Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

AbsenceHR practice

Return-to-work interviews do cut sickness absence rates

by Mark Crail 15 Oct 2007
by Mark Crail 15 Oct 2007

Two out of three employers believe that return-to-work interviews have cut employee absence rates, according to a study by Personnel Today’s sister publication, Employment Review.

The survey of 182 organisations, which together employ 705,000 people, shows that return-to-work interviews are highly regarded by human resources practitioners working in public sector organisations and companies of all types and sizes.

Most thought the introduction of return-to-work interviews either reduced staff absences (64%) or left them unchanged (29%), while only a few HR practitioners (7%) believed they could actually lead to an increase in absences.

A detailed breakdown of the figures shows that employers in manufacturing and production companies (70%) are the most positive about the use of interviews, while those in private sector services (63%) are less convinced, and those in the public sector (60%) are even more sceptical.

The technique also appears to work best for smaller employers, with 67% of organisations employing fewer than 250 people reporting a reduction in absences. Its effectiveness diminishes with an increase in the size of organisation, so that just 60% of the largest employers report that it works.

The organisations most likely to report a rise in absences following the introduction of return-to-work interviews were large private firms (10% among those with 1,000 or more employees) and the public sector (11%).

Employers probe staff on reasons for absence…

Most employers (85%) expect line managers to carry out return-to-work interviews with employees after every episode of absence, no matter how short, the Employment Review survey shows.

Other organisations using the technique use a range of trigger factors to decide whether or not a return-to-work interview is necessary.

Some of these organisations (15%) use a number of different trigger factors to try to cut down on unnecessary absences.

Where interviews are not universal, the common factors used in deciding whether or not to interview the employee are:



  • a discretionary decision by the line manager (13%)
  • after a specified period of absence (12%)
  • once a number of short-term absences add up to a prescribed cumulative total (8%).

Among a small minority of organisations (7%), HR may trigger a return-to-work interview at its own discretion.

Universal return-to-work interviews are most common in the public sector (90%), but are also widely found in manufacturing (88%) and in private sector services companies (80%).

Line managers are twice as likely to exercise discretion in private sector manufacturing as in the public sector, and cumulative total absences are five times more likely to be used as a trigger in the private sector than the public sector.

…and most keep written record

Return-to-work interviews appear to be among the best documented people management techniques used by line managers, the study suggests.

Just one in 20 organisations (5%) taking part in the survey said that no formal record was made following a return-to-work interview, while most write up a range of information.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

The most commonly recorded information includes the full details of the reason for the period of absence (91%), a brief summary of the interview (75%), and any further actions to be taken (70%).

But while 74% of public sector employers record any decision about whether or not to refer the employee to occupational health, this practice is followed by just 55% of firms in the manufacturing and production sector, and 32% of those in private sector services.




Mark Crail

Mark Crail worked on XpertHR from 2001 until 2020, most recently as content director. He led the salary survey and HR data benchmarking services, overseeing the collection and publication of pay data through the Job Pricing tool and its wider HR research programme which forms the core of XpertHR Benchmarking.

previous post
Mediaburst’s business continuity roadshow goes to IP07
next post
Amnesty uses wellbeing programme from Inner Physique

1 comment

Return to work interviews | Fit For Work 29 Jun 2016 - 11:13 am

[…] for managers can often be to get them back up to speed with work as soon as possible. However, past research has shown that conducting return to work interviews can have a positive impact on sickness absence […]

Comments are closed.

You may also like

Cancer carers feel pressure to return to work...

13 May 2025

Top 10 HR questions April 2025: increases to...

2 May 2025

Employers struggling to manage rising levels of sickness...

7 Apr 2025

Top 10 HR questions March 2025: Carrying over...

2 Apr 2025

What do HR specialists enjoy most about their...

21 Mar 2025

King’s College London get top marks for HR...

20 Nov 2024

Personnel Today Awards 2024: The shortlists in full

13 Nov 2024

Charities urge ministers to increase statutory sick pay

21 Oct 2024

CIPD launches HR support pilot scheme for SMEs

7 Oct 2024

Are managers equipped to handle workplace conflict?

24 Sep 2024

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+