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View full libraryThis guide provides guidance on managing employees on long-term sick leave, including understanding legal obligations, conducting effective communication, implementing reasonable adjustments, and exploring return-to-work options.
The aim of this guidance is to support the management of cases of long-term or ongoing absence.
It focuses on 4 key areas:
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Maintaining Contact
Employees should remain contactable whilst absent from work due to ill-health and managers in turn are responsible for ensuring that regular contact is maintained.
Maintaining contact extends beyond simply ensuring that employees submit medical certificates on time. It should serve to update both managers and employees on progress, both with regard to the employee's absence but also on developments within the workplace. It is also through this contact that discussions can take place to increase understanding around the current position and it is not uncommon for this to lead to the creation of options (e.g. workplace adjustments) which support an employee to return to work earlier than they may have done previously.
In some cases, meeting within the workplace may not be appropriate however where possible, meeting within the workplace can help an absent employee maintain their connection with their work. It is good practice to allow the employee to be supported by a Trade Union Representative or work colleague at any absence meetings.
Early Stages
Important considerations at an early stage include identifying the cause of absence and taking appropriate action if possible. This may involve seeking medical advice.
It is also important to establish early on what the shared expectations are around contact. Informal contact should take place on a monthly basis as a minimum. This may be by telephone, but would ideally be face-to-face. This allows for quick, simple and effective communication to ensure that both parties are up-to-date, be that in relation to medical/absence progress or workplace developments.
Later Stages
In longer-term absence cases, particularly where there is a degree of uncertainty around progress or prognosis, more structured Absence Support Meetings should take place. The timing and need for these meetings should be assessed on a case-by-case basis, as every absence is different. As a guide, meetings may take place as per
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The primary aim in cases of long-term absence is to facilitate a return to work at the earliest possible point. The secondary aim is to then support any return to work effectively to minimise the risk of any further absences.
Yes. This template has been designed for organisations of all sizes, including small businesses, charities and growing employers. It follows UK employment law best practice and can be adapted to suit your organisation.
Our templates are developed with UK employment legislation, Acas guidance and HR best practice in mind and are reviewed and updated as relevant requirements change. However, every employment situation is different, so the template should be adapted to the circumstances and checked against the employee's contract and your organisation's procedures before use.
Yes, we highlight the areas of the document that you need to update with your own details, and where you need to make decisions to suit your situation. This saves you time and ensures that you meet best practice.
Yes. Once purchased, you'll be able to download it instantly. Templates are provided in editable format (such as .doc or .xls) so you can customise them easily, and in PDF format for easy sharing.
If you're looking for broader support, we also offer toolkits and library bundles that include the Managers guide to managing long term sick absence, along with other HR templates and policies for fully managing your situation. These may be more cost-effective if you need deeper advice.
AI can produce a document quickly, but effective HR documentation needs to be more than well-written words. It needs to reflect relevant UK employment law, HR best practice, practical considerations and the circumstances in which it will be used. These resources have been professionally developed around that wider HR context, drawing on extensive practical experience, rather than simply generating a generic document from a prompt.
How this content is developed and reviewed
The Managers guide to managing long term sick absence is developed using a practical HR methodology that considers current UK employment legislation, ACAS guidance, CIPD good practice and the real-world HR process it supports. Templates and supporting information are regularly reviewed and updated, with additional reviews triggered by significant changes to legislation, guidance or established HR practice, helping ensure each document remains practical, relevant and suitable for UK employers.
Darryl Horn, Chartered HR Director
Darryl is a Chartered HR professional with over 25 years' experience in senior HR and employee relations roles.
He has extensive practical experience of managing sick management HR processes and founded hrdocbox to provide businesses with practical, professionally developed HR resources grounded in UK employment law and best practice.
HRDocBox has been creating practical UK HR documents since 2009.
"Darryl provides support and advice with excellent judgement, and has a strong understanding of people, policies and UK employment legislation."
"He is someone I trust; consistent, dependable, and committed to doing things properly."
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