The College of North West London | Absence Management Services

Results

- Sickness absence reduced by 26%

- 351 fewer days lost to sickness absence and an average of half a day less suckness absence per employee over the first two quarters of 2009

- Absence reduced 4.61& to 2.16% in year one

Absence Reduction

Days lost per month 2008 vs. 2009

The College of North West London was already convinced of the case for an efficient absence management service, but had found shortcomings in its system, prompting it to replace the incumbent provider and appoint FirstCare instead. Under the previous system, although keen to reduce both long and short term absence, the College was not able to obtain data differentiating medical and non-medical absences.

“Although we could see some benefits of absence management as a discipline, we found the system that we were using lacked flexibility, and wouldn’t do what we required,” explained HR Director, Anna Openshaw. “We’ve found the FirstCare approach to be less expensive and very adaptable to our needs. FirstCare are also constantly developing their processes in order to give us a clearer picture and better control of absence.” The FirstCare system went live in the College on 1 September 2007, and has since yielded a marked decrease in short term sickness absence.

The absence of just one member of the teaching staff, in particular, has a huge knock on effect for the College. “In many cases, we can’t just replace one member of staff with another as would be the case in other organisations; so we need to know as soon as possible that an absence has begun,” continues Anna Openshaw. “Before the advent of FirstCare, people reporting an absence would only call in and let us know once they knew that the office would be staffed and the college day had effectively already started. Being able to call at any hour and tell FirstCare that they won’t be in that day has meant that we are alerted to absences at the earliest possible opportunity and are able to plan accordingly.

With the FirstCare method of collecting real time data, we are much better informed at any giventime.”

Thanks to FirstCare’s specially created software and processes, managers at The College of North West London are immediately alerted when an absence is reported, and regularly updated and advised of the proposed return to work date. Triggers are set in line with the absence policy, and data is provided to assist managers with its application. This best serves the needs of managers and allows them to address and improve potential problem situations as they develop. In addition, line managers can accurately monitor their team’s overall absence performance and make comparisons to other departments.

The College can now distinguish easily between sickness related and non-sickness related absence. The real time data also enables the College to pinpoint specific nonsickness related reasons for absence; such as care of a dependent, bereavement, appointments, transport problems or personal reasons. This helps the College to identify and address any ongoing staff concerns and to formulate policies and processes for the future.

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