Leave of Absence – What Employers Need to Know

Define Absence from work

As employment lawyers we are frequently asked questions about tricky absence situations, such as:-

• How to manage short-term sickness absence
• An employee who always phones in sick on Friday or Monday (or after a big football game!)
• Escalating levels of sickness absence, either individually or across the team
• What to do when an employee just doesn’t turn up

In this blog post we are not talking about holiday, maternity, paternity etc. which are types of authorised and often pre-planned leave. So, then what are the key types of absence?

Different Types of Absence

Absence essentially falls into two camps, authorised or unauthorised. Whether an absence is authorised or unauthorised depends on two things: 1) the reason for the absence and 2) whether the employee has followed the correct absence reporting procedure. The most common scenarios are,

1. Short term sickness absence –i.e. an employee is off work for a day or two with a sickness bug or a cold etc.
2. Long term sickness absence – an absence of a month or more, owing to an on-going illness, accident or serious health condition.
3. Absence for dependants – the employee can’t come to work owing to family responsibilities, or a bereavement.
4. AWOL – an employee fails to show up for work and fails to contact you.

What are Valid Reasons or Employee Absence?

Sickness and absences owing to family responsibilities are the most frequent reasons for absence. Both are potentially valid reasons for absence, but it is still important that an employee communicates the absence correctly. If an employee repeatedly fails to follow the absence reporting procedures, then this could result in the absence being unauthorised and disciplinary action.

How Many Sickness Absences are Allowed?

There is no legal maximum, according to the Office of National Statistics, the average number of days taken sick in 2022 was 5.7 per annumWithout spending hours delving into the statistics, this does vary by geography and job type. However, this does provide a general guide when looking at absence levels either individually or companywide as to what is normal.

Can you Dismiss an Employee for Sickness Absence?

You can – but you should always take advice before dismissing. The employee’s length of service and the illness will be relevant.

Before taking any formal disciplinary action, it is advisable to speak to the employee informally and find out if there are underlying issues. It is always preferable to try and deal with these situations in a relaxed way.

In cases of frequent short-term sickness absences, this will be addressed as a disciplinary matter which will lead to written warnings and if there is still no improvement it can lead to a potentially fair dismissal subject to a fair procedure being followed.

Where the sickness absence is potentially long term it is important to be mindful of any impairments, either mental or physical which could amount to a disability under the Equality Act 2010. The definition of a disability is:

“where a person has a mental or physical impairment and that impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the person’s ability to carry out normal day to day activities.”

In these circumstances, medical evidence will more than likely be needed, and an alternative medical capability procedure is more appropriate. Further, disciplining an employee because of sickness absence owing to a disability is potentially discriminatory and a claim could be brought against an employer. These situations are fact sensitive, so please take advice first and your advisor can guide you through the process.

How to Manage Absence at Work (The Basics)

Many things in life work better when people know what to do; an absence management policy is key in telling employees what is expected of them and what their employer will do.

What should an Absence Management policy include?

1. Set out the reporting procedure, identifying who, when and how often they must phone. This can help prevent misunderstandings about how and when employees must communicate absence.
2. How long the employee can self-certify and when a fit note from their GP is needed.
3. What pay an employee is entitled to ie: Statutory Sick Pay or contractual sick pay.
4. The return-to-work process
5. The procedure for long term absence including a provision to obtain medical evidence ie: an Occupational Health Report
6. The consequences if the employee fails to follow the reporting procedure, or if the persistent sickness absence does not improve.
7. That the policy is non-contractual.

A policy helps set a clear guide for situations, meaning that there is less scope for disputes and arguments that an employee is not being treated fairly.

Best Practices for Sickness Absence Management

• Don’t ignore the issue. If you notice a pattern, i.e. absences either on Friday and Monday then speak to the employee about this and see what they have to say.
• Stay in contact with your employees and speak to them informally first.
• Be consistent.
• Be reasonable.
• Hold return-to-work interviews, as they help with employee accountability; provide a forum to raise concerns ‘softly’.
• Always be respectful and stay calm.
• Be aware that long-term illnesses could be a disability.
• Keep a paper trail.

How to Reduce Sickness Absence at Work?

There are a few tools, that can help.

• If there is a general increase in sickness levels, communicate this to your employees, remind them of the impact of sick leave on their colleagues, business and revenue, and that high levels of sickness absence will trigger disciplinary action.
• Use HR software to help with compiling data like this and absence trends.
• Set sickness absence triggers. Where sickness absences exceed this threshold, over a time period, make clear that disciplinary action will follow.
• Consider if there are patterns in the type of sickness, for example if stress at work is a frequent reason for absence, then use return to work meetings to help identify problems areas such as systems, training and workloads.

Absences Because of Dependants

This is potentially a whole other topic altogether, so what is it important to know? Be reasonable! Poorly parents, children and childcare arrangements falling through will from time-to-time effect most employees and are part of life.

In the majority of cases, an employer and employee will reach an agreement on how the situation will be handled and whether the employee needs to make up the lost hours of work. Again, it can help to have a clear policy to help ensure fairness.  

There also is a statutory right to dependant’s leave, which allows for unpaid leave to deal with unexpected and emergency situations, such as: -

• Help a dependant who is ill, injured, gives birth or is assaulted.
• Plan for their care
• The death of a dependant
• Deal with any unexpected disruption, ie: the termination or breakdown of care
• An unexpected incident with the employee’s child, within school hours

The time off is to deal with the emergency, and in most cases is not more than a day or so. If the situation is not quickly resolved or if someone has advance notice of a situation then they could use carer’s leave and parental leave, ACAS has a really helpful article on these subjects.

How Should Employers Manage AWOL?

If an employee fails to attend work, when they are meant to and they haven’t phoned in sick or are on any form of agreed leave, then the absence is unauthorised. So what to do?

1. Try and contact the employee by phone, email and/or text asking them to contact you. Do you have the employee’s next of kin or emergency contact, if so, can you reach out to them.
2. Confirm the position in writing outlining that their absence is unauthorised, therefore it is unpaid and is potentially gross or serious misconduct. Urge the employee to make contact asap and set a deadline: i.e.: 48 hours.
3. If there is still no response, then you can either approach it assuming by their actions that they have resigned and give another deadline to contact you if this is not the case. Or… proceed with disciplinary action which may lead to a dismissal

Conclusion

Managing employee absence is a complex but vital part of maintaining a fair and productive workplace. Whether dealing with short-term sickness, unauthorised absences, or long-term health issues, each situation calls for a thoughtful and balanced response.

Establishing a clear absence management policy, maintaining open lines of communication, and applying procedures consistently and fairly can help minimise disruption while ensuring employees feel supported.

In more sensitive cases—such as long-term illness or when a potential disability is involved -it’s important to go beyond the general guidance provided in this post. Always seek professional legal advice to ensure your actions are both fair and compliant with the law, as each case may require a tailored approach.

Taking a proactive and well-informed stance on absence management not only protects your business but also contributes to a healthier, more engaged workforce.