Write an occupational health referral that asks specific, decision-useful questions rather than generic ones.
Human Resources & Personal Development
Managing Long-Term Sickness Absence and Phased Return-to-Work Plans
Gives HR and line managers a defensible process for long-term sickness absence, from occupational health referral through reasonable adjustments to a phased return that sticks.
🗓️Duration5 training days
📚Content4 modules · 8 sessions
🎓On completionAccredited attendance certificate
About the programme
Course Overview
A long-term sickness case rarely fails because nobody cared; it fails because no one owned the process between the fit note arriving and the employee either returning or leaving. This course gives HR advisers and line managers a structured route through that gap. It covers writing an occupational health referral that asks useful questions instead of generic ones, running a case conference that brings the employee, manager and occupational health advice together, and applying the Equality Act 2010 correctly when an underlying condition may amount to a disability. Participants build phased return-to-work plans with realistic hours, duties and review points, and learn when the process must move from support towards an ill-health capability procedure. Sessions also address income protection and ill-health retirement options, and how to keep a case moving without pressuring an employee who is genuinely unwell. Practice is based on real case scenarios covering physical injury, mental health conditions and fluctuating illness, each carried through to a documented, defensible outcome.
Expected Learning Outcomes
Run a case conference that brings the employee, manager and occupational health advice into one plan.
Assess whether an underlying condition is likely to meet the Equality Act 2010 definition of disability.
Identify and implement reasonable adjustments that support a genuine return rather than a token gesture.
Build a phased return-to-work plan with realistic hours, duties and review points.
Judge when a case must move from supportive absence management into an ill-health capability process.
Document each stage of a long-term sickness case so decisions are defensible if later challenged.
Who Should Attend
HR advisers who manage or support long-term sickness absence cases.
Line managers responsible for employees on extended sick leave.
Occupational health coordinators liaising between managers and clinicians.
HR business partners advising on complex disability or ill-health cases.
People managers in organisations without in-house occupational health provision.
Employee relations specialists handling ill-health capability procedures.
Course Modules
Select any module to see its sessions and points.
01Starting the Process: Referral and Early Case Management
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Reading Fit Notes and Making a Useful Referral
- Interpret a fit note's restrictions and recommendations rather than treating it as a simple return date.
- Write an occupational health referral with specific questions about function, prognosis and adjustments.
- Set a realistic contact schedule with an employee on long-term absence that avoids both silence and pressure.
- Distinguish absence caused by a single event from a pattern that may indicate an underlying condition.
Session 2Running an Effective Case Conference
- Prepare an employee, manager and occupational health input for a structured case conference.
- Chair a case conference that produces a documented plan with owners and review dates.
- Balance business continuity needs with the medical advice received, without overriding either.
- Record disagreement between parties in a case conference without letting it stall the plan.
02Disability, Discrimination Risk and Reasonable Adjustments
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Applying the Equality Act 2010 to Long-Term Illness
- Assess whether a condition is likely to meet the legal definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010.
- Identify the point at which an employer is deemed to have constructive knowledge of a disability.
- Distinguish disability-related absence from absence a standard attendance policy can properly manage.
- Recognise discrimination risk in how an absence policy is applied to a disabled employee.
Session 2Identifying and Implementing Reasonable Adjustments
- Generate a realistic range of adjustments covering duties, hours, equipment and physical workspace.
- Test a proposed adjustment against cost, practicality and effect before presenting it to the employee.
- Document why an adjustment was accepted, modified or rejected in case the decision is later questioned.
- Review an implemented adjustment after a set period to confirm it is still working for both parties.
03Planning and Running a Phased Return
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Designing a Phased Return-to-Work Plan
- Build a phased return plan with a realistic build-up of hours and duties over an agreed period.
- Set review points in a phased return plan that check progress without feeling like a test to fail.
- Coordinate a phased return plan with payroll and any income protection or sick pay scheme in place.
- Prepare a returning employee's team for a change in role, hours or duties without breaching confidentiality.
Session 2Keeping a Return on Track and Handling Setbacks
- Recognise early signs that a phased return is not working and adjust the plan rather than abandoning it.
- Support a relapse or further absence during a phased return without treating it as a policy breach.
- Coach a line manager to manage a returning employee's workload realistically during the phase-in period.
- Close a successful phased return with a clear point at which normal attendance management resumes.
04When Support Is Not Enough: Capability, Insurance and Exit
2 sessions · 8 points
Session 1Moving Towards an Ill-Health Capability Process
- Judge, with occupational health input, when a role is genuinely no longer sustainable for the employee.
- Run a capability process for ill health that remains procedurally fair throughout each stage.
- Explore redeployment options before capability dismissal is considered as an outcome.
- Communicate a difficult capability decision to an employee with dignity and clear reasoning.
Session 2Income Protection, Ill-Health Retirement and Records
- Explain how an income protection or permanent health insurance scheme interacts with a capability process.
- Support an application for ill-health retirement where a pension scheme provides for one.
- Close a long-term sickness case file with records that show a fair and consistent process throughout.
- Review long-term sickness case patterns to identify wider workplace health and safety issues.
What the participant receives
4 course modules
A structured syllabus
8 training sessions
across 5 days
32 detailed points
Applied, detailed content
Accredited attendance certificate
On completing the programme
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