Sickness is a key part of Breathe functionality.
You can update employee's sicknesses for them and change the sickness status to 'completed', or 'raise a query' if more information is needed.
To create a new sickness record, head over to the employee's Profile > Sickness tab.
Click on the blue '+' icon to create a new sickness record.
Here you can add the details of the sickness, including start date, end date (if applicable) and sickness type.
Incorrect Sickness Duration Displayed
If the calculated sickness duration for an employee doesn’t match the expected total, this may be due to an incorrectly set end date. For example:
Issue: The system calculates that the employee has returned to work prematurely when an incorrect or premature end date is set.
Solution: Update the end date in the sickness record to the current (or correct) date if the employee is still on sick leave. Alternatively, leaving the end date blank while setting the status as "Open" will allow the system to track the correct sickness days. Once the employee returns to work, change the status to "Closed" and update the end date accordingly.
If the setting has been enabled for them to do so (via Configure > Settings > Change what people can see and do > Report their own sickness) employees can report their own sicknesses, which will notify their line manager/HR user.
Sickness Not Recorded Due to Statutory Holidays
Some sickness records may fail to include specific days if they coincide with statutory holidays. For example, in England, statutory holidays are excluded from sickness day calculations by default.
Issue: Bank holidays or statutory holidays fall within the sickness period.
Solution: To include these days in sickness calculations, go to the employee’s profile, navigate to More > Working Pattern & Holiday Allowance, and untick the option for "Receives statutory holidays." Then, re-add the sickness record to reflect the correct duration.
They can do this from their own profile > sickness > + icon: Understanding Sickness Record Access In Breathe, a sickness record is only visible to the manager once it has been marked as "Closed." This behavior prevents managers from viewing ongoing sickness records incorrectly. If a record remains inaccessible even after it is closed, further investigation may be required to identify potential issues specific to the system.
Creating sickness types
You can add sickness types by heading to Configure > Settings > Picklists > Sickness types.
Please note: Sickness is an integrated module so cannot be switched off. Adjusting System Settings for Accurate Sick Leave Calculations Ensuring accurate sick leave calculations often depends on precise employee settings, such as working patterns and holiday preferences. Regularly reviewing these settings can help avoid discrepancies:
Confirm that statutory holidays are assigned correctly for employees.
Verify that sickness records have "Start" and "End" dates set properly.
Use the "Open" status for ongoing sickness periods to ensure dynamic tracking.
For information on sickness statuses and how to manage sickness, check out the below guide: Troubleshooting Common Issues with Sickness Records
Missing Sickness Totals
If sickness totals are missing or not displayed for an employee, this typically indicates a temporary calculation issue with the system.
Solution: To resolve this, locate the affected user's profile and navigate to the "Sickness" tab. Edit the affected sickness record by adjusting its end date forward by one day, saving it, and then reverting it back to the original end date. Completing this adjustment should rectify the visibility of sickness totals.
Or, if you'd like to find out more about the Bradford Factor, here's one for you:
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