Sickness absence and ill‑health‑related inactivity are rising in the UK, creating increasing cost and operational pressures for employers. With growing mental health issues and more chronic and musculoskeletal conditions linked to an ageing workforce, effective absence management is becoming essential.
The UK Government’s Keep Britain Working report highlights the scale of these challenges, underscoring the need for employers to take proactive action. Our recent webcast, How companies in the UK are rethinking absence management, explored these issues and the FAQs below address additional questions raised during the session.
Q: How can organisations use better analytics to move from reacting to absence after it happens to a more preventative approach?
A: Organisations are shifting from simply managing absence to understanding people more deeply. It’s important to look beyond absence rates and analyse patterns, employee journeys, benefit usage, job roles and demographics. For example, a public sector organisation found teams with low absence actually had low engagement scores, signalling hidden presenteeism. The key point here is that low absence does not always mean low risk. Using richer insights helps target interventions before absence occurs and identify where employee experience is breaking down.
Q: We’re being challenged internally about why we haven’t made more progress on improving absence rates. With competing priorities and limited HR resources, how can we realistically improve outcomes?
A: Many organisations face this challenge. First, ensure you have good data and understand what it’s telling you. Analyse which departments are affected, identify the top conditions driving absence, examine age and gender patterns, and understand the balance between long-term versus short-term absence trends. Use existing benefits, policies and processes to create targeted interventions rather than trying to build new programmes from scratch. Line managers remain the “first line of defence” and need confidence and tools to act effectively in their role.
Q: What are other organisations doing to address workplace stress?
A: Workplace stress is high-profile and rising across all sectors. Employers are building manager capability to understand stress triggers and prevent burnout before it leads to absence. Some employees struggle with their own manager, so creating escalation routes and proper infrastructure matters significantly. Simple adjustments can help in many cases, including role clarity, workload changes, and flexible working patterns. Preventative benefits such as Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) and early intervention tools are essential and should be well-utilised across the organisation.
Q: How can we better support employees living with long-term or chronic illness?
A: Long-term illness is one of the top five reported issues driving absence in UK workplaces. Employers should create workplaces where individuals don’t need to go off sick and where those who are out of work can return successfully. Use a “toolkit” approach that includes Wellness Action Plans, reasonable adjustments, clear check-ins, and collaboration with occupational health, rehabilitation teams, and clinical specialists. Line manager confidence remains central to success in this area. Most importantly, the employee must be at the centre of any support approach — support needs to be personalised to individual circumstances and needs.
Q: What do you suggest line managers can offer as support if a business does not provide a healthcare policy or cash plan to workers. Waiting for a GP appointment is difficult and sometimes medical reports are not forthcoming.
A: When formal healthcare plans aren't in place, the support becomes "conversation-led." Focus on what can be controlled internally: reasonable adjustments, workload flexibility, and empathetic signposting. Even without a private plan, there are excellent free resources available, such as the "RTW" (Return to Work) tool by Swiss Re, which can help guide both managers and employees through the recovery process. The key is maintaining an open dialogue so the employee feels supported while navigating the public health system.
Q: How do we drive line manager capability and confidence in the workplace?
A: True manager capability is built through consistent, regular education rather than one-off training. To move the needle, organisations must provide the right infrastructure: ensuring manageable spans of control (the right number of staff per manager) and providing clear access to HR and ER experts for complex cases. We also highly recommend establishing peer support networks where managers can share experiences and escalation routes to ensure they never feel they are managing health-related issues in a vacuum.
Q: What are your top tips for SMEs who don’t necessarily have internal teams to focus on this, nor have access to occupational health or provide private medical, and where absence rates can be volatile each year?
A: For SMEs with volatile absence rates and limited resources, we recommend focusing on "high-impact" protection. A limited-term Group Income Protection (GIP) policy can be an excellent, cost-effective option for SMEs . Many GIP providers include "built-in" support services—such as case management support, virtual GPs and Employee Assistance Programme (EAPs)—which can essentially act as an outsourced wellbeing team for a smaller business.
Q: What works effectively to monitor sickness absence levels? What do "triggers" and interventions generally look like?
A: For monitoring to be effective, every instance of absence must be documented consistently by either the employee or the manager . "Triggers" are typically set based on a certain number of days or specific repeating patterns. The purpose of a trigger is not to be punitive, but to act as a prompt for an escalated conversation. This ensures that if a performance adjustment or a health intervention is needed, it is identified and documented early, ensuring consistency across the entire company.
Q: How can employers get more help and understanding on setting up “conditions specific” pathways as early intervention or making return to work effective?
A: Designing pathways that address specific health conditions (like musculoskeletal issues or mental health) allows for much faster and more effective recovery. At WTW, we work closely with organisations to audit their current processes and design these bespoke clinical pathways. We can help you identify where your risks lie and ensure your intervention strategy is both preventative and high-performing.
What actions can you take now
To be successful in lowering absence rates, reducing costs and building a healthier and more productive workforce will require absence management in the UK to shift from a reactive process to a proactive, strategic function. That will mean building more resilient absence management capabilities today, to be better prepared for the future.
Here’s three things you can do now
- Audit your current absence processes:
Review policies, sick pay arrangements and communication strategies - Engage in an absence strategy workshop:
Identify gaps and refine internal pathways to align benefits and best practices - Leverage data & provider performance:
Monitor provider metrics, renegotiate terms and explore condition-specific pathways
How we can help you to reduce absence
We support organisations to building effective absence strategies and improving employee wellbeing through:
We audit existing absence processes, review sick pay policies, and benchmark benefits to ensure clarity and consistency. Our approach includes mapping pathways, improving signposting, and creating tailored communications for employees and managers.
From early intervention to complex case management, we provide in-house clinical expertise, ergonomic and workplace assessments, fitness-to-work evaluations, and guidance on ill-health retirement. We also offer Occupational Health tender support in the UK and globally, ensuring compliance with regulations and delivering cost-effective solutions.
We manage income protection and long-term absence claims from start to finish, liaising with employees, providers, and internal teams to reduce administrative burden and ensure compliance with legislation.
Our analytics help forecast absence costs, identify high-risk workforce segments, and optimise provider performance. We use data to inform strategic decisions and improve outcomes for both employers and employees.
Practical, modular training programme that equips line managers with the confidence, knowledge and behavioural skills to effectively support employee wellbeing, spot early warning signs, and navigate sensitive conversations.
Our Wellbeing Audit provides a clear, evidence-based assessment of what’s working and where gaps exist across health, wellbeing and absence. We review your policies, data, benefits and employee experience, benchmark against best practice and map your end to end pathways. You receive a practical summary of priority risks and quick win actions, plus a roadmap of improvements (including communications, manager capability and early intervention support).
Further information
If you’d like to understand how your organisation compares with others, you can complete our personalised scorecard to receive a tailored benchmark summary. This will highlight the steps you can take to address your biggest absence challenges. Get in touch to discuss your results, or take the survey today to receive your personalised scorecard
Author
Book a complimentary absence management discovery call
Line manager training programme
Equip your managers with the practical skills, knowledge and confidence to navigate sensitive conversations, spot early warning signs and build a safe culture.
