Keeping in touch with absent staff

Many sickness absence procedures contain rules for keeping in touch during sickness absence. These rules may require employees to contact their employer at regular, even pre-set, intervals. However, they should not be implemented in an unreasonable manner. Contact between employer and employee is generally recognised to be the best way of helping someone back to work, and many procedures are designed to encourage contact. But if the employer turns up unexpectedly or telephones too frequently or at inappropriate times of the day, this is likely to be intrusive.