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Performance and Absence Management: Are your Managers ready for 2027?

Performance and Absence Management: Are your Managers ready for 2027?

by | Oct 22, 2026 | Employment and HR, Blog, News and Updates

With significant employment law changes taking effect in January 2027, effective performance and absence management will be more important than ever. Are your managers prepared to address performance concerns and employee absence fairly, consistently and confidently while meeting your organisation’s legal responsibilities?

The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces important changes to workplace protections, making effective people management more important than ever.

For organisations, preparing for these changes is about more than reviewing policies and procedures. It’s about ensuring managers have the knowledge, confidence and practical skills to address concerns early, support employees appropriately and make fair, informed decisions.

What’s Changing in 2027?

One of the most significant changes is the reduction in the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal protection. From January 1st 2027, employees will generally be able to claim unfair dismissal after six months’ service, rather than the current two years. The statutory cap on compensatory awards for unfair dismissal will also be removed. These changes reinforce the importance of managing performance effectively from the beginning of employment, including during probationary periods.

Employers will need to ensure that managers understand the importance of setting clear expectations, identifying concerns promptly, documenting discussions and following fair procedures.

Changes to Statutory Sick Pay have also increased the importance of effective absence management. Since April 2026, eligible employees have been entitled to Statutory Sick Pay from the first day of sickness absence, with the lower earnings threshold removed.

Together, these reforms highlight why organisations should review their approach to both performance and absence management.

Performance Management: Why Early Intervention Matters

Manager and Employee discussing absence Effective performance management is not simply about addressing underperformance. It involves setting clear objectives, providing regular feedback and supporting employees to achieve their potential. When performance concerns arise, delaying difficult conversations can allow relatively minor issues to develop into more significant problems.

Managers should feel confident about:

  • Setting clear and measurable performance expectations.
  • Identifying and addressing underperformance promptly.
  • Holding constructive conversations and providing meaningful feedback.
  • Agreeing realistic improvement objectives and timescales.
  • Monitoring progress and maintaining accurate records.
  • Following fair and consistent procedures where formal action is required.

With the qualifying period for ordinary unfair dismissal reducing to six months, structured induction and probationary reviews will become increasingly important.

By identifying concerns early, providing appropriate support and documenting decisions, managers can help employees improve, while also reducing the risk of disputes.

Absence Management: Taking a Fair and Proactive Approach

Manager and employee reviewing performance Employee absence can present significant challenges for organisations, affecting productivity, workloads and operational efficiency. However, effective absence management requires more than monitoring attendance. Managers have to balance the needs of the organisation with their responsibilities to support employees experiencing ill health. A proactive and consistent approach can help identify potential concerns, encourage open communication and support a successful return to work.

Good absence management practices include:

  • Maintaining accurate absence records and identifying recurring patterns.
  • Conducting supportive and effective return-to-work discussions.
  • Managing short-term and long-term absence appropriately.
  • Recognising when reasonable adjustments or additional support may be necessary.
  • Understanding relevant sickness absence policies and procedures.
  • Addressing attendance concerns fairly, consistently and sensitively.

The introduction of Statutory Sick Pay from the first day of sickness absence also makes it essential for managers to understand current sickness reporting requirements and organisational procedures.

Effective absence management can support employee wellbeing, improve attendance and minimise unnecessary disruption to the workplace.

Are Your Managers Equipped to Handle These Challenges?

Manager and employee performance review Even well-written policies can be ineffective if managers lack the confidence or knowledge to apply them consistently. Performance and absence management often involve difficult conversations, sensitive circumstances and decisions that require careful consideration. Without appropriate training, managers may avoid addressing concerns, apply procedures inconsistently or fail to maintain adequate records.

Investing in manager training can help organisations:

  • Build confidence in handling challenging employee situations.
  • Encourage early intervention and constructive communication.
  • Promote fairness and consistency across management teams.
  • Improve employee engagement and wellbeing.
  • Reduce the risk of avoidable grievances and employment disputes.
  • Strengthen compliance with employment legislation and organisational policies.

