How to: Day one absence management service
Does the company that you work for offer a day-one absence management service?
If you’ve never used the service before, or you are just curious about how they work and want to know if your employee should offer one, here’s our guide to how you can report a sickness absence.
What is a day-one absence management service?
An absence management service is part of an organisation’s occupational health offering.
Day-one absence management, as the name suggests, is a service that’s available to employees from the first day of their sickness absence.
If you are off work due to sickness, here’s how to use a day-one absence management service.
Calling in sick
On the first day of sickness, you will need to call the dedicated absence report phone line that your line manager or HR advisor gave you.
You can now pass on all of the details about your reasons for being absent from work.
Absence triage
Much like the triage nurse in an accident and emergency department, your first point of contact when calling the absence report phone line will be a trained advisor.
They’ll ask you a series of questions to confirm the reason and nature of your absence.
Estimated return-to-work date
You can then discuss when you think you might be able to return to work.
All of this information will be recorded and passed on to your line manager.
What if you need more time off work?
If you are still unable to return to work, you should call back before the agreed return-to-work date and discuss the reasons before agreeing an updated return-to-work date.
The advisor will be able to assist with self-care advice and suggest any over-the-counter medication that might help.
Should you require it, the advisor might suggest a visit to your GP or local Accident & Emergency.
Your line manager will be kept up to date throughout the process.
Returning to work
You’ll be asked to call the absence report phone line on the first day that you return to work.
Once notified of your return, your line manager will conduct a short return-to-work interview.
Supporting absent staff
The purpose of day-one absence reporting isn’t a “Big-Brother-is-watching-you” excuse to monitor staff. Instead, its intention is to ensure that employees receive the support they need when absent from work due to sickness.
It also allows larger businesses to keep up to date with the health and wellbeing of staff.
Employees can also benefit from:
- Access to professional occupational health support when required. For example, on the morning they are ill when they can’t get to see a GP
- Support from a professional occupational health advisor throughout the absence, offering advice, guidance, and reassurance
- A fair and consistent approach regarding absence management for everyone involved
If you think the company that you work for could benefit from a day-one absence management service, you can find out the benefits of one-day absence reporting in our blog and suggest that your line manager or HR advisor contacts the team at Fusion today.
