How can you establish why there is a high turnover of staff in your business?

Whilst labour turnover can be healthy for an organisation it can also be very costly. There are costs associated with the payroll and HR administration of the leaver, direct costs of recruiting a replacement, management costs in time spent interviewing candidates, costs associated with the induction and training of a new employee and loss of productivity from those leaving and until a new employee is fully trained.

Exit interviews are a simple and effective way to establish why people are leaving. Wherever possible, the exit interview should take place a short time after employees hand in their notice, in private and the interviewer should not be the employee’s direct manager or someone who may be required to write them a reference in the future.

You should explain the purpose of the interview and assure confidentiality. Ask questions which will aid you in establishing the real reasons and influences behind an employee’s decision to leave your business.

If trends are identified as a result, then it would be appropriate for you to consider possible changes to working conditions, terms and conditions, benefits, internal processes and those issues that are specific to departments, including management styles.

If an employee is reluctant to attend an exit interview then you may want to consider an alternative such as an exit questionnaire. Ideally, the business should have a policy informing employees that they may be asked to attend an exit interview to enable the Company to learn how to improve the working experience for staff.

What are my obligations when I receive a ‘fit note’ stating that one of my employees ‘may be fit for work’

The new fit note or ‘Statement of Fitness for Work’ has introduced a conceptual change on managing employee sickness absence by focusing on the work employees can do rather than what they can’t do.

A doctor will give a ‘may be fit for work’ statement if they think that their patient’s health condition may allow them to work if they get suitable support from their employer. For example, a phased return to work, altered hours, amended duties or workplace adaptations.

If you are unable to make any of the recommended adjustments, you should treat the statement as if your employee remains unfit for work.

However, it is very important to note that your obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 have not changed and this act makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate against employees who have disabilities.

Therefore, if your employee’s condition is defined as "a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities", you have a duty to make reasonable adjustments in order to accommodate the needs of an employee with a disability. As a minimum you should be proactive in assessing and making suggestions as what adjustments might be helpful, along with consulting with your employee in order to establish their views. We would also recommend that you obtain, with agreement, a full and proper assessment from a doctor for guidance on the employee's condition and its effects, in order to establish what reasonable adjustments may be made to eliminate any discriminatory effect in the workplace.

How should you deal with employee absence if they are delayed returning from holiday?

Travel delays have been at the forefront of the news in recent months due to the volcanic ash situation and you would need to agree a sensible approach with affected employees on how to account for their delay back to work. Granting the time off as annual leave entitlement or unpaid leave are clearly the most sensible options. However, whichever policy you adopt, you should ensure that you extend it to any employee who is affected, to retain fairness and consistency in your approach.

If an employee is delayed returning from holiday due to an unfortunate situation, such as their partner or travelling companion being hospitalised, then you would also want to consider either granting annual or unpaid leave. However, if the Company has a policy on dealing with emergencies then you could grant the additional time off under this policy – paid or unpaid depending on the policy. You will also need to have a conversation with your employee regarding how best to deal with unavoidable unfortunate events such as these.

Finally, if an employee falls ill on holiday and subsequently does not return to work after their holiday has ended, then I would recommend that you follow your standard reporting procedure and requirements for supporting medical information. This includes the possibility of requesting a doctor's certificate while an employee is on holiday (even if abroad) certifying that, at that time, the employee was incapable of work. You should be aware that an employee may also request that their holiday be classed as sick leave if their illness started during their holiday. This would result in the employee being paid sick pay during this time and requesting they take their annual leave at another time.