Unauthorised absence from work: UK employer guide

Acas says unauthorised absence is when someone does not turn up for work and either did not have permission beforehand, or did not follow the organisation's policy for reporting an unexpected absence, for example being off sick without telling anyone. It is also known as being AWOL (absent without leave) or absent without permission.

The same guidance treats lateness as a form of unauthorised absence, along with leaving work early without permission. Some employers also count coming back late from annual leave, because the extra days were not approved. Your own policy should say which of these you include, so managers and employees are working from the same definition.

Start with the employee's safety, not discipline. Employers have a duty of care, and Acas sets out an order to follow when someone does not turn up and you cannot account for it.

Acas singles out lone workers, such as people who travel alone between sites, work from home, or open and close a workplace. You must protect them from health and safety risks, usually through a risk assessment, and that assessment can set out who to contact if they do not turn up and cannot be reached.

Ask employees to keep their emergency contact up to date and to confirm the contact has agreed to their details being shared. Records of absence and lateness identify people, so data protection rules apply to how you keep them.

Acas gives examples of valid reasons: the employee was unwell, travel disruption held them up, there was an unexpected emergency involving a dependant, or someone close to them died. In those cases follow the policy for that type of absence, remind the employee how to report absence if they missed a step, and offer support.

Even when no reason is given, consider whether you could reasonably know of something behind it, such as a mental health problem, a disability or bullying at work. Talk in private, ask open questions, and consider letting the employee bring a colleague or trade union representative. If the employee is disabled, reasonable adjustments may be needed, and flexible working may help others attend reliably.

Acas warns that you must not discriminate when recording absence or lateness. Its example is a pregnant employee who is late because of morning sickness: disciplining her for it could be pregnancy or maternity discrimination. Recording pregnancy-related and disability-related absence separately can help, alongside a conversation about support such as working from home.

Usually not. Acas says an employer does not have to pay someone for time they did not work, because they are not fulfilling their contract. You should still follow your absence policy and act fairly, because the employee may turn out to have a good reason such as sickness or a family emergency, in which case sick pay or another kind of leave may apply.

You can choose to pay when someone could not get in for a valid reason, or let them make up the time. Whatever you decide, write down in the contract or a policy which absences are paid and which are not.

Only if the contract allows it. Acas says the deduction should be reasonable for the time lost, and warns that heavy deductions can backfire: docking an hour's pay for being 15 minutes late may lead someone to take the whole hour off. A deduction must never take pay below the National Minimum Wage, even where the contract allows deductions.

Acas suggests handling it informally first where appropriate: speak to the employee, check whether there is a reason you can support, and make sure they know the policy. It may become a disciplinary matter if the absence has serious consequences, or if the employee is repeatedly late or absent without a valid reason and is making no effort to improve.

If you go formal, follow your policy and a fair disciplinary procedure. GOV.UK says the procedure should include a hearing where the employee can explain their side, and a chance to appeal. Employees can bring a colleague, trade union representative or trade union official to the hearing. If a tribunal finds an employer unreasonably failed to follow a relevant Acas Code of Practice, it can increase an award by up to 25% under section 207A of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992.

It is possible, but Acas says dismissal should always be a last resort and only after a fair disciplinary procedure. Do not treat a run of missed days as the employee resigning: keep trying to make contact, write to them asking them to explain, and invite them to a meeting before deciding anything. A welfare problem discovered later looks very different if you have already ended their employment.

Acas says a policy helps you define unauthorised absence, handle it consistently, set out what happens to pay, and train managers. It also recommends keeping the policy flexible: if any lateness earns a warning either way, an employee delayed by a train may simply take the whole day off. A flexible policy lets them call ahead and make up the time later.

Acas says you should record lateness and unauthorised absence: records show patterns for an individual or the whole organisation and tell you when a conversation about support is needed. Keep the reason, the dates, every contact attempt and the outcome of any conversation.

In Leavely managers can record lateness against an employee with how late they were, and a lateness report shows patterns across the team. When an employee who failed to phone in turns out to be ill, a manager can report the sickness on their behalf, so it is recorded as sickness with a return-to-work record rather than left as an unexplained gap.