If a staff members Bradford Factor score is greater than 50 then an attendance review meeting should be booked in with them at the point of the ‘return to work’ conversation.
These meetings are to first and foremost offer support and understanding to staff as individuals to hopefully reduce the levels of absence and enable them to thrive within their work. We also need to highlight that absence does have an impact on the wider organisation. An attendance review is the first step of a wider process, which can result in performance management however we strive to have conversations early, and put in support early, in order for it to not escalate. This can be an uncomfortable conversation to have, please contact the People and Culture Team for support and guidance prior to the attendance review meeting.
Below is some guidance and a template to help inform your attendance review meeting however, you as the line manager often know the staff team best and therefore, we trust that if you choose to follow the principles but not exactly the wording, in order to best listen to and support the staff member and the wider team. It can be helpful to use the language of ‘attendance’ – ‘you are not attending enough…’ - when raising concerns rather than you have been ‘off sick’ too much.
Within the attendance review meeting the areas for discussion are:
- Employees reason for absence (it is good practice to outline the previous absences within the last 12 months and then look together to see if there are any patterns / trends)
- Likelihood of further absences In some cases this is harder to ascertain than in others
- Agree solutions to address causes of absence from work (are there any ways we can support you in work that could reduce the likelihood of further absences? E.g. if previous absence has been due to work stress how can we reduce this stress. Are there any things that the staff member can do to reduce likelihood of future absences e.g. seek medical advise, implement changes to lifestyle
- Agree targets and timescales for improvement. The target should be appropriate and clearly stated. If an employee has a disability it may be that the target should be adjusted appropriately. Any concerns speak with People and Culture Team. A typical target would be: No more than three spells of absence in the next 6 months or the equivalent of 10 days in total for a full time staff member. (therefore 6 days for 0.6 FTE) This is based on the fact that average sickness (which includes long term sickness) is about 6-7% of working days in a year (which is about 13-14 days per year for a full time staff member but as this includes long term sickness, the figures are skewed). 10 days in six months is therefore a long way over the yearly average.
- During the meeting please make the staff member aware that you will write up the notes and they will receive a letter via the staff database with the agrees actions and a date to review, if no further absence has happened.
It is up to you as the line manager to then monitor attendance in relation to the target and if any further absences ensure that the targets are mentioned in relation to any future 1 to 1’s / return to work meetings after a future absence.
If the target is not met (had more than the number of agreed absences) then speak with employee (and your manager) and People and Culture Team as a review meeting then needs to be held. It is if the target is met or not, not the Bradford Factor alone, that would trigger the next stage.
If the target is met then this should be documented on the attendance review form at the end of the period. Uploaded to the staff database and this will trigger the People and Culture Team issuing a closure letter. If the Bradford Factor score is still high (due to continued absences but not high enough to meet the target threshold, it could be appropriate to extend the review period for a further 6 months with an updated target