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 preset, intervals. These rules should not be implemented in an unreasonable manner.

Appropriately managed, regular contact between employer and employee is generally recognised as good practice in terms of encouraging someone back to work. The Health and Safety Executive says “regular contact helps to keep work on their agenda and offers good opportunities to plan the return to work”. 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.