When Staying Home is the Right Call: Supporting Absence to Enable Better Returns
- Randa Abbasi
- Jul 9
- 3 min read
WORKPLACE WELLBEING SERIES - PART 2 OF 2
By Randa Abbasi
MISSED PART 1?
In our last article we explored presenteeism — what it looks like when someone is physically at work but not really coping, and how occupational therapy can help. This article explores the other side of that conversation.
Last month we talked about presenteeism — the hidden cost of people showing up to work when they’re not really coping. But there’s another side to that conversation, and it’s equally important.
Sometimes, the right call is to not be at work at all.
That might sound obvious. But in practice, absence is still one of the most poorly managed parts of workplace health — not because employers don’t care, but because most organisations are better set up to react to absence than to support it well.
Absence isn’t the problem — how we handle it often is
When someone calls in sick, the typical response is transactional: record it, monitor it, manage it back. Trigger points are hit, conversations are had, and the pressure, subtle or otherwise, to return begins.
But here’s what we know from years of working in this space: a poorly supported absence almost always leads to a worse outcome. For the person. And for the business.
When someone is genuinely unwell - whether that’s a physical injury, burnout, a mental health crisis, or a flare-up of a long-term condition, pushing them back to work before they’re ready doesn’t save time. It costs it. It increases the risk of a longer or repeated absence down the track, and it’s often where presenteeism takes root. Sound familiar?
What good absence support actually looks like
It’s less about the leave itself, and more about what happens around it.
• Early, genuine contact — not to check when they’re coming back, but to check how they’re doing. A simple, caring kōrero in the first few days makes a significant difference to how supported someone feels.
• Clarity without pressure — people need to know their job is safe and their team is coping, without feeling guilty for being away.
• Getting the right support in early — whether that’s a GP, an occupational therapist, counselling etc; connecting people with the right help quickly leads to faster, more sustainable recovery.
• Planning the return together — not a date set by a policy, but a conversation about what a realistic, graduated return looks like for that person and that role.
• Addressing what led to the absence — if workload, job design, or workplace relationships played a part, returning to the same environment without change sets everyone up to fail.
The ACC piece
Here in Aotearoa, we’re fortunate to have ACC supporting a significant chunk of injury-related absence. But even with funding in place, many employers aren’t making the most of early intervention. Occupational therapists can be involved from the very start — not just at the return-to-work stage — helping to set realistic expectations, guide recovery, and keep the connection between the person and their workplace alive.
The link to presenteeism
Here’s the thread that connects both articles: the goal was never just to get people at work. It’s to get people working well.
Unmanaged presenteeism leads to absence. Poorly supported absence leads back to presenteeism. It’s a cycle that’s very common, and very preventable.
The organisations that break that cycle are the ones that stop treating absence and presenteeism as separate HR problems, and start seeing them as two ends of the same conversation about workplace wellbeing.
We can help with both ends
At EnableWorks, we support employers and their people at every stage — from early intervention and injury prevention, right through to return-to-work planning and ongoing rehabilitation. If you’re finding the same people cycling in and out of difficulty, it’s worth having a conversation about what’s really going on.
📞 0800 622 599
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