Sickness Absence Management Policy

3. Management Responsibilities

1. 3.1. Prevention and Early Intervention

   • ensure your team are aware of the Council rules, practices, procedures and expectations regarding absence
   • develop a culture where your team are supported and assisted in staying at work and/or returning to work as well as preventing future absence
   • manage potential health issues proactively, even where they are not causing absence
   • identify reasonable adjustments to support regular attendance, where appropriate
   • discuss expectations with your team regarding absence - for example, they are expected to attend work regularly in order to perform their duties and fulfil their contractual obligations to attend work
   • keep up to date on what support and training is available for helping to reduce sickness absence
   • address and resolve any absence issues informally and promptly through normal day-to-day management meetings
   • take action or escalate issues to the formal stages promptly when triggers are met
   • take advice from HR to help consider whether Ill-Health Retirement (Local Government Pension Scheme [LGPS] only) may be applicable for individuals with life-limiting or serious long term health conditions

2. 3.2. Management of Absence and Accountability

   • apply the policy in a fair and consistent manner with regard to the individual circumstances of each case
   • record details of all meetings within the procedure and share with the employee, including any targets, monitoring and support
   • monitor and record absence within your team using the management reporting tool through MyView
   • agree and maintain contact with your team members during periods of sickness absence in a manner which has been agreed with them
   • carry out a return-to-work meeting promptly on the first day of return for your team following each absence and ensure all absences are recorded in MyView
   • for industrial injury absences, ensure an incident report is completed using the online system
   • keep all information regarding team members' absence confidential, in line with the Data Protection legislation
   • where you are going to be absent from work (annual leave, for example), you must delegate responsibility on MyView to another manager to deal with any staff absence while you are away