Episode 11 - 'Healthy' Sickness Absence Behaviours

We’re delighted to welcome back a regular to our podcast series, Dr Julie Denning, Managing Director & Chartered Health Psychologist at Working To Wellbeing and Chair of the Vocational Rehabilitation Association. In this episode, Julie talks to Kay Needle - Generali UK’s Early Intervention and Rehabilitation expert - exploring absence management from a new angle; one that looks at the underlying drivers – the behaviours – that dictate whether someone takes full absence and recovers, or works through it, risks getting worse, and is simply present but not productive at work. We ask whether presenteeism is being driven by employees not taking time off when they really should. We discuss whether this might be learned behaviour – behaviour that could go right back to our childhood and school days. We also ask whether anything has changed – in terms of presenteeism – since the growth in new ways of working. Does this allow for a more flexible approach to absence and recovery – less of the black and white, sick or not sick, approach to absence? Or, is it facilitating working while unwell.