How to Track and Analyse Covid-19 Related Absence (People Inc.)

Case study + practical guide

Delivered by PeopleFirstHR — UK HR software implementation specialists

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CASESTUDY

From uncertainty to insight:

How organisations can record Covid-19 related absence in People Inc. to understand impact, costs, and patterns.

Delivered by PeopleFirstHR — UK HR software implementation specialists

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Results at a glance

• Create a dedicated Covid-19 absence rule so reporting is clean and consistent
• Track specific Covid-19 reasons (e.g., sickness, isolation, caring responsibilities) for better analysis
• Enable HR teams (and optionally employees via ESS) to record absence quickly and accurately
• Produce reports to quantify operational impact and plan resourcing with confidence

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BACKGROUND

Client snapshot

Organisation type: UK organisations using People Inc. HR software

Primary need: Track Covid-19 related absence separately from standard sickness/absence categories

Outcome sought: Better visibility of Covid-19 impact across teams, time periods, and absence reasons

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THE CHALLENGE

Covid-19 absence created a reporting blind spot for many businesses

When Coronavirus began affecting the workforce, many organisations faced the same problem: absence increased, but the reason and business impact were hard to quantify.

If Covid-19 related absence is recorded inconsistently (or lumped into general sickness), it becomes difficult to answer basic questions such as:

• How many days were lost specifically due to Covid-19?
• Which teams or locations were most affected?
• Was the impact driven by sickness, isolation, or other Covid-related reasons?
• What did this cost the business in lost productivity and cover arrangements?

The organisations best able to plan and respond were those that could track Covid-19 absence as its own category—and then report on it cleanly.

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THE SOLUTION

Use People Inc. to record Covid-19 related absence (cleanly and consistently)

People Inc. can be configured to track Covid-19 absence in a structured way. The approach is straightforward:

1. Create a dedicated Covid-19 Absence Rule
2. Assign it to employees (manually or automatically)
3. Add specific Covid-19 absence reasons for deeper analysis
4. Record absences consistently (HR and/or via Employee Self Service)

This ensures Covid-19 absence can be reported separately—without disrupting existing sickness and absence tracking.

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IMPLEMENTATION

Fast, structured, and easy to maintain

Below is the exact approach used to configure People Inc. for Covid-19 related absence tracking.

1) Create a new Absence Rule (Covid-19)

Within the Absence Rules screen, add a new rule specifically for Covid-19 related absence.

Best practice:

• Name it clearly (e.g., Covid-19 Absence)
• Keep it separate from standard sickness so reporting remains accurate
• Align settings with your policy (paid/unpaid, entitlement handling, etc.)

2) Assign the new rule to employees

There are two common ways to handle this:

• Default rule approach (recommended for speed):

  If the Covid-19 rule is set as a Default Rule, it will be created automatically when an employee books absence (including via ESS).

• Bulk assignment approach (recommended for control):

  Use the Assign Absence Allowance Wizard to apply the rule across selected employees.

This ensures the new rule appears correctly for the relevant employees in People Inc.

3) Add specific Covid-19 absence reasons (for better reporting)

To analyse the why behind Covid-19 absence, add dedicated reasons in Absence Reasons (lookup list).

Examples of useful reason categories:

• Covid-19 confirmed illness
• Suspected Covid-19 symptoms
• Self-isolation (exposure)
• Caring responsibilities
• Long Covid / ongoing symptoms

This makes your reporting far more valuable than simply tracking “Covid-19” as a single bucket.

4) Record Covid-19 absences (HR and/or ESS)

Covid-19 absence can then be recorded from the employee’s Absence History screen.

If you use the People Inc. Employee Self Service (ESS) module, this can be configured to allow employees to record Covid-19 absence directly—reducing admin and improving data accuracy (especially in higher-volume periods).

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IMPACT

Analyse absence trends and quantify business impact

Once Covid-19 absence is recorded under a dedicated rule and reason set, analysis becomes much easier.

Common analysis outputs include:

• Covid-19 absence days by month/quarter
• Impact by department, site, manager, or location
• Breakdown by Covid-19 reason (illness vs isolation vs caring)
• Repeat absence patterns and hotspots

Employees can also view absence information via the Absence Calendar in ESS (and relevant managers can access this too), improving transparency and reducing HR queries.

For leadership reporting, People Inc. reports can be adapted (or created from scratch) to quantify the operational impact and support resourcing decisions.

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Why PeopleFirstHR for People Inc. absence configuration?

PeopleFirstHR helps UK organisations configure People Inc. to match real-world HR requirements—quickly and without overcomplicating the setup.

If you want to track Covid-19 absence (or any specialist absence category) in a way that supports clean reporting and decision-making, we can help you implement a structure that’s easy to maintain.

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Ready to improve your absence reporting?

If you would like help configuring your People Inc. software to record and analyse Covid-19 related absence, please contact PeopleFirstHR.

☎ 0330 223 6180	✉ helpdesk@peoplefirsthr.co.uk

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FAQ’s

Why should Covid-19 absence be tracked separately from sickness?

Because it allows clean reporting on Covid-19 impact without distorting sickness metrics, Bradford Factor calculations, or internal reporting trends.

Can employees record Covid-19 absence through Employee Self Service (ESS)?

Yes. For organisations using the People Inc. ESS module, this can be configured so employees can record Covid-19 related absence directly.

Can we report on Covid-19 absence by reason (not just total days)?

Yes—if you set up dedicated Covid-19 absence reasons, People Inc. reports can break absence down by reason, team, location, and time period.

Can PeopleFirstHR help us set this up quickly?

Yes. PeopleFirstHR can help configure the rules, reasons, ESS options, and reports so you can track impact accurately with minimal disruption.