How to reduce the impact of employee absence on your business

Employee absence is one of those business challenges that tends to be managed reactively rather than strategically. Someone calls in. Cover is arranged. Life goes on. But the cost of handling absence poorly adds up faster than most businesses realise.

According to the ONS, 148.8 million working days are lost to sickness absence in the UK every year.  That works out at roughly 5.7 days per employee, and that is before you factor in the hidden costs of the HR admin, the missed handovers, the inconsistent data, and the management time that goes into handling absence poorly at scale.

The issue has been pushed even higher up the business agenda following the publication of the government's Keep Britain Working review. Speaking on Moneypenny's Unchartered Territory podcast, Sir Charlie Mayfield, who led the review, highlighted the importance of helping people stay in work and return to it successfully after periods of ill health. 

People get ill and that is simply a fact of working life. But the way businesses respond to it, and the systems they have in place to handle it, makes an enormous difference to the outcome.

Employee absence affects productivity, HR workload and employee wellbeing. Effective absence management helps businesses reduce disruption, improve data quality and support employees more consistently. This article explains the latest UK evidence, practical strategies and how AI can automate absence reporting.

Key facts    

• 148.8M working days lost to sickness absence in the UK every year (ONS)‍
• 5.7 days per employee average annual sickness absence per UK worker
• ~40% of HR admin time spent on absence-related tasks (CIPD) 

What is employee absence management?

Employee absence management is the process businesses use to record, monitor and respond to sickness absence or other authorised absence while maintaining business continuity and supporting employee wellbeing.

Why employee absence is getting harder to ignore

In November 2025, the government published the Keep Britain Working review, led by Sir Charlie Mayfield, former Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership. The report highlighted one in five working-age adults in the UK is currently not in work due to ill health or disability.

Speaking on Moneypenny's Unchartered Territory podcast, Sir Charlie put the human reality behind that statistic clearly:

"Think about the importance of work to people. A lot of people I talk to find fulfilment and purpose in their work. If that's not available to you because of an ill health issue, just imagine how that feels."

Sir Charlie Mayfield on Unchartered Territory from Moneypenny

The review calls on employers to take a more active role, not just managing absence when it happens, but creating conditions that help people stay in work and return to it more smoothly after time away. For most businesses, that starts with getting the basics right.

The hidden cost of managing absence badly

Businesses often underestimate how much management time is spent chasing incomplete absence information rather than supporting employees. Most businesses think of absence primarily in terms of lost output. But the operational cost of handling absence poorly is often just as significant. Below are some of the hidden costs of managing absence badly:

👥  For HR teams

Absence is one of the most admin-intensive parts of the job. Research from CIPD suggests roughly 40% of HR admin time is spent on absence-related tasks. Much of that is avoidable with better processes.

📋 For line managers

Late notification means cover cannot be arranged in time. Shifts go understaffed. Managers end up spending time they do not have on reactive problem-solving rather than leading their teams.

📞 For the employees calling in

Long hold times, voicemail and no acknowledgement that the message was received adds unnecessary friction to an already difficult moment.

📊 For the business overall

Inconsistent data capture means absence patterns go unnoticed. Repeat absences, seasonal spikes or signs that a role is unsustainable all become invisible when the data is unreliable.

How to plan for absence peaks

Absence is not evenly distributed across the year. There are predictable spikes that catch businesses off guard every time, despite the fact that they happen reliably.

! Monday mornings consistently see the highest volume of absence calls. If your reporting process relies on someone picking up the phone, Monday mornings are the moment it is most likely to fail.

! Post-bank holidays follow the same pattern. A short week, a long weekend, and a spike in calls first thing Tuesday.

! Winter months bring higher volumes of genuine illness, particularly respiratory illness, and stretch HR and management capacity at the same time.

! Major events such as international sporting tournaments reliably generate a surge in absence.

Planning for predictable absence spikes, rather than being surprised by them every time, is one of the simplest and most impactful things a business can do. The pressure points are the same every year. The businesses that handle them well are the ones that have a process in place before they arrive.

Five practical steps to reduce the impact of employee absence

1 Make it easy for employees to report absence

The harder it is to call in, the more likely employees are to delay, leave a voicemail, or text their manager. A dedicated absence line, answered consistently and at any time, removes that friction. Employees know where to call. The process is the same every time. The business gets the information it needs without relying on someone being available to pick up.

2. Capture consistent data every time

Inconsistent information is one of the most common absence management failures. Standardising the questions asked at the point of reporting, and capturing the answers in a structured format, means the data you are working with is reliable. That matters for return-to-work conversations, spotting patterns, and meeting compliance requirements.

