This article explores how employers can better support employees when they're absent from work, connecting them with relevant health and wellbeing benefits at the point they need them.

The Fair Work Agency is changing the compliance landscape. But is your absence data ready for greater scrutiny?

Understanding absence is about so much more than the number of days an employee takes off sick.

For decades, the Bradford Factor has helped HR teams identify patterns in short-term absence. But a number can only tell you so much. There’s an opportunity to make the Bradford Factor work harder by combining it with more accurate, consistent and meaningful absence data.

With Statutory Sick Pay now payable from day one, you need accurate absence information from day one too. If absences are reported late and recorded inconsistently, it becomes a nightmare to understand the cost and impact on your business.

Not every illness is easy to talk about. Some are deeply personal. Some feel embarrassing (even though they shouldn’t!). Some are emotionally overwhelming. Yet for many employees, the very first step in reporting sickness is to phone their line manager and explain why they can’t come to work.

7.30am. You’re cleaning your teeth. These are the last few moments to think, plan and prepare before the workday starts. Then, just like that, it begins abruptly with a phone call from one of your team. They sound anxious, nervous and unwell. You’re still trying to spit toothpaste into the sink as you respond.