General apathy and cold, dark mornings result in many people throwing a "sickie" in early January-for 2010 this has been exacerbated by the snow and ice.
Professor Mike Kelly, Public Health Excellence Centre Director at NICE said: "Sickness absence and incapacity for work is a huge issue. It's estimated that 175 million working days are lost in Britain due to sickness absence each year and the associated cost is reaching £100 billion - greater than the annual budget for the NHS."
According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) on average sickness absence costs employers £692 per employee every year and employee absence costs employers 7.4 working days for every member of staff per year; this represents 3.3% of working time.
GETTING A GRIP ON REALITY
Understanding the nature of the problem is the crucial first step. Analysing the patterns of sickness absence, whether in the organisation as a whole, within particular teams, or on an individual employee basis, will help to identify what needs to be done.
With our clients we highlight the importance of dealing effectively with the scenario when an employee notifies the employer of an absence for the first time. Yet, many employers miss the opportunity and fail to capture what is said. A couple of questions during the telephone conversation could provide an insight into whether the employee is, for example, suffering during the downturn.
The notification process also captures those who are persistent short-term absentees. We advocate the design of an absence policy with specific triggers, which allows comparisons to be made, for example between what was said on the call compared to at the return-to-work interview.
MEASURES
We find absence rates per manager or department are a useful indicator of performance. Relatively few organisations we meet go to take the time and go to the expense of benchmarking themselves against other employers. A number of measures exist:
‘Lost time’ rate
This measure expresses the percentage of total time available which has been lost due to absence:
Total absence (hours or days) in the period x 100
Possible total (hours or days) in the period
For example, if the total absence in the period is 124 person-hours and the total time available is 1,550 person-hours, the lost time rate is:
124 x 100 = 8 %
1,550
It can be calculated separately for individual departments of groups of employees to reveal particular absence problems.
Frequency rate
The method shows the average number of absences per employee, expressed as a percentage. It does not give any indication of the length of each absence period, or any indication of employees who take more than one spell of absence:
No of spells of absence in the period x 100
No of employees
For example, if in one month and organisation employed on average 80 workers, and during this time there were a total of 16 spells of absence, the frequency rate is:
16 x 100 = 20%
80
By counting the number of employees who take at least one spell of absence in the period, rather than to total number of spells of absence, this calculation gives an individual frequency rate.
Bradford Factor
The Bradford Factor identifies persistent short-term absence for individuals, by measuring the number of spells of absence, and is therefore a useful measure of the disruption caused by this type of absence. It is calculated using the formula:
S x S x D S = number of spells of absence in 52 weeks taken by an individual
D = number of days of absence in 52 weeks taken by that individual
For example:
10 one-day absences: 10 x 10 x 10 = 1,000
1 ten-day absence: 1 x 1 x 10 = 10
5 two-day absences: 5 x 5 x 10 = 250
2 five-day absences: 2 x 2 x 10 = 40
The trigger points will differ between organisations. As for all unauthorised absence, the underlying causes will need to be identified and addressed.
MANAGING SHORT-TERM ABSENCE
Absence interventions
Effective interventions in managing short-term absence include:
- a proactive absence management policy
- return-to-work interviews
- disciplinary procedures for unacceptable absence levels
- use of trigger mechanisms such as the Bradford Factor to review attendance
- training line managers in absence management
- providing sickness absence information to line managers
- restricting sick pay
- involving occupational health professionals.
Involving line managers
Line managers have an important role to play, either directly or indirectly, in the interventions to reduce absence levels. Managers need good communication skills to encourage employees to discuss any problems they may have at an early stage so that employees can be given support or advice before matters escalate.
Line managers should be trained in:
- the organisation’s absence policies and procedures
- their role in the absence management programme
- legal and disciplinary aspects of absence including potential disability discrimination issues
- maintaining absence record-keeping and understanding facts and figures on absence
- role of occupational health services and proactive measures to support staff health and wellbeing
- operation (where applicable) of trigger points
- development of return-to-work interview skills
- development of counselling skills.
MANAGING LONG-TERM ABSENCE
Recent research shows that absence of eight days or more accounts for about one third of total time lost through absence and absence of four weeks or more accounts for more than 15%. Consequently it is vital organisations have a formal strategy in place to help employees to get back to work after a prolonged spell of sickness or injury-related absence, whilst having an awareness of potential disability discrimination claims.
The role of the line manager is also crucial in managing long-term absence but other interventions are also important. These include:
- Occupational health involvement and proactive measures to support staff health and wellbeing
- Line management involvement as part of the absence management programme
- Restricting sick pay
- Changes to work patterns or environment
- Return-to-work interviews
- Rehabilitation programme
There are four typical elements in the recovery and return-to-work process:
- Keeping in contact with sick employees
- Planning and undertaking workplace controls or adjustments
- Using professional advice and treatment
- Planning and co-ordinating a return-to-work plan
TAKING DISCIPLINARY ACTION
We recommend updating handbooks to allow for the triggers to be clear and consistent, with a uniform approach adopted across the organisation. The use of disciplinary procedures for unacceptable absence may be used to make it clear to employees that unjustified absence will not be tolerated and that absence policies will be enforced. A typical process would involve:
1st step
- Informal meeting
- Go through absence records and the reasons given for absences
- Explain why you are concerned. Ask for an explanation
- Ask if there might be any underlying medical reasons. If there might be, obtain a medical report from their GP
- Write to the employee referring to the absence history, the problems this is causing the company and explaining that an immediate and sustained improvement is expected.
2nd step
- If there is further sickness absence, move on to a formal meeting
- Go through the same discussions as with step 1
- Following the meeting, issue a formal written warning
3rd step
- If there is further sickness absence, hold a further formal meeting
- Follow up with a final written warning
Final step
- Final meeting
- Dismissal and the right to appeal.
SICK PAY
There are two types of 'sick pay', Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and Company Sick pay (also known as contractual or occupational sick pay). Here is a summary of SSP requirements as of 2009:
- Every employer is required to pay SSP to a qualifying employee for the first 28 weeks of sickness absence in a period of entitlement.
- To qualify an employee must have normal gross weekly earnings at a rate not less than the lower earnings limited for National Insurance contributions (£95 per week from 6 April 2009).
- There is no minimum length of service for payment of SSP.
- SSP is not payable for the first 3 days of sickness, which are classed as ‘waiting days’.
- SSP is currently set at £79.15 per week (from 6 April 2009).
- Self certificates are required for the first four to six days of sickness and a doctor's certificate must be provided for seven days and over.
There are certain classes of employee who are exempt from SSP. This includes an employee on a short-term contract for less than three months, a pregnant employee receiving Statutory Maternity Pay or Maternity Allowance, or an employee in legal custody, amongst others.
Company sick pay
Some employers offer a sick pay scheme which is more generous than SSP, normally provided in either the handbook or contract of employment. Such a scheme may top up SSP so as to bring employees’ sick pay up to their basic pay. If the employer’s scheme is equal to or more than SSP the employer does not have to operate the SSP scheme as well.
Schemes vary enormously between employers but a typical scheme will usually start after a minimum length of service, such as the completion of six months probationary period. Pay will usually be at the employee's normal rate for a number of weeks. After this the employee is likely to receive half pay for a specified number of weeks before all pay runs out entirely.
Such schemes are usually at the employer’s discretion. This means the employer can refuse the payment if it thinks the absence is unjustified. In refusing to pay under the sick pay scheme however the employer must be careful that the decision is free from discrimination.
Under company sick pay schemes an employer may in some circumstances request a sick note before the 8th day of sickness. This is a service outside the NHS and a fee would be charged for the examination and sick note, with a fee that varies depending on the GP. The employer is not obliged to pay this amount on behalf of the employee unless the contract of employment says it must do so.
PEREDA RULING
In September last year a landmark ruling was made by the European Court of Justice permitting workers who are ill during their holidays now claiming the time back from their employers. The court said that employees had the right to ask for statutory leave to be “reallocated” when it was spoilt by sickness. Under the terms of the judgment, employees will be allowed to carry any annual leave marred by illness over into the next holiday year.
The ruling, made over a case in Spain, is in effect a new interpretation of the European Working Time Directive. The wording does not make clear at what stage the employee should contact their bosses to say they were sick or what proof of illness is necessary.
Experts in the UK warned at the time that it could be costly for businesses and that it was open to abuse by unscrupulous employees seeking to extend their holiday entitlement by simply claiming to have had a cold or flu while they were on leave. A worker could phone up while on holiday and say he or she was unwell — taking the day off sick, rather than counting it against the annual leave entitlement.
As we have just pointed out under statutory sick pay, workers can “self-certify” their illness for up to seven days by phoning their boss. For any longer they require a doctor’s note to confirm their continued illness, although authorities have been considering extending the period to a fortnight to allow for pandemics such as swine flu.
The ruling came in a case heard at the EU court, in Luxembourg, regarding Francisco Pereda, who works for Madrid city council. Mr Pereda had been scheduled to take a month’s annual leave in the summer of 2007. He was injured shortly before the annual leave was to start and was refused a request to move his holiday by his employer. Judges decided that the employee should have been allowed to take his holiday at another date — and if necessary that it could be carried forward to the next holiday year.
