Managing employee sick leave can be a challenging balancing act. As employers, we must ensure that it is handled correctly in order to treat employees fairly and consistently and to safeguard the company from any disability claims. To summarize, here are our primary recommendations.
Create a unique attendance management procedure
An attendance management procedure must be appropriate for your company and is the foundation of well-managed attendance.
Ensure that your employees understand how you will handle sick leave
Adhering to an attendance management system allows you to be fair and consistent. It is critical that your staff are aware of the protocol. Therefore, include it in your employee handbook or post it on your intranet.
When you start tracking an employee’s attendance in accordance with the protocol, give the employee a copy of the procedure. This helps both the management and the employee stay on track in terms of attendance and trigger points. As you proceed through the stages, go over the technique again.
Assist managers in managing employee absenteeism due to illness
Discussing poor attendance is only one of the uncomfortable conversations that managers must frequently have.
You may find that your managers could use line manager training to make sure they are ready to handle these kinds of situations.
Seek medical help
Only by seeking medical advice can you make an informed decision concerning an employee’s sick leave. This will allow you to appropriately examine any fair adjustments. This is especially important when a disability is a factor in a sick leave.