Recording Employee Sick Pay And Absences

For a small business, someone calling in sick at the worst possible moment isn’t just inconvenient – it’s chaos.

Work slows down, stress ramps up, and suddenly everyone’s pretending they’re fine while secretly asking chat GPT ‘how long is too long for a cold?’

This helps no one. Except maybe Chris from the shop next door, who’s making a killing on Dettol wipes.

Cutting the number of days employees take off sick can be a challenge, but there are things you can do to ensure you don’t turn into the office villain. Which we’ll discuss in this blog!

Set clear rules on how your employees notify you of an absence

Believe it or not, having a clear policy in place prevents excessive or unnecessary absences. That’s because they’ll need to follow a formal procedure, rather than shoot you a quick text to say they’re sick when really they’re binge-watching Friends. To do this properly you should:

Have a solid procedure in place, updating the company handbook

First off – we hope and pray you have a company handbook. If you don’t, sort one out, immediately. And in it state the new procedure outlining exactly what employees need to do when reporting an absence. For example:

A return-to-work interview helps you understand why they were off, and if you can help.

For example, you might find one employee is struggling with childcare, so you come to an agreement to change their hours around.

Pro tip: Ensure you actually tell them there’s a handbook and have them sign and agree to it. Otherwise, them not following it is on you. Soz.

Use an absence diary

You can usually use an absence diary within your payroll software documenting the exact start and end date of their sickness. This will give you real-time tracking, alerting managers instantly – so they aren’t waiting for Molly to hop on a sales call when her heads down a toilet.

Keep the records securely

Absence records often include sensitive personal data, so they must be handled carefully.

Under GDPR, you must ensure:

Nobody needs the whole office knowing that Tom’s been off because his dog bit his toe off.

If you’re not using dedicated HR software, secure options include:

And importantly, make it clear to employees that this information is confidential. That trust matters more than most businesses realise.

Identify the sick pay they are owed

As of the 6th of April 2026 – Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) is a day-one right. That means employees are entitled to it from their very first full day of sickness – rather than the previous three-day waiting period. There’s also no earning limit either.

That means, every one of your employees is entitled to either:

SSP is paid in the same way as normal wages.

Getting this right is essential – not just for compliance, but for trust. Payroll mistakes in this area tend to stick in people’s minds. Which in turn makes them stressed that they won’t receive their SSP whilst off sick.

Make it feel like a safe space

Your workforce should feel supported when they need time off. Having a procedure in place that identities why they’re off and is highly confidential, will help them take the time they need. And whilst this can be stressful at first, it prevents others from getting ill, and your employee who’s sick from burnout. It can also help identify the fibbers!

What else can help reduce sick days?

Beyond absence policies, broader workplace culture plays a huge role.

Some companies have experimented with unlimited holiday policies, with firms like Netflix and Virgin exploring flexible approaches.

While that may not suit every business, the underlying principle is trust and autonomy.

More realistic steps for small businesses include:

When employees feel supported and trusted, they’re less likely to take unnecessary time off – and more likely to recover fully when they do need it.

Record keeping can be stressful. Have you got bookkeeping software you can trust? Create an account today and decide what to do with all the extra time you get back.