You have a duty to your employees as an employer Workplace Investigations Geelong. You should do this to protect your business from being negatively affected by staff absences and to keep your employees healthy and happy. Every employer must keep an absence record for every employee. This will enable you to spot any patterns of absence, or alerts you to an employee suffering from long-term illness. Each department in your company should keep their own records. This allows you to compare the absence of different departments. It is important to remember that employee absence records should be handled in accordance with the Data Protection Act, 1998. Records of employee absence must be destroyed 3 years after the date they were made (regardless if it was financial). Employees should also be informed if statistics are being monitored.

As an employer, you should conduct an investigation into the work environment in that particular department if you see a trend. In addition, you can ask senior members of your staff to give an update on any issues in the department that could be the cause of the high levels of absenteeism.

A return to work interview is a good way to go. This private interview with the employee should be done in front of their manager. The interview is important for several reasons. It will reveal why the employee missed work, if there are any underlying health issues that may lead to further absences and most importantly, if he or she is well enough to go back to work. This interview is also a good opportunity for the employee to voice their concerns about their workplace and/or their colleagues, which could have caused their absence.