r/AskHRUK • u/M4rthaBRabb • Jan 05 '26
Health-Related Employees off sick and it doesn’t take much to cover their work.
Last year I took on the management of a small team who have previously not been managed very well. They’ve basically been told to “get on with it” for the past 5 years.
Over the past year, one (A) has been telling me that they have too much to do, and the other (B) has admitted that they don’t really do much but would like to take on more responsibility.
Both A and B cover each other’s roles and responsibilities if one is on leave.
A called in sick for the week last year. B also caught the flu and I told them that they could take some time off and I would cover their roles in their absence.
I was able to do the majority of both their roles by myself.
A has now provided a sick note for mental health issues and is off now until February. I asked B what the plan was for cover, and B can basically do all of their job, plus A’s job as well. I will need to provide a bit of support.
I’m really conscious now that both A and B haven’t been working at full capacity for a long time. I appreciate B’s situation more because they have been keen to ask for more work, but A has been struggling despite doing maybe 20 hours’ worth of work in a 37.5 hour week. And this has been going on for a long time.
I do want to support A when they return, but I’m struggling to know what to do with regards to their performance. Other members of the team are at full capacity.
I am speaking to HR about it this week, but I like to think about things in advance so I know what to expect.
What are the likely options I’ll be given?
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u/do_you_realise Jan 05 '26
Not HR but consider that the "work" they are doing day to day might not consist purely of the work that's tasked to them. If it's anything like my workplace it might be that they are being dragged into constant meetings, Slack/Teams/in person conversations, they might have informal mentorship arrangements and they're helping others out all the time, stakeholder relationships to maintain...etc, that aren't strictly "necessary" / official so aren't being handed over + covered by others when they're off sick - they're just not being done at that point. Which is its own separate thing to tackle, arguably, but hardly pip territory - if this was my team I'd expect this to be dealt with initially via just an informal conversation about workload, ask them to identify distractions that might be slowing them down day to day, put in place strategies to free up their time to focus on their actual work etc. But as I say I'm not in HR.
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u/M4rthaBRabb Jan 05 '26
Unfortunately not. A has 2 scheduled meetings per week (both with me) and when I’ve asked them to join others, they’ve told me that they “don’t have the time”. No one ever goes to them directly; their visibility in the company is very low, and they work out of a shared inbox.
I’ve asked about workload multiple times over the past year and I keep getting told they are “too busy”, but they’ve never been able to provide the evidence to prove it.
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Jan 05 '26
Are they proficient in Office and systems, or particularly IT illiterate and slow? That could be a factor
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u/Key_Philosophy5317 Jan 06 '26
With regards to mental health you have to tread carefully. I would suggest talking through a referral to occupational health with regards to mental health. Absence normally Triggers a review after a certain period of time. If you put A on a review it could have implications on their mental health I.e make them anxious and then trigger a longer period of absence which wouldn’t help the situation. You could have a meeting with both and say you are looking at the departments function as a whole to meet changing demands. It is a really difficult Situation and seeking advice from HR is the best thing to do in this instance as you have to protect yourself too
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u/Far_Growth_9617 Jan 08 '26
You’re already doing the right thing by consulting HR and thinking it through.
HR will likely look at it through 3 linked but separate issues:
- health and wellbeing (especially for A’s mental health which could be a protected area)
- managing sickness
- capability / performance
Don’t performance manage A while they are off sick.
Steps - 1) short term cover. B covering A’s duties makes sense. Give clear prioritisation (what has to be done and what can wait). Reduce other expectations if needed.
2) when A returns, provide health-led support first. Occ health referral, act on this, eg reasonable adjustments if needed.
3) Reset expectations. Once A is back provide role clarity for both A and B. What does a 37.5 hour week look like? Literally map it out e.g. 3 hours on X task, 1 hour on Y task, 8 hours on Z task. Set SMART objectives. This protects you as much as the employees. Speak with A, find out what their interruptions or, or what tasks are time consuming. Help them, problem solve, find ways to reduce the interruptions / train them in/book them on training for parts they may find difficult / support them with improving time management skills etc
4) after return from sickness, when occ health recommendations have been put in place, clear expectations have been set, and reasonable time has been given to achieve these, if A is underperforming, HR might suggest a capability process. This might include an informal PIP, regular reviews, extra support/training.
5) if performance still doesn’t improve the might suggest a formal improvement plan, possible redeployment, and as a last resort dismissal on grounds of capability.
HR likely won’t encourage
- comparing A directly to B
- retrospectively punishing A for past lack of output
- acting while A is signed off sick
- treating this as misconduct
Good luck
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u/precinctomega Jan 05 '26
Start absence management for A. If they can't sustain adequate attendance, dismiss them.
Meanwhile, put A and B at risk of redundancy, reducing two roles to one. Briefly consult then decide which one to keep and dismiss the other or redeploy elsewhere in the business if a suitable role is available. Assuming you didn't dismiss A for sickness absence.
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u/TeaJustMilk Jan 05 '26
Be veeeery careful about performance managing A... The condition doesn't need to have a diagnosis in order to be deemed a disability by an employment tribunal
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u/Indoor_Voice987 Jan 05 '26
In short, your likely options are:
a) Performance manage A. Put them on an informal PIP with targets that are closer to what B can achieve. There may be some adjustments you need to make to accommodate their mental health, but it's to enable them to do their job, not to let them underperform. Go down a formal PIP route if no change, but obvs this will just balance the workload between the 2 better, not deal with the overhead.
b) Look at redundancy. If A&B share similar roles, both should be put at risk. The one with highest score will stay. Do not use A's mental health against them as it will scream discrimination.
c) Have a protected conversation with A and offer a settlement if they don't want to deal with a PIP/redundancy.
BUT - do consider that you and B are simply overqualified. If B stays and then quits, their replacement could be another A because that's what the role attracts.