One-Stop Guide to Absence Management

Managing absence and attendance is becoming an increasingly important issue for UK employers.  Figures from the Confederation of British Industry report that the number of working days lost in the UK during 2003 was 176 million, representing a total cost in lost productivity of some £11.6 billion. 

Personnel Today’s new guide, One-Stop Guide to Absence Management, provides essential information and practical advice on preventing and reducing absence in the workplace. 

The guide is written by Mike Walters, director of Whitmuir HR, who is a leading authority on HR strategy and practice and author of numerous HR management books.

To order your copy at a special introductory price, click here

As well as a number of practical case studies, the main sections covered by the guide are:

SECTION 1: Introduction
· Understand why workplace absence matters
· Learn how absence affects profits
· Understand why absence is difficult to manage

SECTION 2: Do we have a problem?
· Learn how to assess absence levels
· Examine how absence affects different parts of the workforce
· Identify priority areas and targets for improvement

SECTION 3: What causes employee absence?
· Understand the nature of absence in an organisation
· Identify the causes of absence in a workforce
· Recognise personal characteristics of employees, genuine illness and other external and social factors

SECTION 4: Developing an absence policy
· Understand the role of an absence policy
· Learn how to develop an absence policy
· Examine how to ensure management commitment

SECTION 5: Establishing absence procedures
· Learn how to report absence
· Learn how to collate and analyse absence data
· Implement procedures for communicating with absent staff
· Learn what to include in return-to-work procedures

SECTION 6: Handling ‘problem’ absence
· Learn how to initiate formal action
· Investigate absence records
· Initiate effective absence counselling
· Learn how to handle long-term absence

SECTION 7: Developing positive initiatives
·  Learn how to prevent future absence
·  Understand how certain work practices can reduce absence risk
· Consider the value of different benefits

SECTION 8: Legal implications
· Understand the implications of the Employment Rights Act
· Understand implications of the ACAS Code of Practice
· Understand implications of the Disability Discrimination Act

SECTION 9: Jargon buster

SECTION 10: Resources

To order your copy at a special introductory price, click here