Your Complete Guide toAbsence Management: Creating a Policy That Works

Croner
Mar 16
12 min read

Did you know that an unauthorised leave of absence could lead to disciplinary action or a misconduct claim for your employee?

So what should you do if you have an employee who has taken an unauthorised leave of absence or an excessive absence from the business? In this article, we will take you through what an unauthorised leave of absence is and some of the common questions we get asked.

If you require support in your legal issues and handling unauthorised absences, get in touch with one of our experts at Croner.

What is absence management?

The average UK worker is absent for almost seven days annually. As you can imagine, this long term absence costs employers a significant amount in sick pay. Absence management is a way of reducing the number of business days lost without negatively impacting employee morale.

Leave of absence laws

The Working Time Regulations specify the maximum amount of time an employee can work in a day before having time off work. It also specifies that every worker must have (at least) 5.6 weeks’ paid annual leave each year. Finally, the law dictates that employees have the right to take additional leave from work for a number of different reasons.

Types of Leave

Maternity leave

When an employee is pregnant, they have the right to time off to care for their baby. The earliest maternity leave can begin is 11 weeks prior to the expected week of childbirth. However, if the baby arrives early, maternity leave starts the day after the birth. If your staff member is off work sick due to pregnancy-related issues in the fourth week before the birth of the baby then their maternity leave begins automatically. They are then entitled to statutory maternity leave, which is 52 weeks. This is made up of: