In the UK, new rules about shared parental leave were introduced in April 2015 to encourage – or allow – dads to spend more time with their children. The Economist wrote last week that “giving new mothers a reasonable amount of time off work—the ILO recommends at least 14 weeks—increases women’s participation in the labour […]

Whilst absence triggers can be highly effective in cutting your absence levels, the way you set them is critical to their success. Understand how your absence policy works in real life when employees start to take advantage of loopholes.

A study some years ago by researchers at the University of Nottingham reported that smokers are 33% more likely to miss work than non-smokers and this trend has led to smokers missing, on average, 2.7 working days more per year than non-smokers.

Myth! Whilst dealing with depression or stress, shutting yourself away from everything for a while can feel like the best thing to do. But it isn’t necessarily the best antidote to these feelings.

Absence is a major cost to business but it can be hard to quantify just how much it costs. The total bill is partly made up of direct costs such as agency or overtime fees for replacement staff and sick pay, which are relatively easy to calculate. If you’d like to calculate your direct cost of […]

As with any business strategy, good data is the key to success and absence management is no different. As we like to say around here: “good absence management starts with good data.” How good is your data, really?

Effective absence management is highly dependent on good communication, specifically communication between management and employees. If the employee is honest and punctual in updating the employer on the status of their health or personal situation, the employer can help and manage the situation for a swift return to work and minimal impact on the remaining […]

Whether you are sitting at a desk all day or doing a more physical job there is a certain amount of stress placed on your spine. One in five employees reports that their daily commute puts a strain on their back. At some point in our lives most of us will have back pain for […]

17th March was St Patrick’s Day yesterday and if, like many, you consumed more than your yearly recommended intake of alcohol, you may have cursed your alarm this morning. Of course you have to get up and go to work for 8 hours, the whole time promising yourself that you will never drink like that […]

Now that most of us have a heavier work load than ever, it’s important for us not to allow work to swamp our private lives. Whilst overtime is commonplace when necessary, constant overtime is not. So here are some tips on how to leave work on time.