In relation to long term absence where you have had to employ a temporary worker to cover absence, can you request a minimum notice period before the absent employee returns to work?

While there is no legal right to request notice in these situations, you could ask the employee to give you a certain amount of notice of their intention to return. It is best practice, however, that this is discussed as part of your management of the long term absence situation. It is useful and advisable to have a long term absence policy in place to help with this.

One vital aspect of properly managing this situation and key to an absence policy is having regular contact and consultation with an employee during the absence about his/her needs, what possible adjustments could be made to help accommodate the employee back into the workplace and what effect any potential disability might