A manager calls to check how someone is doing, then calls again when nobody answers. Welfare at work contact can support an employee who’s off sick, but repeated calls and uninvited visits can add pressure when someone needs time away.
In this HR:ER episode, the manager’s actions escalate to entering a bedroom and going looking for a treatment centre. For anyone managing absence, agree contact limits in advance, including whether a later welfare meeting is appropriate and what happens when someone doesn’t answer.
Key Takeaways
Agree what reasonable contact looks like
Your sickness absence policy should explain what contact employees can expect while they’re off. Without that guidance, it’s harder to justify repeated calls when someone says they’re causing stress.
There are ordinary reasons to check in. You may want to ask how someone is, whether they expect to need another fit note, or share an important workplace update before their return.
A weekly check-in may be reasonable, depending on the circumstances. That doesn’t make daily calls appropriate. Our guidance on managing persistent short-term sickness absence also explains why contact needs to reflect the person and their situation.
Ask about contact before treatment
Residential treatment can mean different things. Don’t assume a diagnosis, the type of care involved or whether someone will have access to their phone.
You can ask whether they’d prefer no contact for a couple of weeks, whether they can contact you, or whether they’d agree to a relative providing a brief update. They don’t need to explain their treatment for you to agree those arrangements.
Repeated calls can create anxiety
An unanswered call doesn’t tell you why someone hasn’t picked up. They may be unable to answer, unavailable or unsure what the call is about.
Calling again and again can add anxiety and affect the employee’s well-being. A long list of missed calls can suggest something serious has happened at work.
Several unexplained missed calls can make a routine welfare check look like an emergency.
The alternative discussed in the episode is straightforward. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, send an email explaining that you’ve tried to reach them, why you’re calling and what you’d like to discuss. Give advance notice of the next call.
A voicemail can also explain the purpose. The useful part is removing uncertainty, rather than adding another unexplained notification.
A home visit crosses a serious boundary
The manager discussed in the episode went to an employee’s home with a superior, spoke to a housemate about their health and gained access to a bedroom.
Entering someone’s private space goes well beyond a reasonable workplace welfare check. An employer’s duty of care doesn’t justify crossing an employee’s private boundaries. Discussing health information with a housemate also raises privacy and possible data protection concerns. Those concerns need investigation, rather than an assumed legal finding.
If you’re genuinely worried because you can’t make contact, an emergency contact may be able to confirm that the person is okay. That doesn’t require a detailed account of their health.
Don’t go looking for a treatment centre
The manager then tried to locate and visit a residential treatment centre, reaching the wrong address.
An employee doesn’t have to give you detailed information about their condition, treatment or where they’re receiving care. A fit note confirming they’re not fit for work doesn’t give you permission to investigate their private life.
Further medical information may become relevant when considering capability or reasonable adjustments. That needs a focused discussion about work and support.
Repeated offers of support can become pressure
The contact continued through invitations to informal chats and coffees, despite those invitations being declined. Offers of support must respect employee rights and boundaries.
An offer of support doesn’t stay helpful simply because the manager calls it support. Repeated requests can leave someone feeling they have to respond to make the contact stop. The episode discusses a tribunal allegation involving repeated, closely spaced offers of help being experienced as harassment.
At that point, HR needs to take over communication and tell the manager to stop contacting the employee.
Keep access to occupational health open
The discussion also covers a manager discouraging access to occupational health. A line manager shouldn’t steer someone away from professional support or interfere with their treatment.
Occupational health can help explain work restrictions and possible adjustments. Employees shouldn’t have to rely on their manager for medical advice.
Protect the employee while establishing the facts
A formal grievance gives the employee a route to raise concerns. The employer’s immediate response should include separating the parties and telling the manager not to make contact while the matter is investigated.
A different reporting arrangement may help. Any temporary change needs to protect those involved without punishing the complainant or deciding the outcome in advance.
Serious allegations still require a fair process
Even where an allegation is framed as gross misconduct, you still need an investigation and a disciplinary hearing. The manager must have the right to be accompanied.
Identify the allegations, gather relevant messages and witness accounts, and disclose the allegations and evidence to the manager. Give them a fair opportunity to respond. Evidence that challenges the complaint matters as much as evidence that supports it. Rumours aren’t established facts.
Manager training also needs attention. A sickness policy only helps if the people applying it understand where reasonable contact ends.
References have limits, and support must continue
The episode raises a difficult question: how can an employer stop similar behaviour happening elsewhere?
Many employers give factual references confirming employment dates and role. A negative reference can be given if it’s accurate and supported, but an unresolved allegation shouldn’t be presented as a proven event.
Written references and checking who’s asking reduce the risks around informal telephone requests. Recruitment checks also have limits, particularly where a role doesn’t require a DBS check.
In our discussion, the behaviour described was serious enough to warrant considering police involvement. That was our assessment of the concerns raised, not a finding that a criminal offence had occurred.
These conduct concerns shouldn’t be treated as an accident at work or a personal injury compensation matter. A compensation claim involving negligence or employer’s liability requires separate evidence and legal analysis, and no claim or liability is established here.
Employers also have responsibilities to prevent sexual harassment and should review the relevant health and safety policy where circumstances identify a workplace risk. They should consider whether a risk assessment is needed and take reasonably practicable steps to address the risk. After an investigation, attention still needs to stay on the person affected, rather than ending with the manager’s outcome.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should a manager contact an employee who’s off sick?
A weekly check-in may be reasonable, depending on the circumstances, but daily calls aren’t automatically appropriate. The sickness absence policy should explain what contact employees can expect.
What should a manager do if an employee doesn’t answer?
After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, send an email or voicemail explaining why you’re calling and what you’d like to discuss. Give advance notice of the next call rather than continuing to make unexplained calls.
Can an employer visit an employee’s home or treatment centre for a welfare check?
A welfare check doesn’t justify entering an employee’s private space or looking for a treatment centre. An employer can ask about work-related support, but the employee doesn’t have to provide detailed information about their condition or treatment.
How should an employer handle a grievance about a manager’s contact?
The employer should separate the parties and tell the manager not to contact the employee while the matter is investigated. The investigation and any disciplinary hearing must be fair, and the manager must have a chance to respond to the allegations and evidence.
Keep contact clear and support connected
A welfare check needs an agreed purpose and a proportionate approach. If your contact is adding pressure, change it.
Welfare checks during an employee’s absence are different from welfare in the workplace, which refers to physical amenities. Separate rules cover welfare provision and welfare facilities, including adequate welfare facilities such as toilet facilities.
At HRoes, we’re employment law specialists. Our employment protection solution was created by award-winning lawyers and brings human resources consultancy, software, learning and insurance-backed tribunal cover of up to £250,000 together, subject to policy terms and following our advice. Book an intro call to discuss keeping your advice, records and decisions connected.
Listen to the HR:ER podcast for the full discussion. The employee’s wellbeing remains the priority after the calls stop.