How to support an employee returning from leave
Coming back after weeks or months away is harder than it looks. Things have changed, people have moved on, and the person may feel behind. A little planning from you makes a big difference.
Updated
Before they return
- Tell the team the date they are back.
- Write a short list of what changed while they were away.
- Decide who covered their work, and what moves back to them and when.
- Check that their access and equipment work.
On the first day
Keep it light. Meet them early in the day, welcome them back and ask what they need.
Do not load the first day with meetings.
- "Welcome back. What do you need to catch up on?"
- "What would make your first week easier?"
In the first few weeks
- Hand work back in steps, not all at once.
- Do not expect them to be back at full speed straight away.
- Check in weekly for the first month.
- Ask whether the arrangement still suits them, such as hours or days.
What to avoid
- Do not ask personal questions they have not raised.
- Do not let a pile of work wait for them on day one.
- Do not make comments about how long they were away.
- Do not pass over them for work because they were away.
The signals behind this guide
- How to welcome someone back from leave
Someone just came back from a week or more off.
- How to tell if a team member is overloaded
Someone is working too much.
- Are you giving one person less of your time?
One person gets much less of your time than the others.
More guides
- Why employees leave and the signs before they go
Why employees leave, the changes a manager can see before someone resigns, and how to start the conversation while there is still time.
- Quiet quitting: the signs, and what to do
What quiet quitting looks like on a team, how it differs from a quiet week, and how a manager can respond without blame.
- One on one questions to ask your team
One on one questions for every part of a 1:1 meeting: workload, the team, growth and you as their manager. Plus what to talk about, and a simple agenda.
- Employee recognition: how to thank good work
Employee recognition that costs nothing: how to notice the work that deserves thanks, how to say it so it lands, and ideas to make sure nobody is missed.
- Signs of burnout at work a manager can see
The signs of burnout at work a manager can see early are about the work: late nights, no breaks, no say. What to look for, what to say, what to change.
- Signs an employee is secretly struggling
The work changes that show someone may be struggling, why they hide it, and how a manager can ask in a way that gets an honest answer.
- How to tell if an employee is disengaged
What disengaged looks like day to day, how it differs from a bad week, and how a manager can find the reason and respond without blame.
- Bus factor: how to find it and raise it
Your bus factor is how many people could leave before work stops. How to find the one person your team relies on, and how to spread what they know.
- Overwhelmed at work: how a manager can help
What to do when someone has too much on: how to find out what they are carrying, what to take away, and how to check that it worked.
- Employee onboarding: a 90-day plan
A practical plan for a new hire's first days and first 90 days: what to prepare, who they should meet, and what to check on each week.
- Performance review examples for managers
Performance review examples you can adapt for results, teamwork, growth and problems, a short template, and how to write a fair review from facts.
- Employee retention: how to keep your best people
What employee retention depends on, why good people leave, and the habits that keep them: fair workload, real growth and a manager who notices.
- Team health check: how to run one
How to run a team health check in half an hour: what to ask, how to get honest answers, what to do with the result, and what to watch between checks.
- First time manager: what to do first
A plan for a first time manager: meet each person, learn how the team works, start one on ones, and avoid the mistakes most new managers make.
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