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Sickness absence and sick pay

Editor's message: Effectively managing both short-term and long-term sickness absence in the workplace can save employers significant sums of money in salaries and associated costs. Proactive management of short-term sickness can help minimise the disruption caused by intermittent absence and for long-term sickness absence, it can help facilitate the employee's return to work in a timely manner.

The cornerstone of an effective absence management policy and procedure will be the accurate recording and measurement of absence, with triggers set to initiate absence management action when an employee's absence reaches a defined level. Alongside this is the ability of line managers to have open conversations around the reasons for sickness absence in a return-to-work meeting scenario, or when implementing a case management process for employees on long-term absence. Line managers need appropriate training in these areas, as well as an understanding of the organisation's absence policies and procedures.

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