 Managing absence is important. It helps your cooperative reduce staff turnover and creates a happy and motivated workforce. We'll be looking at the steps your cooperative should take to manage both short and long term absences within the workplace. To help your staff understand how your cooperative manages absence, it's useful to have a policy in place. You can find out what to include at www.acas.org.uk 80% of absences within the workplace are short term and are caused by minor health issues such as colds, viruses or toothache. A long-term absence may be linked to a more serious health issue and last several weeks or indefinitely. Both short and long-term absences can be linked to a disability. Employees who are disabled are protected from discrimination and absence should be managed with care. To qualify for protection an employee must have a condition which substantially affects or is likely to affect their normal daily activities for at least 12 months. Some conditions such as cancer are protected from the point of diagnosis. Employers are legally required to make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees. A reasonable adjustment can include changes to the job or workplace such as providing additional support, equipment or changing aspects of the role. Many organisations ask their employees to telephone their manager within an hour of their start time. Where absences likely to continue agree how you would like to be updated whether this is by phone or email. If your employee is off work for more than seven days they will need to visit their GP to get a statement of fitness for work, certifying their absence, keep a record of all absences and store the information securely. You can find out more about your data protection duties at www.ico.org.uk Statements of fitness for work are issued by GPs. The note can confirm that an individual is unfit for work or whether return is possible with workplace adjustments. This could include a phase return. Your cooperative should consider whether the adjustments can be accommodated. Don't forget that disabled people have the right to reasonable adjustments. Where you are managing an absence it is useful to get a report from an occupational health provider. You will receive detailed information about the employee's health, whether the illness could amount to a disability, likely return to work and suitable adjustments. Where absence is likely to last for four weeks employers and GPs can refer individuals to the government's free occupational health service. Employees are eligible to be paid statutory sick pay or SSP where they have been off work for more than three days up to a maximum of 28 weeks. You can find out the details at www.gov.uk. The amount of SSP is set by Parliament but your cooperative can pay more. When the employee returns to work holder return to work meeting. At the meeting you will want to check that your employee is well enough to be at work and the reasons for their absence. You can dismiss an employee where their sickness absence levels become unsustainable but you must follow a fair process. Failing to do this could result in a tribunal claim being issued against your cooperative. Where your employee has an unacceptable level of short-term absences. You will need to warn the employee that their current absence levels are unacceptable and give them time to make an improvement. They should be told that dismissal may be an outcome if they fail to improve performance. Dismissal without giving formal warnings will never be fair. Take care. If the absences are related to an underlying condition or a disability use the approach we'll talk about next. For long-term absence you will need to engage in regular discussions with the employee throughout their absence. Investigate the cause of the absence and likelihood of a return to work or ability to keep attendance. The best way to do this is to get the opinion of an expert in occupational health. Any dismissal meeting should also consider these points. Particularly whether there is any information to suggest an imminent return to work. You should always give the employee the opportunity to appeal their dismissal. You can get more support at www.acas.org.uk. Watch our other videos on the Hive website.