People go absent for many reasons and organisations need to prepare a range of responses. While it is often sensible to tighten up on disciplinary procedures, the key to long-term success lies in creating an attendance culture. Alastair Evans and Mike Walters examine all the options and provide comprehensive practical guidance on: measuring and monitoring absence and benchmarking your organisation; the nature and causes of absence; developing appropriate policies to manage absence and its causes, and promote attendance; the disciplinary and legal framework of absence management, in particular that applying to long-term sickness and persistent short-term absentees; putting together an effective absence control strategy; Identifying and analysing the cause of absence; implementing an absence management system. In this new edition, the authors argue that it is perfectly possible to stamp out 'malingering', to treat the genuinely sick with fairness and compassion, and to promote a more co-operative climate while still reducing absence figures. This book will help employers meet all these crucial objectives.