Use the following template to confirm an informal absence warning. If the level of absence does not improve, you should manage this through your disciplinary procedure. See our guide to handling absence due to sickness and injury .
The text in <italics> is only there to help you and will not appear in your letter.

PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL

Dear <name:> 

I am writing to confirm our discussions <"on DATE" or "earlier today":> 
<tick if you were accompanied by another member of management (recommended) and insert the details:>

<tick if the employee was offered the right to be accompanied and insert the details:>
.

Since <date or period eg "the beginning of this year":>  you have been absent from work on <number:> occasions, for a total of <number:> days.

<Tick if you wish to include any further details, eg briefly describe the reasons for the absences, the fact that these all seem to be unrelated or, if you use the Bradford Factor to trigger a review then you may wish to include the employee's Bradford Factor rating:>   
Your Bradford Factor score is now SPECIFY which prompts an automatic review under our absence procedure.

Whilst we are sympathetic to genuine ill-health, and are keen to act in the interests of both you and
<name of employer or "the business":> , I feel sure that you will appreciate the adverse effect of such a high level of absence.

I confirm that we will continue to closely monitor your attendance and will aim to provide any support that you require to improve this. However, should your current level of absence not improve to a satisfactory level, we will have to review the situation.

<Specify targets which you would consider reasonable:>
We would hope that you can achieve at least the following level of attendance over the next SPECIFY PERIOD eg "three months": SET REASONABLE TARGETS - SPECIFY NUMBER OF DAYS AND NUMBER OF PERIODS OF ABSENCE.

If you are unable to do this, we will consider whether a medical report is necessary to establish whether there are any underlying health reasons of which we need to be aware, and it may be that we have to take disciplinary action.

We very much hope that your health and attendance will improve.

<Tick if you wish to include:>  
In the meantime, I enclose a copy of our absence policy and ask you to read this carefully and ensure that you always follow our notification of absence procedures.

Yours sincerely