In July 2013, new fees were introduced to pursue disputes against employers in the tribunal courts to defer employees from lodging unfounded claims. Type A claims for sexual harassment, unfair dismissal and discrimination cost claimants £1,200. Type B claims to recover unpaid wages or holiday pay cost the employees £390. This has had a major […]

The Bradford Factor is a neat mathematical formula for calculating absence levels and triggering management action. It is focused on targeting frequent short-term absence, based on the principle that this type of absence is more disruptive to the workplace. The Bradford Factor formula is:

Lunchtime tackles absence with Honeydew – client interview We recently asked Jillian Scotney HR Director from Lunchtime about their experience working with Honeydew. Lunchtime is schools contract caterer with schools across London, Cambridge shire and Norfolk. They have been using Honeydew’s system since January 2017.

The Society of Occupational Medicine has published a report building the business case for Occupational Health (OH). Many employers are concerned about the cost of Occupational Health services but this report aims to show that effective use of OH adds real value.

Fit for Work has put together a great resource on mental health conditions for employers. It talks about how common these issues are and how to spot them early. Very importantly, the infographic also talks about the return to work process. Returning to work after any long term absence can be hard but especially sufferers […]

Ealing and Hammersmith West London College is a busy further education college. In a bold move in their sector the college decided to proactively  tackle a culture of high absence in September 2015. They’ve achieved more than £150,000 in annual savings through absence reduction.

Vertas is the fastest growing multi-service facilities management company in UK’s eastern region. They have been using Honeydew’s system since November 2014. By tackling absence proactively, they achieved more than £217,000 quarterly savings.

Our favourite Christmas present this year was The Ladybird Book of the Sickie. Here are some stories about sickies to inspire you in 2017:   Laurence and Ben are enjoying a bout of imaginary food poisoning. Food poisoning is always good because it is over quickly and nobody likes to hear stories about toilets.

On 2nd November 2016, CIPD published its 17th annual absence management survey results. For me, the interesting finding were not the headline figures of the report but that the sample size had nearly doubled, reaching 1091 respondents. For years, the group size has fluctuated both sides of the 600 mark.

The MDU, a leading medical defence organisation in the UK, regularly receives requests for legal advice from GPs whose patients have forged documents. The organisation issued a warning to doctors in September 2016 to watch out for fraudulent documents.