Employee care | How to manage absence for furloughed employees

By Mike Fitzsimmons, Senior HR Consultant, Moorepay

Every year, absence spikes during the summer months. Despite the general downward trend in absence rate over the last decade, with lockdown restrictions lifting this year, mental health concerns catalysed by Covid-19, and presenteeism and leavism increasing, we predict things are going to get more complicated in summer 2021.

But how does this affect your employees who are furloughed as part of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS)? Can furloughed employees be "absent"?

What happens when a furloughed worker becomes ill?