Business Legal Services

Absence & Sickness Management

Our employment experts support businesses like yours to get employees back to work effectively, as soon as they are well enough. We can help you manage absence and sickness consistently, and avoid potentially costly employment tribunal claims.

Use our employment solicitors to get your sickness policies and procedures right from the start, manage short-term and long-term absence and be clear on medical conditions and disability legislation. Accessing advice early can help avoid temporary staff costs, breach of contract and unfair dismissal claims.

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Experts in employment law

In addition to drafting and reviewing sickness policies and procedures, our team can assist you across all areas of employment law, including:

Discipline & Grievance Procedures 

Employee Share Schemes 

Employment Contracts 

Employment Status and IR35 

HR Audit 

Senior Employee Exits 

Settlement Agreements 

Transactions and TUPE 

Our team of employment solicitors can support you with:

Drafting a clear and robust sickness absence policy.

We draft robust sickness absence procedures for employers, that align with your business needs, and produce accompanying documentation.

Collecting information from employees or medical professionals when staff are off sick

We’ll advise you on the process for contacting GPs and medical professionals and how to communicate with employees when they are off sick.

Advice on what to do if an employee has been repeatedly absent for short periods of time

We will not only draft policy documents for you, but we will explain them to you and will be there to guide you on how to practically apply them.

Drafting wider employment documentation

We can draft or review your other employment policies and contracts to help prevent grievances from arising in the first place. We believe that prevention is better than cure and so if your business has clear, easily accessible policies, this can avoid future problems.

How to deal with a situation where sickness absence is not genuine

If you have concerns that an employee’s sickness may not be genuine, we can advise on the best steps to take. We offer guidance on how to manage employees who are not following the sickness procedure as they should, including handling disciplinary action.

Advice on medical conditions that come under the legal definition of a disability and consideration of reasonable adjustments

We can advise on how you make sure you’re meeting the needs of disabled employees and complying with equality legislation.

How to manage long-term absences and situations where a return to work is unlikely

We are experienced at looking at situations where employees may not be able to return to work, even with adjustments employers might be able to agree. We can advise you on the correct action to take.

What are the benefits of getting absence and sickness management right?

Face fewer employment tribunal claims

A clear sickness absence policy and procedure minimises your chances of having to defend an employment tribunal. If you get specialist advice early on, particularly where an employee is or may be considered disabled, an uncapped compensation award under the Equality Act is also much less likely. Defending an employment tribunal claim costs your business stress, time and resources, so it is worth getting these processes right to avoid extra expense for your business.

Reduce your staffing costs

You can dismiss an employee on capability grounds if they are regularly off sick or have been off work sick for a long time, as long as your policy and procedures are fair and non-discriminatory. Following well-drafted employment processes can reduce the amount your business pays out in sick pay and temporary staffing costs. We can help you get this right, and the sooner you get advice, the better for your business.

Focus your time and money on running your business

Allow our experts to draft and update your staff documents, reduce the time you spend on this task and enjoy peace of mind. Our senior employment solicitors are vastly experienced and can take care of time-consuming drafting of policies, procedures and staff handbooks, letting you get on with running your business.

Maximise your business productivity

We can advise you on return to work strategies such as adjustments to employee duties, working times and phased returns. Workplace stress is often a cause of staff sickness and so an approachable contact within your business and an ‘open door policy’ can help to reduce staff sickness and increase productivity. If staff are happier and not distracted by other issues at work, they are more likely to be more productive, and less likely to take time off sick. Operating a clear and accessible sickness policy covering both short and long-term absence means your staff are more likely to understand what is expected of them. The consequences of not complying with your sickness policy should be made clear, including details of any disciplinary action.

Who we help: Employers of all sizes and from a variety of sectors all over the UK

We support a wide range of UK-based employer clients, but we do not represent employees. We advise clients from diverse sectors whether they are start-ups, SMEs or large multinationals. Our specialist employment solicitors can advise on contentious and non-contentious matters quickly and affordably.

Testimonials

What our clients say

Harper James have become a vital part of our business. We get quality advice from experienced solicitors at prices that other firms do not appear to be able to match.

Veejay Lingiah CEO, Flash Sticks

As with any business, we need access to good quality legal advice without the fear of facing huge legal fees. The service provided by Harper James is ideal because they are always available to assist and we know that the advice provided is of outstanding quality, with pricing that is cost effective and completely transparent.

Laura Bowen Director, Admedo

Choosing Harper James was one of the best choices we made as a start-up. The firm has provided invaluable advice and insight throughout the early stages of our business.

Leigh Purnell CEO, Petalite

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Why choose Harper James? Our sickness absence solicitors’ experience

As the law firm for entrepreneurs, our team of legal experts know their specialism inside out. Thanks to our track record of partnering with high-growth businesses, we understand the common and complex issues you face as owners and operators. Our team of remote-based and always accessible senior lawyers are the people to call when you need a second opinion, or specialist advice fast.

We have an experienced and empathetic employment team who are well-versed in dealing with legal matters arising from employee sickness and absence. Learn more about the team’s experience here:

Partner and Head of Employment Law

Simon acts for employers of all sizes, particularly tech and manufacturing, and specialises in managing people matters, including TUPE, sales and acquisitions of companies, and restructures/redundancies.

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