Attendance and absence case studies

Click on the colour-coded placemarks on the map below to see attendance and absence case studies from the past two years, or refer to the list below the map. 

On this page:
Electricity, gas and water (green placemark)
Finance (pink placemark)
Manufacturing (blue pin)
Paper and printing (purple placemark)
Public sector (red placemark)
Retail and wholesale (pale blue placemark)
Services (other) (blue placemark)
Transport and communications (yellow placemark)

View Attendance and absence case studies in a larger map

Electricity, gas and water

• BOC's focus on health supports employees through change A supportive approach to health and wellness at industrial gases supplier BOC has helped to ease stress during periods of change, reduce absence levels and ensure the loyalty of staff. 

Finance

• Stress management and absence: the legacy of Bradford & Bingley The management of stress represents one of the most important health and absence challenges for service sector employers; initiatives at financial services company Bradford & Bingley show what can be done to prevent and manage work-related stress; and absences from this cause have been halved. 

Manufacturing

• Improved absence reporting boosts Orangebox's attendance culture Office furniture manufacturer Orangebox has reduced short-term absences and strengthened its attendance culture by shifting responsibility for absence reporting and recording to its HR staff. 

Paper and printing

• IPC Media improves its occupational health and wellbeing services Consumer magazine publisher IPC Media has overhauled its absence management and health promotion practices, and opened an on-site occupational health centre as a focus for its efforts. 
• IPC Media manages the impact of recession on employees' health and wellbeing As the pressure of the recession on employees increases, we look at how health promotion and wellbeing measures can prevent stress at work from escalating. 

Public sector

• Stress management training promotes emotional wellbeing Training to cope with stress and mental health is available via the Wellness Works project, set up with the help of lottery funding; our case studies of the providers and end-users demonstrate the positive impact this training is having on employees. 
• Northern Ireland Housing Executive improves its absence management The number of days lost to absences from work has been cut by 4,250 a year at the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, thanks to improved absence recording software, greater help for line managers in tackling attendance management and a twin-track approach that focuses on both short- and long-term absence episodes. 
• Improving health and attendance at Somerset County Council Somerset County Council’s wide-ranging efforts to reduce employees’ absence and work-related stress have almost halved stress-related absences, saving it £0.5 million a year, and boosted employee motivation; it is now focusing on promoting employees’ health and wellbeing. 
• Focus on wellbeing raises staff commitment at North Hertfordshire College By introducing a health and wellbeing focus to a reinvigorated staff development programme, North Hertfordshire College has increased its workforce’s motivation, improved organisational performance and reduced absence levels. 
• Rethink uses good practice to employ people with mental ill health Mental health charity Rethink's successful measures to help recruit and retain individuals with mental ill health provide a model for other employers, particularly because its approach ensures that employees with mental health problems have the same absence levels as other employees. 
• Absence management in the round at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children has developed a raft of policies and initiatives to manage absence and work-related stress, but it believes that the role played by line managers makes all the difference. 
• How wellbeing schemes cut absence at the City of London Police By introducing a wellbeing strategy, the City of London Police has not only cut sickness rates almost in half but has also improved its performance ranking as a force. 
• Suffolk County Council introduces a new approach to absence management Suffolk County Council has been piloting a multi-stranded absence management initiative to help it improve attendance at work. Extensive consultation, top-level support and line manager training feature prominently, but so do absence “surgeries” where HR staff can advise managers on difficult cases. 
• Rochdale Boroughwide Housing's successful absence initiative Rochdale Boroughwide Housing inherited a workforce with an absence rate of 17.5 days a year. Since signing up to a nurse-led absence reporting system and launching other absence management and health promotion schemes, it is on track to almost halve its sickness rate in just five years. 

Retail and wholesale

• Banburys gains staff approval for absence management Devon-based retailer Banburys has cut its absence costs by reducing sick pay and introducing Bradford factor scores; to win over its staff, it spent eight months consulting them about the changes and introduced a subsidised health plan. 
• The caring ethos at the heart of John Lewis's absence policy John Lewis has an absence rate that is considerably lower than average for the retail sector, thanks to its astute absence management practices and long-term focus on keeping staff fit and well. 

Services (other)

• Culture change at GMB reduces sickness absence by 80% By introducing policies and procedures on absence management, and increasing employee awareness of stress and bullying issues, the GMB union's Yorkshire and North Derbyshire region reduced sickness absence rates from 7.3% to 1.3% over an 18-month period. 
• How United Response reduced absence by one-third An absence management system that gives autonomy to line managers and health-related support to employees has improved the personalised service that United Response provides to people in need - while also reducing organisational costs. 
• Law At Work customises its absence management policy Its recent divestment from a larger law firm has enabled HR consultancy Law At Work (Channel Islands) to create its own absence management policy, hone the return-to-work process and introduce an attendance incentive. 
• Aon's wellness programme reaps rewards at low cost A carefully evaluated pilot health and wellness programme for 50 Aon employees has provided evidence that health-related initiatives can increase engagement, energy levels and morale, as well as having a positive impact on attendance management. 
• Health and wellbeing aid attendance at Perceptive Informatics Clinical technology firm Perceptive Informatics has developed a wide-ranging set of "health, wealth and wellbeing" initiatives to ensure that sickness absence is kept to a minimum and to encourage physical and mental fitness among its workforce. 
• Measuring wellbeing brings rewards at the University of Huddersfield The Quality of Working Life benchmarking tool has enabled the University of Huddersfield to demonstrate healthy wellbeing and stress levels among staff, improve working practices and encourage changes in HR to improve absence management. 
• Grimsby Institute's health and wellbeing agenda cuts sickness absence Grimsby Institute of Further and Higher Education has introduced a raft of sickness absence management and wellbeing programmes to improve its employees’ health and attendance; IRS looks at how it has implemented these changes, which have more than halved absences in just five years. 

Transport and communications

• How the Royal Mail has reduced absence by more than 25% The Royal Mail's bid to cut its sickness absence has involved considerable expenditure, controversy and management time. Yet the investment has paid for itself. Absences have fallen by more than 25% in five years and its rehabilitation programme produces savings of £5 for every £1 spent. 
• How Wincanton reduced sickness absence by 10,000 days in six months Distribution company Wincanton has outsourced and improved its absence management and occupational health arrangements, helping it to reduce employee absence and encourage a more proactive approach to fostering employee wellbeing. 
• Managing mental health at BT BT has developed a wide-ranging programme of services and support to help its employees and their managers to prevent and manage mental health issues.