We would recommend you adopt steps
1 to 3 of the following process in all cases:
1. Investigate – discuss the cause of the absences with the employee and set timescales for improvement in attendance. Make the employee aware of the standards expected of him and the potential for formal action or dismissal in the event of his continued absence.
2. Consider whether a medical referral is necessary if there is evidence of an underlying condition. Take advice from a medical professional or occupational health adviser as to how the illness needs to be managed.
3. If the employee's absence arises from a disability, consider whether you need to make reasonable adjustments to his working arrangements or work environment. This might, for example, simply involve being more tolerant about intermittent absences, or it might mean adjusting his working hours or duties.
4. If there is no underlying condition, and the absences persist, you may need to start a formal capability procedure. Where the employee has more than two years' service, it is particularly important to follow a fair process. Check your own procedure, but as a minimum, you should:
- Invite the employee (in writing) to a formal meeting to discuss his sickness absence and explain his right to be accompanied. Make it clear that the outcome could be a disciplinary warning or dismissal (although it is unlikely that you will be at a sufficiently advanced stage to dismiss except where the employee has less than two years' service).
- At the formal meeting, explain the reasons for the formal process and give him the opportunity to present his case.
- If necessary, issue a formal warning. Depending on your procedure, this may be a first formal warning. Set a target date for improvement and an attendance target you expect him to achieve.
- Confirm the decision in writing and the reasons for it, and offer him the right of appeal if a warning is issued.
- If the employee appeals, hold an appeal meeting and confirm the appeal decision in writing to him. The appeal meeting should be conducted by someone more senior than the manager who held the original meeting.
