How to deal with sudden ‘sickie’ syndrome

A staggering 164 million working days were lost to sickness last year in Britain according to the CBI.

The good news is that the figure is four million fewer than in 2004. That’s not much consolation however if you’re the employer struggling to maintain business efficiency when faced by a sudden bout of illness by key staff.
Public sector staff took an average of 8.5 days off last year compared with an average of six days taken by private sector workers.
There were wide geographical variations with Yorkshire and Humberside topping the regional league table with 8.9 days lost through sickness per worker in 2005. By contrast, Northern Ireland workers took only 4.7 days off sick.
Most of these absences were of course down to genuine illness and no one expects workers to soldier on when they really are ill. The problem for many employers is telling the genuine from the fake. The CBI report estimated that 13 per cent of last year’s absences were down to people simply ‘throwing sickies’ because they fancied a day off for one reason or another.

It could be to create a long weekend or to add a few days to a holiday. This year of course has presented the extra temptation of the World Cup. Many firms feared a rise in absenteeism, especially during England matches, and took steps to prepare for it.

Most firms try to be reasonable by enabling staff to watch the big games on such special occasions as the World Cup or the European Championships. On the other hand, there’s a business to run and a mass exodus of key workers isn’t conducive to productivity.

The answer has to be a clear cut policy that’s fair to all and easily understood. Some firms have provided TVs and allowed staff to take a few hours off to watch the games on the understanding they make the time up later.

Many can’t be that flexible and so staff have had to use up holiday entitlement to ensure they get time off. In these cases, firms need to ensure that there are clear and fair rules for booking such leave.
If there are likely to be too many requests then employers could use a first come first served basis, or they could get employees to draw lots. People who miss out on one key date could be given preferential treatment for the next.
This approach is likely to go down well with staff as they will see that the employer is at least trying to be fair. Even so, no matter how even handed you try to be there’s a chance that some people will still be tempted to throw the last minute sickie to get their way.
Employers should make sure that every employee knows that such behaviour could be considered a gross misconduct and could lead to dismissal. Even if this is long established practice it is still a good idea to remind staff leading up to and during a major sporting events. Memories can get a little hazy in the face of World Cup fever.
This carrot and stick approach if applied fairly and across the board should get a favourable response from most employees. However, if someone still goes suspiciously sick on a key date then the employer is entitled to respond quickly and, if the evidence supports it, take severe action.
However, care should be taken to first investigate all the facts.
It may be a genuine illness so the employee should be given the opportunity to produce a sick note or some evidence that they really were unwell. If he fails to provide a satisfactory explanation then the employer may be perfectly entitled to dismiss him, only after following the correct disciplinary procedure.
Less serious offences such as sloping off early to watch a game could warrant a verbal or written warning.
Each case should be taken on the evidence and if in doubt it’s advisable to seek legal advice as to what is the best way to proceed.
But the real victory is to prevent it ever coming to that. Get the policy in place, let everyone know where they stand and there shouldn’t be too many problems whether it’s to do with a potential staff exodus during a major sporting event like the World Cup, or employees competing for attractive days off to prolong a bank holiday or extend a Christmas and New Year break.

Sally Laughton is a specialist in the employment department at Andersons Solicitors in Nottingham. Contact slaughton@andersonssolicitors.co.uk or tel: 0115 988 6736.