If an employee is away for a long time on sick leave then it is important that you maintain contact.
However if an employee is not in work because they are waiting for reasonable accommodations or being trained to use reasonable accommodations then they are not off sick and should not be recorded as off sick.
It can be helpful to record disability related sickness absence separately from other types of sickness absence.
This allows you to , where reasonable, discount some or all of any disability related absences.
This is useful when making decisions regarding disciplinary procedures or when considering an employee for promotion.
When you are calling, writing to or seeing an employee who has been absent or on sick leave for a long time:
- Ask them how they are and what their doctors have said about their recovery
- Ask if there are any changes you can make to the way they work to enable them to come back to work, for example coming in for a few hours at a time to build back up to normal hours
- Tell them what has been happening at work so they feel part of what is going on
- Ask if they would like to receive meeting minutes, newsletters or other updates.
This will help the employee to feel less isolated and worried about returning. It should also serve to remind them that they are missed by their colleagues.
Being absent for a long time can lead to a loss of confidence which in turn can cause reluctance to come back.
When an employee returns from an extended absence it is important to talk to them as you would with a new employee about what they are finding difficult because of their illness or disability or simply because they have been away for a long time.
Ask if accommodations would help, e.g., extra supervision while they are settling in. If accommodations are made then it is useful to review these on a regular basis.
If a person who has not disclosed a disability is taking a lot of time off, you should ask them why.