Recording sickness absence helps employers understand how often absence occurs, how long it lasts and whether there are patterns that may need attention.
Acas recommends recording the number of absences, the length of each absence and the reason for the absence.
Sickness records can contain sensitive personal information. Employers should consider confidentiality and data protection, and only share medical information with relevant people.
What should an employer record?
- The date the absence started.
- The date the employee returned.
- The length of the absence.
- The reason for the absence where appropriate.
- Any relevant return-to-work or follow-up information.
Acas says differentiating between reasons can help employers understand patterns and decide on appropriate next steps.
Keep different absence types separate
A single long-term absence should not automatically be treated in the same way as repeated short-term absence.
Acas also notes that some absences, including pregnancy-related or disability-related absence, may need to be recorded separately to help avoid discriminatory decisions.
Avoid discrimination
Employers must not discriminate when managing sickness absence. Disabled employees may need time off for treatment or may have higher absence levels because of their disability.
Reasonable adjustments may be required. Employers should look at the individual circumstances rather than relying only on a raw absence total.
Data protection and confidentiality
Employers should have a clear reason for keeping sickness information and should make sure it is only accessible to relevant people.
Medical information should not be made visible across the wider team simply because an absence appears in a shared calendar.
Looking for absence patterns
Recording absence can help identify whether absence levels are unusually high, whether certain reasons occur frequently or whether particular groups need support.
Trigger or review-point systems can be used, but they need to be applied appropriately and must not override the need to consider disability, pregnancy and other protected circumstances.
Use a consistent absence system
A staff absence tracker can help managers record sickness separately from annual leave and keep team availability clearer.
Awayly allows companies to configure sickness and other custom time-off types so they do not have to use annual leave for every kind of absence.
Official sources
This guide provides general information for UK employers and teams. It is not legal advice. Employment circumstances can differ, so check current official guidance or obtain professional advice where needed.