What are trigger points?
Absence management policies can provide support to employees during periods of ill health. However, the use of prescribed trigger points as a monitoring mechanism for intermittent short-term absence undermines this.
Trigger points are arbitrary points, based on either a certain number of periods of absence or total days absence over a set period, at which intervention is triggered.
Trigger points are a hindrance to recovery
Educators can feel pressured to return to work before they have fully recovered to avoid meeting a trigger point. This can negatively impact on the individual’s health, prolonging recovery and potentially leading to further instances of sickness absence.
Trigger points can encourage the spread of contagious illness in schools
Encouraging staff who are not fully recovered to return to work can potentially contribute to the spread of contagious illness in schools, leading to more sickness absence among staff and pupils.
Presenteeism undermines school performance
Research indicates that presenteeism - the practice of working while sick - can be just as costly as absenteeism to schools due to the increased likelihood of human error in performing duties. (Zoubiya Ahmed (2022) Presenteeism: Why are teachers still coming to school unwell?)
Trigger points create a culture of mistrust
Educators are professionals who should be trusted to use their judgement when it comes to their own health. Arbitrary triggers undermine professional autonomy and create a culture of fear and mistrust.
Trigger points aren’t working
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) reported that the average employee sickness absence rose from 5.8 days per year in 2019 to 7.8 days in 2023, marking the highest level in over a decade. (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD). (2023). Health and wellbeing at work.) This upward trend suggests that current absence management strategies, including the widespread use of trigger points, are not working to reduce absenteeism.
Another approach is possible
Rather than the use of punitive trigger points, line managers should hold return-to-work discussions with employees after any period of short-term sickness absence, enquire about their health and offer help and support. Where the manager has strong reason to believe sick leave arrangements are being abused, this should be approached as a disciplinary, rather than a sickness absence issue.