Who it’s for: Advanced roles (Managers/Approvers) and Administrators
Platform: Sense HR
Available on: Team / Professional / Elite / Enterprise
Before you begin
☑️ This process applies when an employee reports sickness using the Dashboard sickness widget. The employee’s notification does not create a Sickness event automatically.
☑️ Make sure you have access to the employee and permission to record Sickness in their Planner.
☑️ The sickness notification is received as an Acknowledge sickness To Do. If you’re unfamiliar with finding or actioning To Dos, see:
For more information about how sickness reporting and recording work in Sense HR, see:
For more information about workflow-created, linked To Dos and how they work, see:
Overview
When an employee uses Notify manager from the Dashboard sickness widget, Sense HR:
creates an Acknowledge sickness – [employee] To Do
sends an email to the recipient telling them that the employee has reported sick and directing them to the To Do
The notification is not yet a Sickness event. You must review it and either Record sickness or Dismiss it.
Review the sickness notification
Go to To Do.
Find Acknowledge sickness – [employee].
Click the To Do to open the Sickness notification.
Review the information submitted by the employee:
• When did it start — Now or Earlier today
• Notified at — the date and time the notification was submitted
• Reason
• Note
The notification confirms:
This is a notification only. No sickness event has been created yet. Review and record to confirm the absence.
You can now Record sickness or Dismiss the notification.
Review the employee’s sickness notification before recording or dismissing it.
Record the Sickness event
If the employee’s sickness should be recorded:
Click Record sickness.
Check the employee shown under Assign to.
Check the Start Date.
If you know when the employee will return, select the End date. If you don’t know, leave the End date blank to record the Sickness as open-ended.
Check the Sickness reason and change it if required.
Under Duration mode, select from the options available:
• Full day(s) — record complete working days.
• Part of day — record a predefined portion of a working day.
• Time-based — enter specific Start and End times.Complete any additional fields shown for the selected Duration mode.
Add any Notes, if required.
Check the Booking Summary.
Click Add.
The Sickness event is added to the employee’s profile Planner and company Calendar.
 Check the sickness details and leave the End date blank if the employee’s return date isn’t known. | 
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Check the information carried over from the notification
When you click Record sickness, Sense HR prepopulates:
Event — Sickness
Assign to — the employee who submitted the notification
Start Date — the date of the notification
Sickness reason — the reason selected by the employee
Check these details and complete the remaining booking information before adding the Sickness event.
🖊️ Note: The employee’s Note does not carry over to the Notes field in the Sickness booking. Refer back to the notification if you need this information and add relevant details to Notes manually if required.
🖊️ Note: Now and Earlier today provide additional information to the person reviewing the sickness notification. They don’t automatically set a Start time or Duration mode. When recording the Sickness, the reviewer uses this information to decide whether the Start Date should be recorded as a full or partial day.
Leave the Sickness open-ended if the return date isn’t known
If you don’t know when the employee will return, leave End date blank.
The Booking Summary identifies the Sickness as Open-ended, and the Sickness event remains open until the employee’s return is recorded.
Don’t enter an estimated End date if the return date isn’t known. Leaving the event open-ended helps keep one continuous illness together as a single Sickness event. This also allows the Fit note duration threshold to continue against the same booking if the absence continues.
💡 Tip: Where possible, record one continuous period of sickness as a single Sickness event. Consecutive Sickness bookings are treated as one continuous instance for absence-scheme calculations, but remain separate events in Planner. The Fit note duration threshold is calculated separately for each booking, and separate events can also trigger event-based workflows separately.
For information about managing an ongoing Sickness event, see:
Record part of a day or specific times
If the employee became sick partway through their working day, use the appropriate Duration mode rather than automatically recording a Full day.
Use:
Part of day to record a predefined portion of the working day.
Time-based to record specific Start and End times.
The options available depend on how Sickness has been configured for the employee.
If End date is blank for an open-ended Sickness, you only need to enter the part-day option or times for the Start Date. There is no End date to configure while the Sickness remains open-ended.
For more information about Duration modes and multi-day bookings, see:
If a Fit note is required
When you select or check the Sickness reason, Sense HR tells you if that reason requires a Fit note.
A Fit note can also become required from the 8th calendar day of sickness. The threshold uses calendar days, including weekends and other non-working days, and is calculated separately for each Sickness booking.
