Title: Winter blues: managing short-term absences
Date: 14 December 2009

Every employer is alert to the problem of “duvet days”, when employees, especially during the winter months, opt to stay under the covers and call in sick. Added to that, at this time of year, colds and flus, not to mention the dreaded swine flu, are all around and claiming new victims every day. The CBI estimates that the annual cost to British business of sick days is £13 billion. The average worker takes 7 sick days a year.

Short-term absence is a thorny issue for employers, as you probably don’t want genuinely infectious workers coming into the office and spreading their germs.   But, how do you know if illness is genuine or if someone is swinging the lead? 12 per cent of sick days are estimated to be bogus by the CBI.

It is a sensitive issue which requires correct handling if you are to avoid any inference that you have been unfair or heavy-handed: on the other hand you cannot be expected to stand back and watch short-term absenteeism decimate the work force and extinguish the P&L.

Sickness absence costs businesses a huge amount of money, wastes management time and places a burden on those employees who conscientiously soldier on. So what can be done?

The most important thing is to have an appropriate policy, not a dusty piece of paper lingering in a filing cabinet, but active practices that have been communicated, have teeth and clear consequences.

As a starting point, the most obvious step is not to pay contractual sick pay – although this option will not be available to all employers. Your employees will think twice about taking time off if they are not getting paid.

If that option is not viable, then an active ‘return to work’ procedure should be implemented.  This should involve being interviewed on returning to work, even after a short absence, and turning up the heat on employees who are “sick” around weekends and Bank Holidays.  Tackling employees and asking them to explain their absence on a regular basis has been shown to produce a deterrent effect.

Rewards for good attendance records are another option, as is the very real threat of disciplinary action for repeated absenteeism.

However, you need to be mindful of the interaction between sickness absence and disability and other forms of discrimination. It can be a tricky course to steer and one which you cannot afford to get wrong with the potential for unlimited financial claims in an employment tribunal.

We often see employers, who have got into trouble after having taken it upon themselves to manage sensitive situations around sickness when they have limited experience in relation to the legal aspects. This is dangerous ground and mistakes can prove costly to a business.

Another issue to consider with short-term absenteeism is that it can be a symptom of another serious workplace issue: work-related stress. Depression and severe stress do not happen overnight. Persistent absenteeism can be a symptom and should ring alarm bells if a negligence claim is to be avoided.

Keeping a finger on what is going on around sickness will have a significant impact on productivity. It is better to be proactive than reactive – this will always be the cheaper option.

If absenteeism is a problem, we can help you in a number of ways, including:

  • Establishing an effective policy for managing sickness absenteeism
  • Advising you on difficult situations to steer you through the most appropriate course
  • Supporting you in disciplinary processes
  • Supporting you in claims of stress, unfair dismissal or discrimination.

For further information on any employment law matters please contact:
• Mary Honeyben in Chesterfield on 01246 231 288
• Stacey Spooner in Mansfield on 01623 655 666

 


The contents of this article are for the purposes of general awareness only. They do not purport to constitute legal or professional advice. The law may have changed since this article was published. Readers should not act on the basis of the information included and should take appropriate professional advice upon their own particular circumstances.

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