Providing managers with the right skills benefits both employees and the wider organisation.

Preparing Your Organisation for 2027

With changes to unfair dismissal protection approaching, now is an ideal time to assess whether your organisation’s management practices are fit for purpose. Are performance expectations clearly communicated? Are concerns addressed promptly and documented appropriately? Do managers understand how to handle employee absence fairly and effectively? Addressing these questions now can help organisations prepare for the changing employment landscape.

Training managers to recognise concerns early, communicate effectively and follow appropriate procedures is an important step towards building a fairer, more confident and productive workplace.

 

How RealSense Learning Can Help

At RealSense, our practical e-learning courses are designed to equip managers with the knowledge and confidence to manage workplace challenges effectively.

Our Performance Management online course explores setting expectations, monitoring employee performance, providing constructive feedback and addressing underperformance.

Our Absence Management online course provides guidance on managing employee absence, applying fair and consistent procedures and supporting employees while meeting organisational needs.

By investing in practical training, organisations can equip managers with the skills to address performance concerns, manage absence fairly and confidently navigate upcoming workplace challenges.

Menopause Training for Managers: What Employers Need to Know

Menopause Training for Managers: What Employers Need to Know

by | Oct 13, 2026 | Blog, News and Updates, Health and Wellbeing

Menopause training for managers is becoming increasingly important as UK employers prepare for changes to workplace equality and menopause support.

The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduced a framework for Gender Equality Action Plans, bringing renewed attention to the practical steps organisations can take to support employees experiencing menopause. Managers play an important role in putting that support into practice, from having sensitive conversations to considering workplace adjustments.

What has changed?

The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduced a new framework for Gender Equality Action Plans.

From April 2026, employers with 250 or more employees have been able to voluntarily produce and publish an action plan alongside their gender pay gap information. Subject to further legislation, these action plans are intended to become mandatory from spring 2027.

Menopause awareness for managers action plan for menopause as part of the employment rights act 2025

Importantly, the plans are not solely about the gender pay gap. They must also address how organisations support employees experiencing menopause.

Government guidance recommends a range of evidence-informed actions that organisations can take. These include reviewing workplace policies and practices, improving flexible working arrangements and training managers to support employees experiencing menopause.

This represents a shift towards organisations being able to demonstrate the practical action they are taking, rather than simply having good intentions around menopause support.

Why are managers so important?

Policies and action plans can provide a framework for support, but it is often a manager who has the day-to-day conversation with an employee.

An employee experiencing menopause symptoms may be dealing with fatigue, sleep disturbance, anxiety, hot flushes, difficulties with concentration or memory, reduced confidence, or a range of other physical, psychological and cognitive symptoms. These can affect people’s experience of work in very different ways.

A manager may therefore find themselves discussing working arrangements, workplace conditions, absence, workload or changes in performance without initially knowing that menopause is contributing to the situation. How that conversation is handled matters.

An employee who feels they will be embarrassed, stereotyped or judged on their performance may be reluctant to explain what they are experiencing. In contrast, an approachable manager who listens, avoids assumptions and understands the support available can help address difficulties before they escalate.

Managers don’t need to be menopause experts

Supporting an employee experiencing menopause does not mean diagnosing symptoms or providing medical advice. Managers need to understand enough about menopause to recognise its potential impact at work, respond appropriately when somebody raises a concern and know where the boundaries of their role lie.

Menopause awareness for managers supporting employees

This can include:

  • listening sensitively and maintaining appropriate confidentiality
  • understanding that every person’s experience of menopause is different
  • discussing how symptoms are affecting the individual at work
  • considering practical workplace adjustments
  • recognising workplace factors that may make symptoms more difficult to manage
  • managing absence or performance concerns fairly and without making assumptions
  • reviewing support as an employee’s needs change
  • knowing when to involve HR, occupational health or other appropriate support.

