Sun, Sea & Unauthorised Summer Absence

The sun is shining, the holiday season is upon us and schools are closing for the end of term break. A mixture of sunshine and many children out of school needing to be cared for often result in an increase in people wanting to take time off work around this time.

The majority of annual leave requests will already have been managed, but what happens when time off is taken or requested by employees and hasn’t been authorised?

We’ve collated some tips on handling certain unauthorised absence situations. If you need immediate support in handling unauthorised absences in your workplace, get in touch with one of Croner’s experts on 0800 141 3807. 

What do I do if an employee doesn’t show up for work, without an explanation? 

If one of your employees doesn’t show up and doesn’t give you an explanation, you should try and get in contact with them. Through this call, you should try and find the reason for their absence. 

If your employee informs you that they are unfit for work, you should remind them of the sickness absence reporting procedure and see if they’ve followed the correct process. 

What if I can’t get in contact with my employee? 

If you find that you can’t contact your employee, try and get in contact with their next of kin, to check on your employees wellbeing. 

If you are unable to get through to both your employee and their next of kin, you should proceed to write to your employee. In this letter, you should state that you’ve not received an explanation for their absence, and remind them of the sickness absence reporting process. You should also ask them to contact you urgently to explain their absence. 

When your employee returns to work, you should launch an investigation into the circumstance of your employees absence. Following this, you should proceed with the appropriate disciplinary action that aligns with the company disciplinary policy, if appropriate. 

Suspicious summer absences 

When an employee takes a suspicious period of sickness absence, for example, where it occurs at a time where an employee had previously submitted a request for annual leave which was refused. 

You should ensure that your employee follows the proper sickness absence reporting procedure including providing a fit note when required. 

When your employee returns to work you should perform a return to work meeting. This will be where the nature of their absence is discussed, this meeting can be documented and doubled up as an investigation meeting.

If there is a medical certificate or note from a doctor it can be difficult to prove that the sickness absence was not genuine. Without these documents you may be able to pursue disciplinary action against your employee in line with the company’s disciplinary procedure. 

In all circumstances, employers should keep a copy of the absence note on record. This will help identify when patterns start to emerge, and it can be dealt with accordingly. A pattern may provide the compelling evidence required to deal with this as a disciplinary matter on a future occasion. 

When the employee takes a suspicious period of sickness absence, for example where it occurs at a time in respect of which the employee has previously submitted a request for annual leave which was refused.

The employee requests time off to care for a dependent.

There is a statutory right to time off for dependants leave. However, the entitlement is to a reasonable amount of time off to deal with an emergency situation and make longer-term arrangements.

Discuss the circumstances with the employee to ascertain if they amount to an “emergency”. This may include caring for a child when they fall suddenly ill or where there has been an unexpected interruption to a child’s care arrangements. It is unlikely to include pre-planned absences to attend an appointment with a dependant for example.

You should also try and ascertain how long the employee intends to be off work for. Whether this amounts to a “reasonable” amount of time off will depend on the circumstances.

Unless the employee’s contract or company policy documentation states otherwise there is no need to pay the employee for the time off.

If the time off requested is not reasonable and/or is not in respect of an emergency situation it should not be dealt with as time off for dependents. Consider instead whether some other form of leave could be appropriate to the circumstances such as compassionate or annual leave for example.

Advice should, of course, be sought at each stage in dealing with these matters. Please call our employment advice helplines to speak with an advisor who will be more than happy to discuss individual circumstances with you.

Talk to a Croner advisor

For more information about the absences for employees, please contact Croner’s expert HR team today on 0800 141 3914.