Absences and Integration Management
By Redaktion techport.ai, HR-Beratung · Last updated on
An employee has been ill for seven weeks. Company integration management should have been offered after six weeks. Nobody noticed, because the absences are recorded in the timekeeping system and the HR department only looks at continued payment of wages. A year later, a termination due to illness is being considered, and the employment tribunal's first question will be about the BEM.
Absences are not merely an administrative matter. Parental leave, care leave, long-term illness and integration have deadlines, formal requirements and consequences for planning, payroll and return to work. Managing them as a process avoids liability and helps people return to work.
How you can tell
- BEM is offered when someone remembers to do so. Documentation is incomplete or missing.
- Parental leave applications, part-time requests and return dates are managed in emails and calendars.
- The return after a long absence is a surprise for all involved parties.
- Absences are reported, but not evaluated by cause and department.
Why this happens
Absences originate in time management, become relevant in payroll, and have consequences in the HR system. Three systems, three responsibilities, no process connecting them. Furthermore, BEM (company integration management) has no natural owner: HR, managers, company doctors, and representatives for severely disabled employees are involved, and without a system trigger, everyone waits for everyone else.
Our approach
- Automate deadlines. The system identifies from absence records when the six-week threshold for BEM is reached and triggers the offer. Similarly for parental leave, care leave, and return-to-work discussions.
- Standardise the BEM process. Invitation, information, discussion, measures, conclusion, with templates and separate storage, because health data enjoys special protection. The process is agreed with the works council and the representatives for severely disabled employees.
- Structure the return to work. For every longer absence, there is a discussion before returning, an updated workstation, access rights, and an induction plan. This is onboarding in miniature.
- Evaluate. Absences are evaluated by department, duration, and pattern, aggregated and in compliance with data protection. Anomalies lead to discussions about working conditions, not about individuals.
What you gain
- In the event of a dispute, documented BEM (company integration management) is available, and this is decisive for terminations due to illness.
- Returning employees stay because their return is prepared.
- Absences decrease where their causes lie in working conditions.
From our projects
When we record BEM (company integration management) processes, the trigger is almost never automated, and the six-week threshold is often only noticed months later, if at all. Automation from time management is technically simple and usually implemented within a few weeks. The greater effort is coordinating the procedure with the works council, representatives for severely disabled employees, and the company doctor, and it is worthwhile because the procedure is then supported by everyone.
Good to know
§ 167 Absatz 2 SGB IX (Section 167 Paragraph 2 of the German Social Code, Book IX) obliges employers to offer integration management to employees who have been unfit for work for more than six weeks within a year, regardless of severe disability. The offer is not bound by form, but must inform and be documented. Since May 2025, parental leave can be applied for in text form; written form is no longer required. Health data from BEM (company integration management) is subject to Artikel 9 DSGVO (Article 9 GDPR) and does not belong in the general personnel file.
Frequently asked questions
Does the employee have to participate in BEM?
No, participation is voluntary. The employer's duty is to make a proper offer. This is precisely why documentation of the offer is so important: it proves that you have fulfilled your duty.
May the manager see their team's absence records?
Duration and period yes, diagnoses never. System access rights must reflect this. We configure them so that managers can plan without seeing health data.
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Further reading
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