3. Notify the right people immediately

Line managers finding out about an absence from a colleague, or discovering it when the employee simply does not show up, is a failure of process that is entirely avoidable. Real-time notification triggered at the point of reporting means managers can arrange cover promptly. The difference between finding out at 7am and finding out at 9am is often the difference between a manageable situation and a chaotic one.

4. Free your HR team for the work that requires human judgement

Return-to-work conversations, wellbeing check-ins, supporting employees with long-term health conditions, identifying patterns that indicate a deeper problem: these are the things HR professionals are there to do, and they require skill, empathy and time. Reducing the administrative burden of absence reporting is not about cutting corners. It is about making sure your HR resource goes where it makes a difference.

5. Use absence data to identify and address root causes

Managed well, absence data is one of the most useful signals a business has about the health of its teams, roles and culture. High absence in a particular department might reflect workload, management style or working conditions. You cannot act on patterns you cannot see. A consistent, reliable absence reporting process is the foundation for being able to use that data meaningfully.

The role of technology in absence management

There is growing interest in using AI to handle the front end of absence reporting: answering calls, asking structured questions, capturing data and triggering notifications, without requiring a human to be available at the point of contact.

Done well, this solves several problems at once. It removes the dependency on someone being available to answer the phone at 6am on a Monday. It ensures the same questions are asked every time. It notifies the right people immediately. And it frees HR and management resource for higher-value work.

Moneypenny's AI Absence Line works exactly this way: a dedicated phone number, answered 24/7 by our AI Receptionist, with real-time notifications to line managers and HR teams.

Absence reporting is a process. The support conversation that follows is where the human element matters most. Technology handles the former so your team can focus on the latter.

How the AI Absence Line works

1. Employee calls the dedicated absence line

Available 24/7, including Monday mornings, bank holidays and peak absence periods.

2. AI Receptionist conducts a structured conversation

Collecting the employee's full name, reason for absence, expected return date, and any other questions your business requires, consistently, every time.

3. Sensitive calls can be escalated to a human

If a caller needs more support, the call transfers to your internal HR team or a Moneypenny receptionist, so complex situations are handled with appropriate care.

4. Line manager and HR team notified immediately

Alerts sent via email and/or SMS in real time, so cover can be arranged and the day planned before the team arrives.

Building a longer-term approach

The Keep Britain Working review is a reminder that staff absence is not just an operational inconvenience. It is a significant economic and human issue, and one that employers are increasingly being asked to take seriously.

For most businesses, the starting point is not a wholesale overhaul. It is getting the basics right: making it easy to report, capturing consistent data, notifying the right people promptly, and giving HR the time and information to do their job properly.

From there, the data starts to tell you where the real problems are. And that is where longer-term work on wellbeing, workload, management quality and role design becomes possible.

Key takeaways

✓ 148.8 million working days are lost to sickness absence in the UK every year

✓ The Keep Britain Working review found that one in five working-age adults is not in employment due to ill health or disability

✓ The real cost of absence includes HR admin time, delayed cover, inconsistent data and management resource, not just lost output

✓ Monday mornings, post-bank holidays and major events are predictable absence spikes that most businesses still handle reactively

✓ Consistent data capture, immediate notification and freeing up HR for human-centred work are the three highest-impact improvements most businesses can make

✓ Technology can handle the routine parts of absence reporting, leaving people free to focus on the conversations and support that actually require them

Frequently asked questions

• What is the average cost of employee absence in the UK?

According to the ONS, 148.8 million working days are lost to sickness absence in the UK each year, averaging roughly 5.7 days per employee. The total cost to UK employers, including lost productivity, management time and HR admin, runs into billions annually.

• What are the most common causes of employee absence in the UK?

Minor illness such as colds, flu and respiratory infections accounts for the largest share of short-term absence. Musculoskeletal conditions, mental health issues and stress are among the leading causes of longer-term absence. The CIPD's annual Health and Wellbeing at Work report is the most reliable source for current figures.

• What is the Keep Britain Working review?

Keep Britain Working is a government-commissioned review led by Sir Charlie Mayfield, former Chairman of the John Lewis Partnership. It examines why one in five working-age UK adults is not in employment due to ill health or disability, and what employers can do to address this. The report was published in November 2025.

• How can small businesses manage employee absence without a dedicated HR team?

The priority for smaller businesses is consistency: a clear process for reporting absence, a single point of contact for notifications, and a simple record-keeping system. Dedicated absence lines, whether managed by a receptionist service or AI, can handle the reporting process without requiring internal resource to be available at the point of contact.

• What is an absence line?

An absence line is a dedicated phone number employees call to report that they will not be in work. It can be answered by a person or by an AI Receptionist. The key function is to capture consistent information, including the employee's name, reason for absence and expected return date, and to notify the relevant line manager and HR contact immediately. Moneypenny's AI Absence Line is available 24/7 and can be live within days of set-up.