Employee Not Turning Up to Work: What to Do About Absent Without Leave
If an employee does not turn up and has not contacted you, try to reach them by phone, text, email and their emergency contact, treat it as a welfare concern first, write to them, and do not assume they have resigned. Allow a reasonable time before treating it as unauthorised absence, and follow your disciplinary procedure.
This post is for small business owners and managers who have an employee who has simply stopped coming in, and who want to handle it fairly.
Start with the facts and with welfare
Before you assume the worst, check the basics. Is the employee on the rota, on approved leave or due in on a different day? Have they called someone else, or did a message go to the wrong place? Does your absence policy say who they should contact, and by when?
Then remember that an employee who has gone silent may be ill, in difficulty or in danger. The first question is whether they are safe, not whether they are in trouble.
What to do on the first day
Try to reach them. Phone, text and email, and leave a clear, calm message asking them to get in touch.
Try the emergency contact listed on their file, if there is one.
Check with colleagues, carefully, whether anyone has heard from them, without spreading speculation.
Record every attempt, with the time, method and result.
If you are seriously worried about their safety, you can ask the police to carry out a welfare check, using 101 unless it is an emergency.
What to do over the next few days
If the silence continues, write to them, by email and by post to their home address. The letter should:
Say you are concerned and want to check they are well
Ask them to contact you by a stated date
Explain that you need to know the reason for their absence
Explain that unauthorised absence is normally unpaid and may lead to disciplinary action
Tell them how to get in touch, and who to speak to
A calm, caring tone matters. It shows you acted reasonably, and it makes it much easier for someone to make contact.
Do not assume they have resigned
It is tempting to treat a no-show as a resignation. That is risky. A resignation needs to be clear, and an employee who has not turned up for a few days may have a reason you do not know about. Treating the contract as ended without a proper process can lead to an unfair dismissal claim if the employee has the service, or a discrimination claim if there is a health or other protected reason behind the absence.
What about pay?
For days when someone is absent without authorisation, you would normally not pay them, but check the contract and your policy first. If they later say they were ill, Statutory Sick Pay and your own sick pay rules may apply, subject to the notification and evidence requirements. SSP is now payable from the first day of sickness.
If there is still no contact
After a reasonable period and genuine attempts to make contact, you can follow the disciplinary procedure. In practice:
Write to invite them to a disciplinary meeting, setting out the allegation of unauthorised absence and the possible outcomes, including dismissal
Send it to their last known address and by email, with a date and a chance to attend or send written comments
If they do not attend and do not respond, you can hold the meeting in their absence, consider the evidence you have, and make a decision
Confirm the outcome in writing, with a right of appeal
What counts as a reasonable period depends on the circumstances, including how out of character the absence is and what you know about the employee. For someone with a clean record, expect to wait longer than for someone with a history of unexplained absences.
If they come back
Hold a return to work conversation and find out why they were away before deciding what to do. There may be an explanation, such as illness, a family emergency, domestic abuse or a mental health crisis, that changes the right response. You may decide that a warning is appropriate, or that no action is needed.
Be careful with employees who may be disabled, pregnant, caring for someone or in a vulnerable situation. Employees also have a right to reasonable unpaid time off to deal with an emergency involving a dependant.
How to prevent it happening again
Have a clear absence reporting procedure, saying who to contact and by what time
Collect and keep up to date emergency contact details
Make sure managers know what to do, and in what order
Apply the policy consistently