The next step

Return to work interview

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The data from the ONS

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Sickness absence at all time high

Latest statistics. According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, sickness absence rates amongst employees are at their highest rate since 2010 and 150 million days were lost to sickness or injury in 2021, representing an average of 4.6 days per employee (see The next step ). As you might expect, the pandemic has played significant a part in this increase - it accounted for 24% of all sickness absence in the previous year.

Pulling a sickie. It’s quite likely that “COVID” was used to pull sickies and there are many other potential reasons for the other 76% of all sickness absences, some of which could also be fraudulent. So how can you tackle this issue? The answer lies in a robust return to work interview process. These had dropped off during the pandemic, but now things have returned pretty much to normal you should probably be reintroducing them or ramping up their use.

Timing. Best practice states that return to work interviews should take place at the point the employee returns to work and they shouldn’t undertake any work for you until this process has been completed. This applies equally to staff who are based on your premises and those who work from home. In the workplace, a return to work interview should take place in private in a face-to-face setting. For homeworkers the process can be conducted online or via the phone (though this should be a last resort as you can’t gauge the employee’s physical appearance).

Tip. Use our return to work interview form for face-to-face meetings and where they are conducted online or via phone (see The next step ). Always assure the employee of confidentiality when discussing the reasons for their sickness absence .

For the data from the ONS and a return to work interview form, visit https://www.tips-and-advice.co.uk , Download Zone, year 24, issue 11.