Absence management: Jargon buster

Section 9 of the Personnel Today Management Resources one stop guide to absence management provides a glossary of common terms relating to absence management. Other sections.

Absence counselling Non-judgemental discussions with employees about the nature and causes of their absence, and about the potential steps that can be taken to prevent or minimise recurrence.

Absence data benchmarking Comparing internal statistics on absence with those of appropriate comparators - for example, nationally, regionally or by industrial sector.

Absence policy A clear, written statement of the organisation's approach to the management of absence, setting out key principles and procedures to be followed by managers and employees.

Acas Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service. Responsible for drawing up statutory and other codes of practice on employment matters, including discipline.

Annualised hours Employment contract calculated on the basis of total hours working across a 12-month period, allowing the organisation and/or employees to vary working hours and patterns to suit operational or personal needs - for example, working longer hours at peak operational periods.

Attendance bonuses or incentives Any financial or similar payment provided by the employer in recognition of achieving defined attendance levels, either by individual employees or teams, or across the organisation as a whole.

Bradford Factor or Bradford Formula Formula designed to highlight both the number of incidents of absence and the total time taken off. Bradford points are derived from the formula: (Spells of absence)² x Number of days absent.

DDA Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Further details can be found at www.dwp.gov.uk/dda

Disability A physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person's ability to carry out day-to-day activities.

Employee assistance programmes (EAPs) Formal provision of support to employees, normally through confidential telephone helplines, in dealing with any kinds of work-related or domestic problem - for example, in areas such as health, finances and personal problems - with the facility to refer employees to appropriate external advisers.

Flexible working Various forms of flexibility in working patterns, used to meet operational needs - such as 24-hour services - and/or to help address employees' domestic or other circumstances. Examples include part-time working, home-working, shift working and accumulated hours.

Health and Safety Regulations Six sets of regulations, which came into effect in 1993.

HSC Health and Safety Commission, which is responsible for drawing up health and safety legislation.

HSE Health and Safety Executive, which is responsible for enforcing and supporting implementation of legislation drawn up by the HSC.

HSWA Health and Safety at Work (etc) Act, 1974. Further details can be found at www.hse.gov.uk/workers

Occupational sick pay Any sick pay provided by the employer in excess of statutory requirements.

Return-to-work interviews Formal interviews held with employees following any period of absence to discuss the causes of the absence and to minimise the risk of recurrence.

Statutory sick pay Statutory payment made by the employer for up to 28 weeks in one spell of sickness. Spells of at least four days in a row, with eight weeks or less between them are counted as one spell.

Trigger points Defined absence levels - in terms of total time off, periods of absence or both - at which formal action will be taken by management.