Vertas Group: 10 Years of Strategic Absence Management Success
From double-digit absence rates to data-driven wellbeing and 3% absence. How one of the UK’s leading facilities management groups transformed its approach with Honeydew.
Proactive Absence Management Across 800+ Locations
Since 2014, Vertas has used Honeydew’s Day-1 Absence Reporting service to manage staff absence across its extensive workforce. With more than 300 managers and operations spanning over 800 sites, the service has been instrumental in simplifying absence processes and empowering managers with data.
Vertas Group has evolved into one of the largest integrated facilities management companies in Great Britain - backed by reliable absence data and award-winning results.
HR Representative, Vertas Group
“Prior to Honeydew, the absence rate was something between 12% and 15% but actually it wasn’t, that was a bit of a finger-in-the-airjob because there was no management of absence. It was less than a year [and] we were down to around 3% absence”
HR Representative, Vertas Group
"[Engage] gives you that really quick visibility of your absence position: we know what we’re dealing with now ... what gets measured, gets done.”
HR Representative, Vertas Group
“It’s massively down to the partnership that we’ve got with Honeydew. We know that the Honeydew team are always responsive to our questions, our needs, and changes in our business, understanding and listening to what we actually need. Honeydew’s agility helps us be agile.”
The Challenge
Key Absence Management Challenges
With a workforce spread across 800+ locations and over 300 line managers, Vertas needed a solution that could bring structure, visibility, and consistency to how absence was reported and managed.
Before Honeydew:
- No consistent method for tracking or managing absence
- Absence rates estimated, not measured
- Line managers handling ad-hoc calls and reports
- No clear ownership or oversight of absence data
- A lack of visibility across hundreds of locations
The Solution
Day-1 Reporting, Scalable Support & Reliable Data
Honeydew’s Day-1 Absence Reporting service, paired with the Engage absence management platform, gave Vertas exactly what they needed: structure, insight, and a scalable process that could grow with the business.
Key features included:
- A 24/7 absence line for all employees
- One single, consistent point of contact
- Engage software with real-time dashboards and reporting
- Scalable service for over 300 managers
- Data that drives better decisions and targeted wellbeing support
The Results
Results: From Firefighting to Forward Planning
The partnership between Vertas and Honeydew has delivered long-term, tangible results.
The situation now:
- Reduction in absence rates from up to 15% to just 3%
- Significant reduction in admin burden for line managers
- Fast, reliable reporting across a large and dispersed workforce
- Agility to adapt to changing business needs over a decade
- Wellbeing initiatives backed by meaningful data
- Stronger return-to-work support and consistent absence management
Could this be your story too?
Whether you manage a growing team or a national workforce - Honeydew’s flexible, people-first approach can help you reduce absence, improve visibility, and free up time to focus on what matters most.