until the end of a review period to proceed to the next stage of the monitoring procedure if an employee has further absences.

If absence improves during Stage 1 monitoring and the process is concluded, you should write to the employee to confirm this (the absence monitoring concluded confirmation letter can be downloaded from the Strategies, policies, procedures and guidance page on the Intranet).

Ensure all documentation, including copies of letters, is uploaded to MyView in good time.

Following, or during the Stage 1 monitoring period, if the employee has failed to achieve or maintain the required attendance levels, the following options are open to you:

• Progress to the Stage 2 monitoring process under the Capability Policy.
• If you are satisfied that a return to an acceptable level of attendance is likely within an acceptable period of time, continue to monitor and review under the Stage 1 process. Give the employee an extension to the monitoring period and confirm this in writing. (the RTWI – Stage 1 monitoring- extension of stage 1 monitoring letter can be downloaded from the Strategies, policies, procedures and guidance page on the Intranet).
• If an underlying health problem has been highlighted or suggested, arrange a medical referral (via the OH portal). Continue to monitor under the Stage 1 process initially until OH advice is available. Thereafter review this to determine whether Stage 1 monitoring should continue or, Stage 2 progressed if triggers continue to be met or the employee fails to achieve or maintain required attendance levels.
• If there is firm evidence that any sickness absence is not genuine, advise the employee that the matter will now be dealt with under the Council's Disciplinary Policy and seek advice from HR.

Where there is no satisfactory improvement in an employee's attendance following Stage 1 monitoring, they will progress to Stage 2 monitoring under the Capability Policy.

If a pattern of Stage 1 or Stage 2 monitoring followed by only short term improvements in attendance emerges, it may be appropriate for the matter to progress directly to Stage 2 absence monitoring, without completing further Stage 1 monitoring periods. It may also be appropriate to proceed to a formal capability hearing (the How to guide on capability hearings has more information).

The employee should be advised in advance of the first Stage 2 absence monitoring meeting that, as they have been on sick leave during the period of Stage 1 monitoring, their case is now to be considered under the Capability Policy.

A copy of the employee's absence record (for a relevant period of time, eg 2 years) should be enclosed with the letter inviting them to the meeting. The employee should be given at least 5 working days' notice of the meeting and advised of their right to be accompanied (the performance and absence – invite to stage 2 letter can be downloaded from the Strategies, policies, procedures and guidance page on the Intranet).

This should be a constructive discussion with a view to encouraging an improvement in the employee's attendance record. The following points should be covered: 

• That the meeting is being held under the Capability Policy.
• Check the employee has received  written notification of the meeting and is happy to proceed (with/without representation).
• If the employee attends with a companion, the companion should be introduced and welcomed to the meeting.
• Refer to discussions held during Stage 1 monitoring process and explain the move to Stage 2 monitoring.
• Confirm that the employee's level of attendance is unacceptable (referring to absence record and trigger levels met).
• Any underlying issues relevant to this absence pattern should be discussed, eg personal problems, work-related issues, health issues. Cover any assistance which the manager/ Council could provide in order to overcome these problems.
• The impact of any conditions which may be covered by the disability provisions of the Equality Act should be discussed with the employee, taking into account advice obtained from Occupational Health and any other agencies as appropriate. Discuss any reasonable adjustments which you consider could be implemented to assist the employee improve their attendance at work. Seek the employee's views on these.

• All the points raised by the employee should be noted and appropriate support provided where necessary.
• Advise the employee that their absence will be closely monitored and reviewed at regular intervals. Give a clear target for improvement. The Stage 2 review period will be driven by service needs but should be up to a maximum of 6 months.
• If it is considered that further Occupational Health advice is necessary, this should be discussed with the employee and arrangements made to meet again once the advice has been obtained.
• The employee should be advised that continued persistent absence could lead to referral to a capability hearing and possible termination of their employment.

The outcomes of monitoring meetings, including details of the level of improvement required and the timescales agreed for this, should be confirmed in writing to the employee advising of the likely consequences if this does not happen.

Redeployment may be raised as a possible option by the employee, the manager or Occupational Health at any point during Stage 2. In which case a redeployment search would be implemented as outlined in the Redeployment Policy.

Ensure all documentation, including copies of letters, is uploaded to MyView in good time.

Improvement in attendance

You should express satisfaction both in writing and at a meeting, and if considered appropriate, end the monitoring (the absence monitoring concluded confirmation letter can be downloaded from the Strategies, policies, procedures and guidance page on the Intranet). The employee should be made aware that if their sickness absence in the 6 months after being removed from the formal stage, exceeds the trigger levels again, then they will automatically be put back onto monitoring Stage 2. If this happens, a meeting should be convened with the employee and their companion (if they wish) to discuss and set new targets. 

Failure to achieve improvement in attendance

If the employee has failed to achieve or maintain the required attendance levels during the monitoring period, this and the reasons for absence should be discussed at a further Stage 2 absence review meeting. 

You do not have to wait until the end of a review period to proceed to the next stage of the monitoring procedure if a trigger continues to be met and the absence level remains above the agreed target. 

Options available to you at this stage may include: 

• Seeking further Occupational Health advice if considered appropriate, eg if an underlying health problem has been suggested, or if the employee provides further information on their health.
• Extending Stage 2 monitoring if appropriate, eg until outcome of Occupational Health referral is known/ in cases where there has been some improvement in attendance but this has not yet reached a satisfactory level.
• If not implemented previously, a redeployment search may be implemented, taking account of Occupational Health advice as appropriate.
• Referral to a capability hearing if attendance is considered unacceptable and has not improved/ shows no likely sign of improving. In addition, it is considered that no further reasonable support/ adjustments can be put in place to assist the employee. Consideration will normally have been given to redeployment before referral to any hearing.

In all cases, the outcome of the discussion should be confirmed in writing (the Stage 2 monitoring meeting outcome letter can be downloaded from the Strategies, policies, procedures and guidance page on the Intranet).