You can still record the Sickness Event when the Fit note warning is shown.
Sense HR doesn’t currently provide a way to upload or store the Fit note through the Sickness process. The employee should provide it using your organisation’s usual process, such as by email or in person.
Sense HR creates a Fit note required To Do for the employee to track receipt. Once the Fit note has been provided, check that the To Do has been marked as complete.
Dismiss a sickness notification
If the notification shouldn’t be recorded as Sickness — for example, because it was submitted by mistake or the employee is no longer ill — you can dismiss it:
Open the Acknowledge sickness – [employee] To Do.
Click Dismiss.
Review the confirmation message.
Click Dismiss notification.
When you dismiss the notification:
no Sickness event is created
the notification is removed from your active To Do list
the notification remains in notification history
the employee’s Dashboard shows:
Your manager dismissed today’s notification
⚠️ Important: The employee can’t submit another Dashboard sickness notification for the same day after their notification has been dismissed. Only dismiss the notification if the sickness should not be recorded.
If you don’t want to dismiss it, click Keep open.
What happens after you record sickness?
Once you click Add, the Sickness event is created in the employee’s Planner and the notification is actioned.
If the Sickness is open-ended, it remains open until a return is recorded.
Additional processes can apply according to the Sickness reason and your organisation’s configuration, including:
Fit note requirements
Return to Work
absence scheme calculations and trigger points
For information about ongoing sickness, see:
For information about Sickness configuration, see:
FAQs
Click for answers to frequently asked
Click for answers to frequently asked
Q: How do I record Sickness from an Acknowledge sickness To Do in Sense HR?
A: To record Sickness from an Acknowledge sickness To Do, open the To Do and review the employee’s notification. Click Record sickness, check the Start Date and Sickness reason, enter an End date if the employee’s return is known or leave it blank for open-ended Sickness, select the appropriate Duration mode and click Add.
This creates the Sickness event in the employee’s Planner.
Q: Should I enter an End date when recording a Sickness notification if I don’t know when the employee will return?
A: No. When recording a Sickness notification in Sense HR, leave the End date blank if you don’t know when the employee will return. Sense HR records the Sickness as open-ended until a return is recorded.
Avoid entering an estimated End date simply to complete the booking. Keeping a continuous illness as one Sickness event helps avoid splitting the absence into separate records.
Q: Can I change the Sickness reason when recording a Dashboard sickness notification in Sense HR?
A: Yes. The employee’s selected Sickness reason is prepopulated when you click Record sickness. Check the reason before adding the Sickness event and select a different reason if required.
Q: What happens if I dismiss a Dashboard sickness notification in Sense HR?
A: Dismissing a Dashboard sickness notification means no Sickness event is created. The notification is removed from your active To Do list but remains in notification history, and the employee’s Dashboard shows Your manager dismissed today’s notification.
The employee can’t submit another Dashboard sickness notification for the same day after it has been dismissed, so only dismiss the notification if the sickness should not be recorded.
Q: What is the difference between dismissing a sickness notification and deleting a Sickness event in Sense HR?
A: Dismissing a sickness notification closes a Dashboard notification before a Sickness event has been created. No Sickness event is added to Planner.
Deleting a Sickness event removes a Sickness event that has already been recorded in Planner. These are separate actions at different stages of the Sickness process.
Q: Why does Fit note required appear when I record a Sickness notification in Sense HR?
A: Fit note required appears while recording a Sickness notification when the selected Sickness reason is configured to require a Fit note. A Fit note can also become required from the 8th calendar day of sickness, including weekends and other non-working days.
Q: Where do I upload an employee’s Fit note in Sense HR?
A: You can’t currently upload or store a Fit note through the Sense HR Sickness process.
The employee should provide the Fit note using your organisation’s usual process. Sense HR creates a Fit note required To Do for the employee to track receipt. Once the Fit note has been provided, check that the To Do has been marked as complete.
Q: What happens after I record an open-ended Sickness event from a Dashboard notification?
A: After you record an open-ended Sickness event from a Dashboard sickness widget notification, the event remains open in the employee’s Planner because no End date has been recorded. When the employee returns, an authorised user can close the Sickness by recording their return.
For instructions, see: