Sickness Absence

It is important that all our staff are supported in a fair and compassionate manner, reflective of our values. By treating employees fairly, with compassion and in an unbiased manner, the Trust aims to support employees to maintain a sustainable level of attendance.

We expect our leaders to:

• Maintain, monitor and review individual sickness records and take action to support employees as appropriate;
• Carry out return to work meetings in a timely manner, preferably on the same day the employee returns to work;
• Complete the electronic return to work form, enter the return to work date on ESR and close the absence down on ESR within the timelines outlined in the process map on the ESR self-service page of the Knowledge Hub;
• Conduct and appropriately record Sickness meetings in line with the Sickness Absence Support Policy;
• Refer employees to the Occupational Health and Wellbeing Service as and when appropriate;
• Ensure all team members are aware of the Sickness Absence Support Policy, reporting procedures, and that staff have appropriate access to report their absence via ESR (the Trust's sickness management system);
• Ensure all staff are aware of the Trust's wellbeing initiatives;
• Consider and co-ordinate the implementation of reasonable adjustments once they are aware a member of staff has or may have a disability, taking into account the service need;
• Notify Digital Services where an individual is absent for more than 30 days to ensure NHSmail accounts are appropriately managed in accordance with the lifecycle policy.