An ongoing concern for all organisations is the cost to the business of staff absence.

A recent report indicates not only that absence levels are rising, but that there is also an increasing concern amongst employers that a significant amount of time taken by workers on grounds of illness is ‘unwarranted’.

The report indicates that the average worker has taken 7.2 days’ off work through sickness over the past year, translating into an individual cost of £475.

This is the first increase in absence levels during the last five years. Absence levels are highest in the north west, and lowest amongst workers in Scotland. Within the public sector absence levels are significantly higher: public sector workers take an average of 2 extra days’ sick leave when compared to their counterparts in the private sector.

Although employers have recognised that the majority of leave taken by workers is for genuine reasons related to ill-health, the cause of greatest concern appears to be how to tackle intermittent absence where there appears to be no underlying cause of ill-health and incidences of absence are unconnected.

Fears that workers may falsely report themselves absent from work on grounds of ill-health are common, and there is a widespread concern that absence levels may soar during the summer.

There are a number of practical options open to employers to consider in order to tackle absence, and the potential abuse of sick leave, within their own workplaces.

These include:

• Return To Work Interviews: on a worker’s return to work following a period of absence managers should aim to meet with the worker face to face.

Not only does this offer an opportunity to identify any long-term health issues, but also provides an opportunity to discuss any issues with workers which are contributing to their ill-health, eg. pressure of work; domestic pressures etc for which solutions may be sought.

An individual who may have been considering taking a “sickie” is more likely to think twice about doing so in the knowledge that they will have to explain the reason for their absence in person, rather than by merely completing the employer's self-certification form;

• Incentivising Attendance: a number of employers, including some of the UK’s major retailers, are adopting a creative approach to tackling absence, focusing on attendance rather than absence.

It has long been recognised that, as it is increasingly common for both parents to work, dealing with both unexpected and routine domestic issues has become an increasing challenge, resulting in an adverse impact on attendance levels.

A variety of policy changes are being considered by a number of organisations, including the granting of “duvet days” (days off work at short notice in addition to annual leave); enhanced annual leave provisions (which may or may not be subject to good attendance levels) and financial reward schemes linked to attendance.

• Review of Sick Pay Provisions: under the Statutory Sick Pay provisions, entitlement to sick pay does not automatically commence from the first day of absence as there are three “waiting days” which precede payment.

Most company sick pay provisions, however, do not apply a similar approach and sick pay is paid from the outset. A number of organisations have amended their sick pay policies to mirror the statutory scheme in an attempt to dissuade intermittent, short-term absence.

In order to have an objective and fair way of picking out the worst absence records, it may be helpful to adopt a common ‘trigger’ for reviewing absence records and these type of mechanisms should be included in a company’s policy.

However, this can only be a trigger mechanism for review - it cannot be used as a justification for dismissal.

Wherever an organisation identifies problems with absence levels then action is needed to address this: doing nothing is not an option and the situation is likely to deteriorate.

Regardless of whether an employer believes that absence is genuine or otherwise, steps should be taken to address the matter with the individual concerned. It is only by discussing matters that appropriate action be taken, for example obtaining expert medical evidence or, where the level of attendance falls short of the required level, following the appropriate procedure.

Organisations who may be considering tackling problems with absence are advised to exercise caution before introducing new provisions affecting all staff: there may be contractual or other issues to consider in doing so.

Kate Hodgkiss is solicitor in the employment department of law firm DLA.