Below are some example case studies. These should be used as examples and guidance only - for more information about Attendance Reviews and setting appropriate targets please speak with the People and Culture Team
- A staff member has been absent 4 times in last year and has a Bradford score of 70. An attendance review is organised. The staff member does not have a disability, all the absences have been for different reasons (flu, sickness bug, headache, cold). Within the discussion the staff member shares that they have little time to rest and recover due to other responsibilities outside of work, they have not booked much AL for this year. Agreed actions could be that the staff member uses A/L over the coming 6 months to plan in periods of rest and using the ‘resilience river’ tool discuss weekly rhythms that could make positive difference. Agreed that at the next couple of 1 to 1’s will discuss how / if this is helping. An appropriate target would be no more than 10 days absence (or three spells) of absence in next 6 months. Using 10 days as a trigger means if they do have a virus we are encouraging the staff member to fully recover and not rush back to work.
- A staff member has been absent 4 times in last year and has a Bradford score of 60. An attendance review is organised and they meet their target, as they are not absent in next 6 months and their Bradford Score is now 40. The attendance review is closed. They then have a further absence the following month which again means their Bradford Factor score is 75. The line manager should start an attendance review again. If this pattern repeats a further time, seek advice from the People and Culture Team.
- A full time staff member has been off work on two occasions (2 days each) in the last 12 months and then has a further period of long term sickness (missing 25 days – 5 weeks). They therefore have a Bradford Factor of 261 and on their return to work an attendance review meeting should be scheduled. Due to staff member sharing that they have just started medication for their ongoing health condition which is currently impacting their stomach and they feel that they may need to have a couple of half days off in the next few weeks, an appropriate target could be not to have more than 4 periods of absence in the next 6 months (or no more than 10 days). It could be that for the next two weeks we agree that the staff member can start their day working from home and come into the office at 10.30am once their stomach has settled. This would be reviewed at the two week mark. Any further agreements should be discussed with the SLT Lead and would need to be considered in light of the impact on the wider team. If they are then off work again for a period of 7 days and a further absence of 4 days within the following months, the target has not been met. A further attendance review meeting should be scheduled. Prior to this a conversation with the PD regarding if an extension is deemed necessary (due to wider circumstances) or if this should move to performance management. In both cases, further targets will be set.
- A full time staff member has been off work due to an operation for 26 days. When they return they have a return to work interview. Their Bradford Factor is 26 and so no attendance review is needed however it can be helpful at this point to speak with the staff member and let them know that their Bradford Factor will increase if they have more time off, and that is likely to result in an attendance review. Please explain that we would look at the staff member and the circumstances, to be able to make decision appropriately. Six months later the staff member then has a further 2 days off work as they have a sickness bug. Their Bradford Factor is now 112. Due to the Bradford Factor an attendance review should be scheduled at the ‘Back to Work Interview’- if a one to one is scheduled in the following week or so, it could be helpful to use this as a time to discuss the attendance review rather than having another separate meeting. It would however be appropriate to discuss that the Bradford Factor was largely impacted by the one period of absence and therefore set a target of not to have more than 3 periods of absence in the next 6 months (or no more than 10 days). This target would mean that at the end of the 6 months, the first absence is no longer within their 12 month rolling period. The letter sent would then reflect the discussion in the meeting.