I am looking into absence issues for my CIPD management report and one of the things I am very interested in is how “problem employees” are dealt with after you have tried all the usual methods of controlling absence. I have read somewhere that tribunals have criticised employers for using disciplinary to deal with frequent unrelated absences where the employer does not doubt how genuine the sickness etc was. (As discipline is meant to encourage a change in employee behaviour, how can they change this if they happen to be illness, accident prone or tend to have many personal problems). I would like to know about any experiences people may have had in using capability instead (ie is the employee capable of attending work on a regular basis?). Also has anyone out there designed an absence procedure which may be similar to a disciplinary procedure? Any info provided will be appreciated and confidentiality will be maintained.
Yvonne Saxon
