Average sickness rates?

Hi Bruce,


Your figures sound quite high, but if most of this was down to one absence (say for example due to a broken limb), it could look very different.

The Bradford Factor is a useful approach to assessing absences, as it takes account not only of the length of an absence, but also the frequency - lots of brief absences will stack up against an employee a lot quicker than one or two absences of a longer-term nature.



Karl Limpert

Sounds very high to me but you need to be careful if there is a hidden disability.

I would arrange a meeting (documented) with the individual to discuss the issue and find out if there is anything wrong. If he does not offer a reasonable explanation you need to set a target for his attendance. If things don't improve you need another documented meeting and ultimately need to decide if he needs to go before 12 months service to avoid any unfair dismissal claim.

If anything untoward crops up I would get an occ health assessment done.

At 23 weeks - I would be considering a very long absence ie termination of employment!! (unless of course the reasons for absence are protected reasons ie disability, pregnancy, or emergency dependants leave)

In terms of an employee who has been employed for longer than a year I normally advise the following absence triggers

3 periods of seperate absence in a rolling 6 month period to be an unacceptable amount of absence (and for this I would include sickness, lateness, unauthorised absence)

As previous posters have suggested, if the person has been off on one occassion, a broken limb, then this will skew the figures, and it is likely this person will be back in work once limb has been healed.

If the person has a condition that is covered under DDA, for example epilepsy or asthma , then you ignore these absences for calculation figures and look at the other absences that are not related to the disability

If as in your scenario there are a couple of days here a couple of days there, then this needs to be managed

1) Return to work interview on all absences
2) Analysis of absence
3) Counselling - anything that can be done to assist absence - no improvement then
4)Commence disciplinary process.....

What is your company procedure / triggers for managing absence

Without having sat down with her and gone through absences you are managing blind - it could be that there is an underlying health problem - other than lazyitis - But without a structured process you could be wandering into dangerous waters

If you email me (contact details below) - I will drop you a RTW form and a guidance on how to manage this employee

Regards

Clare

There are no strict rules on the Bradford factor but it is common to compare over a twelve month period. A score of 1053 in just 23 weeks would, to me, certainly warrant an investigation. A score of, for example, 81 would appear more reasonable, which would be the result of 3 periods of 3 days each over a 12 month period.

My company has triggers of 3 periods in a rolling 12 month period or any one period of absence exceeding 10 working days. This triggers an investigation rather than immediate disciplinary action but at the investigation the employee is made aware that a further period of absence could result in disciplinary action - for persistent, short-term absences anyway. Long-term absences are always backed up by an occ health assessment but I find such an assessment is rarely fruitful for short-term persistent absences.

Do you have an absence management policy in your company? A policy should be openly communicated and should clearly outline the steps your organisation will take to manage attendance so that all employees are aware of what is expected of them and what the consequences would be should they have excessive time off.

Have you met regularly with your employee during her probationary period? Meeting regularly to discuss performance during this period (including absence levels) can help to nip such things in the bud early on. You can identify issues and set targets early, rather than leaving it until perhaps just one review at the end of the period.

Also, do you ask for references from previous employers? Sometimes references include the number of previous sick days (if factual) which could play an important part when deciding whether to offer employment or not. It could be that she was dismissed from her pervious employment due to poor attendance.

Sounds like you definitely need to meet with her anyway...

bruce_23 said:

Not sure I can use the bradford factor over a period of 23 weeks??? Does it have to be over 52 weeks, or will it be ok over shorter periods?

Click to expand...

For long-term employees, 52 weeks might be useful, but for a relatively new employee, absolutely no reason not to use it now.

Shorter periods than 52 weeks can also be used for staff that have patterns of absence in a particular part of the year.


The levels of absence are very high, and you really need to deal with this. If you're not certain about your position, I would recommend you take up Clare's (CCP) offer and get a Return to Work form & some guidance on how to manage the situation.



Karl Limpert