Frequent short absences brought under control, no formal process
47 days off in a year, all certified, all different conditions.
Owner-managed business · ~5 years' service employee
The situation
An employee with five years' service had accumulated 47 days of absence over 12 months, across many short periods, each certified with a different condition.
Why it was difficult
Frequent short-term absence is harder to manage than one long absence. Push too hard and you risk a claim; do nothing and it normalises across the team.
What Samantha did
Reviewed the pattern objectively rather than reacting to individual days
Used a fair, structured absence-review conversation
Set clear expectations and support without crossing into discrimination risk
Documented the approach consistently
What it could have cost
Push too hard and it is a claim. Do nothing and the rest of the team learns that absence carries no consequence. The second one costs more and takes years to undo.
The outcome
Absence reduced significantly. The situation was resolved without needing a formal capability process.
Absence dropped sharply. No formal process.
What this means for you
Patterns matter more than single days. A fair, structured conversation usually achieves more than a formal process, if you handle it correctly.
Anonymised. Sector, names and identifying details have been removed or changed. Outcomes reflect the specific circumstances of each case and are not a guarantee of any particular result.
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