About the Civil Service

Sickness Absence report 2006–2007

A healthy and productive workforce

Checklist of good practice for boards

Introduction

There is much good practice across the civil service and wider public sector on how to handle sickness absence, and improve employee well-being and motivation. It is important that Departments and agencies think carefully about their own circumstances and strategies. But the following checklist is intended to support Boards in this task. We suggest that all Boards benchmark their current procedures and systems against it.

Checklist

Monitoring, Measuring and Understanding

Boards should ensure that they have:

  1. Good information systems on absence management. An effective flow of information on sickness absence will include:
    • The overall number of days lost to absence;
    • The costs (money and productivity) of absence to the organisation;
    • Absence broken down by region, department and workforce demographics;
    • duration, so that a clear distinction can be drawn between long-term and short-term absence;
    • Analysis by type of absence;
    • League tables showing best and worst performers down to individual site level.
  2. Clear policies and procedures on who is responsible for recording the absence of their staff and assuring the quality of data. Best practice is for line managers to be responsible for absence reporting.
  3. Challenging Targets that reflect real circumstances, levels and causes of short-term and long-term absence and whether the absence is work related. Managers at all levels need different targets that reflect performance, the nature of the work and the mix of grades and gender.
  4. Clear lines of accountability - so it is clear who is responsible for the delivery of targets and to whom they are accountable. Performance management systems need to make sure that managers are assessed against their absence targets. A named Board member other than the HR Director should have specific responsibility for attendance management. Non-executive directors or the audit committees should to be asked to take a view on whether the policies and controls being implemented are sufficient to meet operational and reputational risks;
  5. Effective Analysis and diagnosis - information systems need to be designed so that Boards and managers can interpret the data and monitor levels or types of absence, demographic factors and trends. Benchmarking should be used against comparable private and public sector organisations;
  6. An understanding of costs - Boards need to measure the costs of absence costs by department/operational unit and the impact of days lost on performance and productivity.

Managing Absence When it Happens

Boards should ensure that they have procedures in place so that:

  1. Staff are required to contact their line manager on each day of self-certificated absence;
  2. Informal return to work interviews happen after every period of short-term absence, and that formal, documented, return to work interviews happen where absence is over seven days;
  3. Certification is required if the number of short-term absences exceeds (e.g.) five in twelve months;
  4. Reference to occupational health is compulsory in cases where absence reaches a "trigger" level in a twelve month period, to pick up early signs of longer term problems and issues;
  5. Persistent Monday or Friday absences are flagged up to managers and the individuals tackled;
  6. Pay effects are considered for staff who fail to provide certificates after absences of more than five working days;
  7. Clear case management structures are in place for handling long-term sickness cases.
  8. Line managers have very precise guidance, and the necessary training, to know what they are meant to do in response to sickness;
  9. Disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, is taken in cases of persistent absence.

Promoting a Healthy Environment and Culture

Boards should ensure that they have:

  1. Diagnosed the problems and developed responses. By measuring the kinds of illness that are contributing to absence levels, Boards should agree on specific actions to reduce the incidence of such illnesses, with advice from occupational health specialists about action to reduce health risks.
  2. People strategies that take account of the health of the workforce as a factor in strategic management thinking;
  3. Health promotion strategies in place - Employers have a duty of care to minimise risks to health in the workplace. Boards need to be visible in promoting workplace health through initiatives to reduce the incidence of smoking, obesity and diet and increase exercise, as well as specific actions to address stress and musculo skeletal problems.
  4. Considered the impact of specific measures on health and absence:
    • Assessments of workplace comfort and the appropriateness of workstations;
    • Action to make reasonable adjustments to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act;
    • Action to improve the mental health of the workforce;
    • Programmes to encourage health checks and guidance on healthy lifestyles - "well man" and "well woman" clinics;
    • Action to make managers more aware of the factors that drive absence and the steps they must take to manage this effectively - especially in times of rapid change.
  5. Considered change management approaches that
    • give staff a voice in work processes and explore the scope for giving people more varied work, extending their responsibilities to make work more interesting and improving productivity;
    • give staff more control over the pace of their work and the opportunity to influence decisions that affect them directly.