Illness absence is one of the most difficult day to day issues to manage. It involves patience and taking a bit of time to get the process right. Mishandling an illness absence can lead to claims of disability discrimination and low staff morale.

In case of long term illness absence, many employers do nothing in the hope that the problem will go away. Once an employee has run out of company sick pay or statutory sick pay they tend to disappear off the radar. It can cause the absent employee to become isolated and resentful and if they do come back to work, it will inevitably lead to problems.

Dealing with long term illness absence starts with the contract of employment. As an employer, you need to decide how long you want to be financially responsible for your employees’ ill health, and whether this risk can be insured.

Once an employee is affected by ill health, we will assist you with making contact with the employee, making the relevant medical enquiries, sourcing occupational health advice and if necessary, terminating the employment.