News | February blues - sick leave costs businesses £millions
January is over, and the first Monday in February came and went. How did you feel? Well according to research, it is the day when most people are likely to call in sick and take a day off work. In fact around 375,000 of us will do it, costing the economy around £32 million!
Of course some people will have been genuinely ill, especially as we are in the midst of debilitating flu outbreak this winter. However, a fair few will have been struck down with other issues, such as post-Christmas blues (especially brought on by the Christmas credit card bill!), the thought that it is a long time until the next holiday, and even feeling fed up with the weather. Understandably, the continuing fragile economy is also contributing, as people feel at the end of their tether after several years of austerity.
Sick leave is costly for businesses, both financially and in terms of efficiency and can be very damaging. In order to minimise the damage in improve efficiency, businesses need to ensure that staff sickness is properly monitored and managed. A good absence management policy and procedure will include many elements, but there are some which could be more important than others. Businesses could consider these issues at the very least:
- Review and remind staff of absence reporting procedures – and don’t forget a plan in case the person to whom absence would normally be reported is absent. Try to ensure that sickness is reported by the member of staff themselves, preferably by speaking to someone. Email and text reporting is becoming more prevalent, but can offer an opportunity to ‘pull the wool over your eyes’. Also, make sure people know how often they need to report in, and when they need a ‘fit note’ from a doctor.
- Make sure staff know what else is expected of them if are unwell. For example, what should they do about appointments that they are not going to be able to attend
- Make sure line managers know what action should be taken – don’t rely only on the HR manager dealing with the issue – departments may need to make their own arrangements for cover, for example.
- How will absence be recorded and paid/unpaid for those taking time off to care for dependents? Don’t forget that employees have the right to take a reasonable amount of unpaid leave to deal with emergencies or arrange long term care for dependents.
- Decide how to deal with workers who insist on coming to work when they are unwell, an issue which can be particularly relevant to contract workers – who might not get paid if they don’t attend. Also, what action should be taken if people don’t want to come to work for fear of contracting a virus such as flu – will precautionary absences be paid under the company’s sickness policy?
- Carry out return to work interviews for all instances of sick leave and for all staff, taking details of who the sickness was reported to and what advice they were given. Make sure that these are monitored regularly in case there is a pattern that indicates something other than general illness.
Having robust – but fair – employment policies and procedures in place will help you to deal with most work place issues, minimising the risk of grievances and tribunal claims, but they must be reviewed regularly and kept up to date with current legislation.”
