Key Return to Work Interview Questions for HR Managers

Returning to work after a period of absence can be stressful for employees and their organisations but return-to-work (RTW) interviews can offer HR managers the chance to support the returner while gathering essential insights into absenteeism trends. This serves two purposes: reinforcing the company’s commitment to its duty of care, and pinpointing issues hidden within the workforce to inform its ongoing people strategy. Below we outline best practices and some return to work interview questions to guide your team.

Ensuring duty of care for your people

The purpose of the interviews in the first instance is to demonstrate to employees that, as an organisation, you value your people’s wellbeing. By engaging in these discussions, HR managers can assess whether the returning employee requires extra support, such as a phased return or certain accommodations to their workload. In turn, this can help strengthen relationships and foster trust. Bill Banham, editor of HR Gazette and the HRChat podcast notes that it’s a critical time for businesses to show their employees how much they are valued: “Conducting RTW interviews is vital for fostering employee wellbeing, re-establishing connections, and ensuring a smooth transition back to the workplace. They can demonstrate care and support, helping address concerns, identify potential challenges, and prevent future absences,” he says.

What’s more, under the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974), UK companies are required to maintain a safe and supportive work environment so conducting RTW interviews allows adherence to this duty of care obligation as well.

Reasons for absences

There can be a variety of reasons that people may leave the workplace. Sickness and caring responsibilities are commonplace. In fact, figures from charity Carers UK reveal that 2.6 million employees have quit their job to care for a loved one who is older, disabled or seriously ill, with nearly half a million (468,000) leaving their job in the last two years alone.

Further studies show that the main causes of workplace absence are mental health issues, more specifically depression and anxiety, with 50% of cases of long term sick being attributed to stress and poor mental health. Musculoskeletal problems like back pain are another major contributor to long-term absences from work.

Women tend to report higher rates of sickness absence compared to men, and absence rates generally increase with age, as might be expected.  Some people, however, may just be taking a career break, a sabbatical or deciding to take time out to travel. If this has been agreed with the company, there should be no ill-feeling from the HR team or other colleagues.

You might be interested to read: Managing an Employee with Anxiety: Legal and Practical Steps

Trend-spotting data

Using the analytics from a HRIS to track employee absences is a really useful method for identifying any patterns or trends. For example, if managers are taking time off to deal with stress, HR may need to examine workloads. It can help spot root causes and weed out any poor management practices. “RTW interviews also provide an opportunity to reinforce organisational policies and goals while gathering insights to improve workplace practices,” adds Banham.

Who needs to be involved?

While HR usually leads the interview, involving the employee’s line manager can add value. They are often closer to the employee’s day-to-day activities and can provide additional insights or necessary support. It is important to remember this is not a formal interview, more of a discussion to help ease things along. This is also a confidential so any sensitive information shared during the interview should only be disclosed to relevant parties, such as HR or occupational health professionals, with the employee’s consent. In addition, the conversation should be documented to ensure compliance with GDPR. It can also be recalled in any future employee development planning.

Return to work interview questions

HR managers need to plan the interview for the first day back, or as close to this as possible. The interview should be in a quiet space allowing for complete privacy. The employee may be feeling worried about the return, how they are perceived about taking time off, how they will manage the workload and how they will fit back into the environment. How the HR professional deals with the employee is paramount. Having the right attitude and being empathetic and understanding will help the person feel less anxious about the return. The goal is to support the return not to interrogate or punish them for absences.

A good opening question will set a positive tone and encourage the employee to share their thoughts and feelings. Asking them if there is anything they would like HR to know about the absence is a good way to allow the employee to share any details that might help with the transition.

“Key questions to ask could include: Do you feel ready to resume your role, or is there additional support you might need? Are there any adjustments we can make to ease your return? Do you have any feedback about how the organisation has handled your absence? If done correctly, this dialogue can help employees feel valued and supported, promoting engagement,” says Banham.

HR may need to factor in a phased return or consider a flexible working request if that is likely to help the employee build up to a full return. The key is to not rush the process, and risk further absences. There may also be some discussion around changing their role, moving them into a different department or changing their manager; whatever will help the return go more smoothly.

The last part of the interview should focus on future developments. This ends the interview on a positive note and helps to remind the employee that the company is fully supportive of them.

What not to do

Making assumptions about the career break can create a negative tone to the interview and reflect any bias the interviewer has. Rather than saying ‘Why haven’t you worked in X number of years,’ the question can be reframed as ‘What did you focus on during the time off that you are particularly proud of?’

Asking invasive questions is also a no-no. Keep the conversation professional, questions like ‘What inspired your return to work?’ are less probing.

Don’t be judgemental about the gaps citing what the employee ‘missed’ during their break or focus solely on the break itself. Acknowledge their past accomplishments and ask them what they have done to stay informed of changes in their industry.

Make sure they are clear about expectations from both sides, and avoid generalised promises like ‘It will be easy to get back into the swing of things.’ That may make them feel pressured when they are not ready. Instead, ask them about any resources they might find useful would be a better approach.

Effective RTW interviews are not just about individual absences—they are a way to create a positive culture that promotes openness, support and transparency. Interviews can highlight the employee’s skills, experience and future career options to allow them a positive view of the return. Using insights from these interviews will help to address systemic issues that will ultimately improve the culture, provide a sense of belonging, promote loyalty and reduce absenteeism and long term sickness.

The Role of HR Technology

The right people technology will provide vital tools and support that enable HR to ensure an employee’s return to work is a success.

This involves practical HR software features such as automation abilities, so that your HR team aren’t snowed under with the admin of communications and reminders to the relevant stakeholders when organising the return to work meetings or interviews. Your HR solution also provides a centralised source of truth for your organisations policies around return to work, making the information accessible and reducing queries into your HR team.

Your HR software should also provide good scope for in-depth reporting. this will help HR track the success of wellbeing initiatives, spot problems early on, as well as collate data to effectively track how an employee in reintegrating into the workplace. A Salesforce HR system will provide best-in-class security measures for this sensitive data, ensuring GDPR and employee’s privacy rights are respected.

If you’re currently seeking a new HR solution, it can be an overwhelming process as HR balances stakeholder expectation and buy-in with research and technical considerations. Read our free, comprehensive resource, created to be a starting point for people teams considering what type of system they need, the best features, and which vendors on the market may best suit them.