We all know the ones. The people who come into the office spluttering, coughing and spreading their germs everywhere. They’re clearly not welcome. But they’ve gritted their teeth and shown up to work, often with a proud ‘Oh I’m fine. I’ve not had a day off sick in seventeen years!’ Then there are those at the other end of the spectrum; one sneeze at 4 o’clock and they leave a bit early, not to be seen for the rest of the week.
As with any issue with people, a reasonable moderate approach somewhere between these two extremes of presenteeism and absenteeism is obviously the most logical solution. It’s useful to remember that everyone is different, for example with colds some people may be sneezing and coughing but feel OK, whilst others can feel feverish and weak for several days without showing many obvious symptoms.
No employer wants staff taking time off sick unnecessarily, but neither do they want someone to come in who is spreading their germs to make everyone else sick, and is feeling so lousy that they’re probably being utterly unproductive anyway. Looking at the issue more widely, is the person who always stays an extra couple of hours at the end of the day actually a more productive and dedicated employee than the one who leaves on time?
Most companies monitor absences, but it’s much harder to monitor presenteeism. Where do you draw the line between someone coming into the workplace who is mildly unwell but perfectly fine to work and someone who just should not be there? How do you genuinely distinguish between the employee who puts in a huge amount of discretionary effort and the one who merely occupies their desk till 7pm in order to manage others’ perceptions, or because they cannot work efficiently?
The ability to work from home in many jobs also adds to the complexity. In some cases, for example contagious colds, or issues with mobility, working from home provides a way for companies and staff to avoid sickness absence while remaining just as productive as if they had come into the workplace.
But again, it has its pitfalls. It can skew expectations, with employees who really should be taking some time off refusing to do so, or their employers expecting them to work, because they can do so in their pyjamas surrounded by cups of hot tea. Again the question arises as to whether the person is genuinely fit to work not just physically but mentally. On the other hand, it can be a great way for someone to avoid taking an official sick day, but in reality sitting at home doing practically no work.
So how to deal with this in a way that works, but doesn’t treat people like robots:
- Monitor individual absences and the reasons for them, but don’t get drawn into comparing people based on how long they were absent for the same reason.
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This only serves to create tension in the
workplace and a presenteeism culture where people who shouldn’t be there force
themselves to come in.
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If you suspect someone is taking advantage,
monitor the frequency of the absence and whether there are any patterns to it.
- If people are working from home due to sickness, check in on them at some point during the day to see how they are feeling and run through what they have been working on. If you suspect they are not actually in a position to be effective, or that they have done next to no work, tell them to stop and take the day off as officially sick. They won’t lose pay as they’ve worked a part day, but it does mean they’ll need to day the next day off as sick leave or be in the office.
- Make sure staff are aware that if they are unwell and likely to be contagious, coming into the workplace is frowned upon. The increase in sickness levels is likely to be balanced out, as fewer people actually get sick in the first place.
- If someone has a chronic condition, encourage them to be open about it.
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It may be that there will be an adjustment to
working hours, or an understanding that they are likely to have more sick days
than the average employee, but it means that mutual expectations can be set and
avoid both potential disciplinary action for frequent absence on one hand or a ‘blank
cheque’ approach to their sickness on the other, where absence is simply
unquestioned because of the persons condition.
- In the UK, you don’t have to pay any sick pay for up to the first three days of absence (if they have worked a part day, you do need to pay them). It’s a great strategy for stopping people ‘swinging the lead’ unnecessarily, and only taking the time off if they are really sick, but again can cause issues around presenteeism.
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One solution is to give employees a certain
number (no more than three) of ‘duvet days’ a year. These are paid days when
they can call in and say they don’t feel like coming into work for whatever
reason.
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Everyone will of course take them, so you’ll
need to incorporate costs into your overall salary and benefits package and
make sure it’s affordable. However, it means that employees have a contingency
when they are really ill and are not going to force themselves into work, whilst
ensuring that any continual ‘offenders’ will financially lose out should they
choose to take sick leave without real cause.
Essentially, the best approach to sick leave is to balance
humanity, commerciality and common sense, remembering that everyone is different,
both in terms of their health and their ability to be honest!
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