Source: Free Digital Images/marcolm
As an HR consultant one of the hot topics that my clients speak to me about time and time again is sickness absence. This is a big problem across the UK and creates a significant cost to businesses of all sizes. However the type of business that is most affected is one that is in the SME market. Small and medium sized businesses can ill afford the costs that sickness absence brings as they often have little flexibility. According to the latest CIPD research after the public sector and not for profit organisations, the manufacturing and production industry have the highest average of sick days at 6.2 days per year. The main cause of short term sickness absence is minor illness whilst long term absence is linked to heart problems, stroke and cancer. In this blog I discuss three ways to address sickness absence problems.
The first way to address sickness absence is to have a strict reporting procedure in place. There should be a clause in an employee’s contract that states that they should phone in to report sickness to their line manager within one hour of starting work followed by regular communication if the absence is to continue. It should be the employee themselves and not a relative, partner or anyone else. They should phone in and not text or email. The idea behind this is that if an employee knows they will have to speak to their line manager and may not be ill at all, but just seeking a day off, they may think twice about doing so.
The second way is to implement documented return to work interviews. These should be completed on the day the employee comes back to work. This may address the problem of sickness absence because the employee can be scrutinised by their line manager about the situation. If they have been swinging the lead they may appear edgy – body language is key. The interview should include welcoming the employee back, discussing the sickness absence in full – is the employee better now, is there any further treatment, etc. The line manager should then ensure the employee knows their first responsibility is to their employer now they are back at work and should be filled into what has happened with their work since they have been off,
The third way to address sickness absence is to monitor the situation – recording who has been off and why on a spreadsheet or in a human resource information system for a report to be produced. It can be very helpful and illuminating to see the information in black and white. Problematic members of staff can be highlighted and dealt with using a robust sickness absence procedure. Documented meetings will track how an organisation has dealt with an issue. This is really important if ultimately dismissal occurs with a potential employment tribunal claim lurking in the background. An employer needs to show they have been fair and reasonable.