Sometimes relatively straightforward changes can make working life considerably easier for someone experiencing symptoms. These might include greater flexibility around working hours or breaks, changes to workwear, improved access to ventilation or drinking water, changes to particular duties or consideration of workload and working arrangements.

There is no single solution that will be appropriate for everybody. The conversation with the individual is therefore an important part of getting support right.

Menopause, workplace adjustments and the law

There is no specific piece of UK legislation dealing solely with menopause, and menopause itself is not a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010.

However, employers should understand how menopause can interact with existing employment law. Depending on the circumstances, unfair treatment associated with menopause may amount to discrimination where it relates to a protected characteristic such as sex, age or disability.

Employers also have responsibilities for employees’ health, safety and welfare at work. This makes it important to consider whether workplace conditions – including temperature, ventilation, physical demands, working hours, stress and access to facilities – could make menopause symptoms more difficult to manage.

Menopause support should therefore form part of a wider approach to managing people fairly, safely and inclusively.

What should organisations be doing now?

For larger employers, the new Gender Equality Action Plan framework provides an obvious reason to review existing menopause support ahead of the planned move to mandatory action plans in 2027.

But menopause support is not only relevant to organisations with 250 or more employees. Whatever the size of the organisation, it is worth considering whether managers are equipped to handle a menopause-related conversation confidently and appropriately.

Do they understand the potential workplace impact of menopause? Do they know what support or adjustments may be available? Would they know how to respond if symptoms were affecting someone’s attendance or performance? And do employees feel confident that approaching their manager will result in a sensitive and constructive conversation?

A policy can be valuable, but its effectiveness ultimately depends on what happens in practice.

Introducing Menopause Awareness Training for Managers

To help organisations equip managers with the knowledge and practical skills they need, we’ve launched a new Menopause Awareness Training for Managers course.

The online training explores menopause and its potential impact at work before focusing specifically on the manager’s role.

Menopause awareness for managers online training

Managers can learn how to approach sensitive conversations, understand barriers that may prevent employees from speaking up, consider workplace support and adjustments, manage concerns around absence and performance fairly, and recognise when further advice from HR, occupational health or other appropriate support may be needed.

The course has also reflects current workplace developments, including the Employment Rights Act 2025 and Gender Equality Action Plan framework.

For organisations looking to build awareness across the wider workforce, our refreshed Menopause Awareness for Employees course complements the Managers training and helps create a shared understanding of menopause throughout the workplace.

Providing managers with the right knowledge won’t give them an answer to every situation – nor should it. What it can give them is the confidence to listen, ask the right questions and help employees access appropriate support when they need it.

Preventing Sexual Harassment at Work: What Employers Need to Do in 2026

Preventing Sexual Harassment at Work: What Employers Need to Do in 2026

by | Oct 7, 2026 | Employment and HR

Preventing sexual harassment in the workplace is an important responsibility for every employer. With further changes to UK employment law taking effect from 30th October 2026, organisations should make sure they understand their responsibilities and have appropriate measures in place to protect their workforce.

The law increasingly focuses not simply on responding appropriately when sexual harassment occurs, but on taking proactive steps to prevent it from happening in the first place.

What is sexual harassment in the workplace?

Under the Equality Act (2010), sexual harassment is defined as unwanted conduct of a sexual nature that has the purpose or effect of violating someone’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.

Sexual harassment can take many forms. It may include inappropriate comments or jokes, unwanted touching, sexual advances, displaying or sharing sexual content, or inappropriate behaviour through emails, messages and other digital channels.

Importantly, behaviour does not necessarily have to be intended to cause offence to amount to sexual harassment. The effect that the behaviour has can also be relevant.

Employers already have a duty to prevent sexual harassment

The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 came into force on 26th October 2024.

It introduced a legal duty requiring employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their employees during the course of their employment.

