• Platform
  • Operations
  • Absence & Leave

Absence sorted before it causes a problem.

Every leave request, sick day and holiday balance in one system — rotas updated automatically.

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See how it works
Absence and leave - absence-today dashboard of the day

 days

average UK employee absence
per year

%

of absence admin automated by
HR Duo

%

compliance accuracy with built-in safeguards

Who it helps

One system.
Useful for everyone.

Operations Managers

Know about absences before they hit the floor.

Instant notifications when staff call in. Cover arranged faster. Shifts never left unstaffed.

HR Teams

Records that hold up to scrutiny.

Every absence logged, categorised and stored. Return-to-work tracked. Bradford Factor calculated automatically.

Business Owners

Understand what absence is costing you.

Absence rates, trends and costs across the whole business. Spot problems before they become expensive.

Absence and leave - leave-requests for this week

Leave requests & approvals

Requests in. Approved. Done.

Self-service requests, one-click approvals, balances updated automatically — no emails, no chasing.

  • Self-service leave requests from mobile or desktop
  • One-click approvals with instant employee notification
  • Custom leave types: annual, sick, parental, compassionate
  • Automatic balance deduction on approval
  • Visibility of team availability before approving
Absence and leave - absence-record of Priya Anand

Absence tracking

Every absence logged. Every pattern visible.

When someone calls in sick, it takes seconds to record — and patterns get flagged before they hurt the team.

  • One-click absence recording for managers
  • Sick leave categorisation by reason or type
  • Bradford Factor calculated automatically
  • Pattern alerts when thresholds are reached
  • Return-to-work prompts & fit-note storage
Absence and leave - holiday-balances for the year 2026

Holiday management

Holiday balances your team can see and trust.

Accruals, carry-over and pro-rata calculations — handled automatically. No spreadsheet disputes.

  • Automatic accrual based on contract hours and start date
  • Pro-rata for part-time and variable-hour staff
  • Carry-over rules per employee, team or company
  • Bank holiday management with regional variations
  • Self-service balance view to reduce HR queries
Absence and leave - absence-report for the Q2 2026

Reporting & insights

The cost of absence, made visible.

Trends, hotspots and lost-day costs across every team — the numbers you need for the board pack, ready to export.

  • Absence rates and lost-day costs by team or site
  • Reason-coded sickness data — spot trends early
  • Year-on-year comparisons against industry benchmarks
  • Scheduled exports to PDF, Excel or your BI tool

Also included

Everything your team needs in one place.

Time & attendance

Clock-ins, hours and overtime tracked in the same platform. Absences flow through automatically.

Shift scheduling

Build rotas around approved leave automatically. No double-booking, no last-minute scrambles.

Analytics & reports

Labour cost data, attendance trends, workforce insights. Exportable in seconds.

Employee self-service

Staff view hours, request leave and check schedules themselves. Fewer manager queries.

Bradford Factor

Absenteeism patterns flagged automatically. HR can spot issues and act early.

GDPR-compliant

All data stored securely. Role-based access controls throughout.

Absence requests, approvals and balances all in one place — we’ve cut HR’s admin time on leave by more than half, and managers actually know who’s in.

Kat Ryan

Head of People, Apex

Built for your industry

Configured for the operations where absence management matters most.

  • Construction

  • Healthcare

  • Hospitality

  • Manufacturing

  • Retail

Trusted by operations teams across the UK & Ireland

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See it for yourself

See it working for your operation.

A free, no-obligation demo. We’ll show you exactly how HR Duo handles absence and leave for your industry and team size.

Request a free demo
Talk to sales

FAQs

How do employees request leave?

From the HR Duo mobile app or desktop — pick the dates, choose a leave type, hit submit. Their manager gets a notification, can see team availability for those dates, and approves with one tap. Balances update automatically.

Does it handle pro-rata and carry-over calculations?

Yes. Accruals work off contract hours and start date — part-time, variable hours and term-time staff are all calculated correctly. Carry-over rules can be set per employee, per team or company-wide.

How does the Bradford Factor calculation work?

HR Duo calculates Bradford scores automatically from absence records using the standard S² × D formula. You can set custom thresholds for amber and red flags, and the system notifies HR when an employee crosses them — before patterns become a problem.

Can it handle return-to-work meetings and fit notes?

Yes. Every sick absence triggers an RTW prompt to the manager, with a structured form to record the conversation. Fit notes can be uploaded by the employee or manager, stored against the record, and surfaced automatically on the next absence.

How quickly can we get set up?

Most teams are live within 2–4 weeks. Our onboarding team handles employee imports, leave-policy configuration, balance migration and manager training — you don’t have to.

Is it compliant with UK and Irish leave law?

Yes. Statutory entitlements, parental leave, force-majeure leave, bank holiday rules and regional variations are all configured out of the box for both jurisdictions. Updates are pushed by us as legislation changes.