This month Liz is discussing nipping sickness absence in the bud. We hope you enjoy this excerpt from the first in this new blog series - "In my Opinion".
Sickness absence can be a big problem for businesses of all shapes and sizes. What's your top tip for nipping it in the bud?
The first thing you need to know is if you have a problem and keeping accurate records will help you see that. Information about your employees that identifies dates they are off sick will help you see a bigger picture of absence in your business and assist in spotting patterns of regular absence per person.
Many businesses don’t have a system in place so they don’t see the problem and it can just creep up on them. Suddenly you, or a member of your management team will say “you know, Fiona is always off sick...” but with no records to prove just how often or if there is a pattern in her sickness absence, you won’t have the information to support a statement like that to take it any further.
If you implement a self certification form process, for example, everyone will know that for the first eight days they are expected to complete a self certification form, but beyond that a doctors note is needed. You’ll have records of those forms/notes and, be able to refer back to them for accurate and real evidence of regular sickness.
Can every business deal with sickness absence issues themselves, or do they need to call in an HR professional?
If you have a reasonable way to record personnel information, you have a clear knowledge of the process and your employees know it exists too, any business can deal with regular sickness absence by implementing their own system.
However, if you’re already at the point where there is a problem with one, or more employees in your business and you haven’t been keeping proper records then it may be of benefit to call in an HR professional to help ensure you follow the correct process.
What advice could you leave us with to help businesses manage sickness absence better?
a) get a process in place for managing sickness
b) understand the importance of communicating with your planned absenteeism employees and that you have a right to talk to people with sickness issues
c) don’t leave any situation to resolve itself - always take timely and consistent action in these situations.
Read the full blog post here: Nipping sickness absence in the bud - In My Opinion blog series
This interview was recorded with Liz Gibson of Adaptable-HR in May 2013, all opinions are her own and facts were relevant at the time of publishing.
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If you want to contact Liz about any HR issues you are facing in your business and may need her help with you can-
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