Employees may need time off for a variety of reasons, from short-term sickness to longer-term health issues. An effective absence management framework should support employees' health needs while providing clear and consistent guidance to avoid unauthorised absence or inappropriate use of sick pay schemes.
This factsheet takes a closer look at sickness absence, the reasons for it, and its implications for organisations.
Explore our viewpoint on employee health and wellbeing in more detail, along with actions for government and recommendations for employers.
Read our recommendations for an effective sick pay system.
This factsheet was last updated by Lisa Ayling and Rachel Suff.
Lisa Ayling: solicitor and employment law specialist
Lisa is a lawyer with many years’ experience of contentious and nonācontentious employment law. As well as writing and editing employment law content for the CIPD, Lisa lectures extensively on employment law, including years as a senior lecturer and leader of the employment team at BPP University and on the LLM programme at Kingston University.
Rachel Suff: Senior Employee Relations Adviser, CIPD
Rachel informs CIPD policy thinking on health and wellbeing as well as employment relations. She has over 25 years’ experience in the employment and HR arena.
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