This means employers should not simply wait for an incident or complaint before taking action. They should consider where risks may arise and put appropriate measures in place to reduce them.

What is changing from 30th October 2026?

The Employment Rights Act 2025 strengthens the existing preventative duty.

From 30th October 2026, employers will be required to take ‘all reasonable steps’ to prevent sexual harassment of their employees.

What is reasonable will depend on factors such as the organisation, its size, sector and the type of work employees carry out. However, the change places an even greater emphasis on prevention and on employers considering all the reasonable measures available to them.

The law will also strengthen protection from third-party harassment. Employers may be liable where an employee is harassed by a third party – such as a customer, client, contractor, service user or member of the public – unless the employer has taken all reasonable steps to prevent the harassment.

This makes it particularly important for organisations to consider risks that arise not only between colleagues, but through interactions with people outside the organisation.

Sexual harassment and whistleblowing

Further protections introduced in 2026 mean employers should also consider how concerns about sexual harassment are reported.

Preventing Sexual Harassment at Work: reporting policy

Since 6th April 2026, disclosures about sexual harassment can qualify for whistleblowing protection where the legal requirements for a protected disclosure are met.

Clear and accessible reporting procedures are therefore an important part of creating an environment in which employees understand how to raise concerns and feel able to do so.

What can employers do to help prevent sexual harassment?

There is no single approach that will be appropriate for every workplace. Employers should consider the particular risks within their own organisation and the steps that are reasonable in response.

These may include:

  • assessing where and how sexual harassment could occur
  • reviewing and updating policies and procedures
  • providing clear and accessible ways to report concerns
  • making sure complaints are handled appropriately
  • considering risks involving customers, clients and other third parties
  • providing appropriate training for employees and managers
  • ensuring managers understand how to respond when concerns are raised
  • reviewing measures regularly rather than treating prevention as a one-off exercise.

Training forms part of this wider preventative approach. A policy may explain an organisation’s position, but employees and managers also need to understand what sexual harassment can look like, what behaviour is unacceptable and what they should do if they experience, witness or become aware of a concern.

Why managers have an important role

Managers can be one of the first people an employee approaches when they experience or witness inappropriate behaviour.

They therefore need to understand how to recognise potential sexual harassment, respond sensitively when a concern is raised, follow appropriate procedures and avoid dismissing behaviour as harmless workplace ‘banter’.

Managers also have an important everyday role in setting expectations, modelling appropriate behaviour and helping to create a respectful workplace culture.

Providing managers with training tailored to their responsibilities can help them understand not only what sexual harassment is, but what is expected of them when managing and supporting others.

Building awareness across the workforce

Preventing sexual harassment is not solely a management issue. Employees should also understand what constitutes sexual harassment, the standards of behaviour expected in their workplace, how to raise concerns and how to respond appropriately if they witness unacceptable behaviour.

Building awareness across the workforce can help organisations establish clear expectations and reinforce a culture in which inappropriate behaviour is recognised and addressed.

Sexual Harassment Awareness Training from RealSense

RealSense offers separate CPD-approved online Sexual Harassment Awareness courses for employees and managers, allowing organisations to provide training appropriate to different roles and responsibilities.

Preventing Sexual Harassment at Work: training employees

Sexual Harassment Awareness in the Workplace for Employees helps learners recognise sexual harassment, understand appropriate workplace behaviour and know how to report and respond to concerns.

Sexual Harassment Awareness in the Workplace for Managers builds on this awareness by helping managers understand their responsibilities, respond appropriately to disclosures and concerns, and support a proactive approach to preventing sexual harassment.

Both courses can be purchased individually and are also available as part of the RealSense Workplace Essentials subscription.

With strengthened legal requirements taking effect from 30th October 2026, now is the time for employers to review their approach to preventing sexual harassment and ensure their workforce understands the part they play.

Find out more about our Sexual Harassment Awareness training email hello@real-sense.com or contact us on 01332 208500 to discuss your organisation’s training needs.