Sickness and absence policy template: supportive, usable, specific.
A structure for reporting, contact, evidence, pay, return-to-work and fair attendance review.
What should a sickness absence policy include?
A sickness absence policy should explain how and when to report absence, contact during absence, evidence, sick pay, return-to-work, attendance review and the support available for disability or long-term health conditions.
It should distinguish a supportive health conversation from an automatic disciplinary trigger.
What matters
Start with the rule
A sickness absence policy should explain how and when to report absence, contact during absence, evidence, sick pay, return-to-work, attendance review and the support available for disability or long-term health conditions.
Write down the decision
Keep the policy, dates, calculation inputs and decision together so another person can understand what happened.
Check the current source
Health information is special-category personal data, and disability-related absence may engage Equality Act duties. Take advice on individual cases.
A practical checklist
For a small team, a short repeatable process beats an impressive policy nobody follows.
- Reporting route and timing
- Contact and fit-note expectations
- Statutory and company sick pay
- Return-to-work conversation
- Long-term absence and adjustments
- Attendance review and privacy
- Who may access health information
Where software helps — and where it does not
HollyHR can keep the relevant people record, dates, documents, leave and working pattern in one place. It cannot decide a legal, medical or employee-relations question for you.
Health information is special-category personal data, and disability-related absence may engage Equality Act duties. Take advice on individual cases.
Check the source, not just our summary
Rules and product pages change. These are the first-party references behind this page.
Questions people ask
Is this legal advice?
No. It is a practical summary for UK small teams. Check the linked official guidance and take qualified advice for a specific or disputed case.
Why keep the source with the calculation?
Rates and rules change. Recording the inputs, date and source makes the answer reviewable instead of becoming an unexplained number in a spreadsheet.
Can HollyHR track this?
HollyHR can hold the underlying employee, working-pattern, leave and document records. It does not present itself as a legal-advice engine.
Proper HR, without the big-system palaver.
HollyHR is free for up to 10 active people. We're onboarding early-access teams one at a time.
Keep reading: Sickness tracking · UK GDPR for HR