Last year, businesses lost an average of £600 for every employee, due to sickness absence.
The figure, published in this year’s CIPD Absence Survey Report needs reiterating because it’s a cost which isn’t beyond an employer’s control. Many businesses may be under the illusion that staff illness is a fact of life and there’s nothing that they can do about it; an assumption which is backed up by a survey from 2012 which revealed that a third of businesses don’t even know how many days their employees have been absent for.
In such circumstances, unseen costs could easily spiral out of control, not only because of sick pay, but because of reduced productivity, arranging temporary cover, overtime costs etc.
So what can an employer do about this?
Another key finding of the CIPD Absence Survey Report was that two-thirds of absences are of less than seven days duration. By clamping down on regular absences which employees take here and there, employers can make a huge dent in their sickness absence rates.
Clearly, employees who are not fit to be in work should stay at home, however, employers need to make sure that staff who are fit to attend work, do so.
Lisa Roberts, Technical Director of the Occupational Health Division at Santia Consulting Ltd, commented:
“The introduction of a robust sickness absence policy and a formal procedure for absence notification can be a huge step forwards in getting a grip on this problem.”
To help address the issue, Santia Consulting Ltd has launched its Day 1 Absence Management service. Under this system, employees who call in sick will be asked a series of questions to obtain all the information an employer needs to capture. That person is informed of their attendance percentage and absence rate, and can be required to call every day. All updates are immediately emailed to line mangers.
Lisa Roberts continued:
“With Day 1 Absence Management, employees know that their managers are keeping a close eye on sickness absences and will think twice about calling in sick if they are fit to attend work. The beauty of this particular system is that there is also the option for support from qualified occupational health nurses.
“If an employee requires medical advice, they can speak to a nurse who can inform them of what to do to treat their symptoms and get back to work sooner.”
During a trial of the system, it was reported that sickness absences reduced by 28% in the first 6 months of implementation, and this step down has been maintained thereafter.
Click here to use our Sickness Absence Calculator and find out how much money Santia’s Day 1 system could save you!