Partner Article

Feeling the pressure of absent employees?

Laura Tattersall, HR strategist at Direct Law and Personnel, looks at how small businesses can deal with employee absence.

Absenteeism is a serious issue and one that is reported to cost the UK economy 17 billion a year! We’ve all had the Monday morning blues, the winter chills and if truth be known maybe a duvet day or two, but as an employer how can you protect your business and its performance against the oldest excuse in the book – the ‘I feel sick’ classic.

It would be classed as AWOL in the military but not so in business. Before you start to think of the military connotations, you cannot simply conduct your own version of a court martial or interrogation for admittance of guilt. However there are processes you can harness to prevent this unnecessary strain on your resources.

The key is a proper reporting structure and clear communication with your line managers. Without those two important elements the inconvenience, cost and strain on your resources will be much greater without them; and in extreme circumstances lead you into a tribunal situation.

Helping you to find a workable solution and set the rules are two essential items that should be part of your company policy on sickness. These are fit notes and trigger points.

You may remember the sick note? The fit note has now replaced that and was introduced in April 2010. A fit note is a statement of fitness for work and its aim is to outline an ability to work. This can only be issued by a GP and should be used as a tool to enable line managers to authorise and justify work absences, or find an alternative working task that would be more suitable as per the GP’s report.

Trigger points are your step by step actions following an employee’s absence. Early intervention and good communication are essential when dealing with absence and trigger points provide you with the definitive process and action your business will take. They ensure you can monitor and take action should an employee continue to take unjustified time off; or worse claim sick leave. Ask yourself, what process do you have in place if an employee does not turn up for work one day and doesn’t let you know? This is why trigger points are essential; they leave no room for debate or guess work.

The key to managing employee sickness and absence is to make sure you have proactively addressed the issue and developed the right policies and procedures that support your line management. No one likes to be in a reactive situation and as we all know being prepared is half the battle. This will limit your exposure to the cost of absence; loss of productivity, extra administration, increased absence and sick pay – to mention a few. More importantly they will limit false sick claims and support those employees that are genuinely sick and want to find a workable solution.

Don’t forget, any such policies should be communicated within your employees’ terms and conditions of employment as well as communicated and briefed across all line management staff. If you can ensure this in place you as the employer are in a much better position to make an informed, supportive and cost effective decision that is legal.

For more information about employment law and HR please visit www.dlp.org.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Chew PR .