Although the case related to someone who had booked his holiday and became unwell before it began, the judgment specifically said that if a “worker does not wish to take annual leave during a period of sick leave, annual leave must be granted to him for a different period”. Towards the end of 2009 this led to an increase in interest regarding holiday and sick leave legislation generated by Pereda, creating a useful opportunity at the beginning of 2010 for employers to remind employees of both the sickness and reporting procedures, and to reiterate the fact that disciplinary action may be taken against employees who fail to follow those procedures.
DISABILITY
The management of employees who become disabled as a result of sickness may mean employers have to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ as dictated by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) before they can return to their job. The types of adjustments that employers might be required to consider include:
- making physical adjustments to the workplace
- allocating some of the disabled person’s duties to another person
- transferring the disabled person to another vacant post, with or without reasonable adjustments being made
- altering the disabled person’s working hours through, for example, part-time working, job sharing or other flexible hours arrangements
- providing special equipment to assist the disabled person to perform his or her tasks, and giving training in the use of the equipment.
The DDA covers physical and mental impairments which have a long-term adverse effect on employees' ability to carry out normal-day-to day activities. Conditions such as stress will often be covered under the DDA.
STRESS
Worries about job security and the concerns about paying off the Christmas credit card bill may lead to increased stress at work early in the New Year. Not all sickness is due to stress, but typical symptoms of stress (susceptibility to minor ailments like headaches, migraines, irritable bowels, anxiety, depression and musculoskeletal problems) can all lead to time off work.
The absence problem
Public sector organisations have a higher absence rate than the private sector and at an average of ten days per annum, sickness absence among the 523,000 civil servants costs over £375m per annum. Similar levels of sickness absence exist in other parts of the public sector, which for the time being employ around five million people, (18% of the workforce) at a sickness cost of £95m.
Private sector organisations have a lower absence rate – around 6.4 days per year but in an organisation of 2,500 employees it is still £4.75m off the bottom line.
Considerable evidence exists that most work-related stress is due to poor management, therefore it is crucial that organisations have a robust stress policy in place that managers can apply. In fact employers are required by law to assess the risk of stress-related ill health arising from work activities and take action to control that risk.
The legal position
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 places duties of care on employers and employees. For example, section 2 (1) places the duty on employers to ensure the health and safety of all employees at work, as far as is reasonable and practicable. In 1988 a further amendment to this stated, ‘ill health resulting from stress caused at work has to be treated the same way as ill health due to other physical causes present in the work place’.
1999 saw the introduction of The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations, which requires all employers of five or more people to carry out regular risk assessments, identify hazards and take action. In 2001, HSG 218 was produced which offers practical advice on dealing with workplace stress and identifies the key workplace hazards that would become the basis for a risk assessment.
Responsibility for managing stress now rests with line managers. This means that managers need to be aware of the effect of excessive pressure on their staff. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) provides guidance for Work Related Stress through its Management Standards, introduced in 2004, which are designed to help employers manage the causes of Work Related Stress and are based on a Risk Assessment model. This enables managers at all levels to focus on identifying the key workplace issues and involve staff in resolving these issues through developing Best Practice. HSG 218 was revised in 2008 to incorporate both the Management Standards and a Competency Framework to identify good and poor practice for managers to deal with workplace stress issues. While the guidance does not have the force of law, failure on the part of employees to follow official HSE guidance would be taken into account in the event of any HSE investigations or employee litigation.
ABSENCE AND PREGNANCY
Employers should record pregnancy-related sickness absence separately from other sickness absences. Employers have no obligation to provide different sick-pay provision for women who take time off work for reasons related to their pregnancy. However an employer who includes absence related to pregnancy in any assessment of a worker’s sickness record, for example in a redundancy exercise or for disciplinary reasons, will be vulnerable to a claim of sex discrimination. An employee who is absent due to a pregnancy-related illness during the four weeks period prior to her due date can be required to start her maternity leave early, and will be entitled to maternity pay and not sick pay.
TO CONCLUDE
- Have a clear sickness policy and sickness reporting procedure.
- Enforce it and make it part of the routine.
- Measure it and publicise the results
- Include trigger points where the process escalates. Where appropriate, invoke the disciplinary/capability process.
- Make sure there are consequences – triggered interviews and, where appropriate, formal capability/disciplinary procedures.
- Undertake appropriate interventions for both short-term and long-term absence
- Focus on the employee and their absence, making them aware of the impact on colleagues and the consequences for their own employment.
- Contrary to what some people may say, stress does exist and shows no sign of going away
- Being absent during pregnancy should be treated differently to other reasons for absence to avoid claims of discrimination
- Don’t make skiving easy.
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Fluid
Registered Office: 2 Abbey Court, Horsforth, Leeds LS18 4SA Tel: 0113 258 7335 Fax: 0113 258 3119
Mobile: 07751 536043 Email: tim@fluidconsultinglimited.com Web: www.fluidconsultinglimited.com
