Truancy has a low return (4)
I believe the answer is:
awol
'truancy' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'a low return' is the wordplay.
'return' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'low' back-to-front is 'wol'.
'a'+'wol'='AWOL'
'has' is the link.
(Other definitions for awol that I've seen before include "Take unofficial leave (abbrev.)" , "unaccounted for" , "Truant (or just missing)" , "Not present when supposed to be" , "'Absent without permission, initially (4)'" .)