Return to Work Interviews

Surveys of employers indicate that return-to-work interviews do cut employee absence rates, making them an important tool for management. They should be treated as part of your good management practice, not a burden that is allowed to slip down a To-Do list, so always aim to hold the meeting as soon as possible after the employee has returned to work.

As soon as an employee has advised you that they are taking sick leave, you can be planning for their return to work interview – you’ll be hopeful that the meeting will be soon, but whenever it happens, you’re preparation will be useful.

Your main focus & objectives for the Interview:

• Welcome the employee back

• Check that the employee is ready to return, and has not come back early

• Confirm the reasons for the absence

• Discuss further to your understanding from conversations during the absence any problems that may have caused or contributed to the absence

• Where any causes are identified, discuss what help you as the employer can offer to address these

• Discuss any further action that may be necessary

Preparing for the Interview:

• Have details of all recent absences available

• Check for any patterns, recurring trends, or underlying illnesses

• Book a meeting room, or find somewhere quiet & private to conduct the meeting

• Be ready to listen to anything the employee will add

Holding the Meeting:

• Remember, this is a return-to-work Interview, not a disciplinary hearing (if a disciplinary becomes appropriate, deal with this separately, and in accordance with your disciplinary procedures)

• Use open questions to gather as much information as possible

• Ensure the employee is fit to return to work – from April 2010, employers will be receiving the new ‘fit notes’, and it will be the employer’s responsibility to consider these and carry out a risk assessment when the employee returns to work

• Identify the cause of the absence, and explore any ways this can be addressed for the future

• Be sensitive & considerate to the employee – they’ve just returned from sick leave, and you don’t want to cause them more problems, but address what you can for the future

• Remind the employee that their continued employment could be influenced by poor attendance

• Determine whether there are any disability issues that might need to be allowed for

• Discuss any failures of the employee to properly notify you of the absence promptly & fully – including how they notified you of the absence

After the Meeting

• Prepare a note of your discussions, covering all the points raised, and keep this in the personnel records

• Consider any reasonable adjustments you can make

• Determine whether you need to deal with the poor attendance as a disciplinary issue

• Continue to monitor the attendance, and take further action where problems continue or return

For more advice or assistance in managing attendance issues among staff, employers should remember that poor attendance should be treated as a disciplinary matter; check the other guides in this section; and contact Employment Law Clinic: