What's your policy for sickness/absence?

[TomUL]

Hello,

I run a micro-company and we don't currently pay any sickness leave other than SSP but I'm busy looking at our options, including medical insurance and sickness entitlement.

Sickness/absence policies I've found for small businesses seem very one-sided (i.e. they favour the business rather than the employee), which I can understand. However, I don't think I'd feel very valued if the shoe was on the other foot and I was an employee. I've read about a 12 month rolling sickness allowance but can't make much sense of it.

How are you doing things and how well is it working?

Thanks,
Tom

 

[Rebecca_J_T]

Hi Tom,

We support businesses with sickness absence management, so although I’m not speaking from experience as a business owner on this, I do have plenty of other relevant experience.

Most sickness policies will focus predominantly on a) how sickness absence will be paid, and b) at what point sickness becomes a capability issue (how much absence does somebody take before you can reasonably say they’re not capable of fulfilling the role - this is where the 12 month rolling thing you’re referring to plays in). So these are fairly business-focused points, and they are important.

But for me, the way you balance it out is by ensuring your policy also sets out the support the employee is entitled to should they be unwell.

Happy to help with specific questions if useful.

Becky

 

[SillyBill]

My main business is 137 years old, it was once part of a much larger group and thus a lot of contracts have been TUPE'd over time. The "old" contracts were more what you would see in a multi-nat unionised workplace i.e. you get a bonus for waking up in the morning. The sickness policy is incredibly generous, full pay for a few months I think (I forget, a long time though!).

I'd be cautious about what you do because we've had the p*ss taken for years and can pretty much do sod all about it. Needless to say the rump of our business in staffing hasn't gone anywhere with those sorts of contracts dished out. Very easy to end up with people no-one else would want to employ, they aren't motivated to leave as they know where their bread is buttered and is very difficult to get people out when the handbook has basically been written for them, not the employer. The way I see it employment law is stacked against employers in any case, you can always be generous to staff without there being a policy in place and something you are not then beholden to. If someone is off ill genuinely and wouldn't be entitled to full pay, what is to stop a nice boss making their salary up to 100%? If I could re-write the rules I'd do this sort of thing, that way I can give more money to those that deserve it because I am not paying out to those that repeatedly swing the lead.

 

[Displaycentreuk]

I was a Civil Servant for 20 years and have run my own business for 16 years.

For the Civil Service the policy was (and I suspect it still is) that it was reasonable to expect an employee to have a certain number of sickness days per year (eg 8) and so no formal action would be taken in this situation - a colloquial interpretation of the 'how much absence does somebody take before you can reasonably say they’re not capable of fulfilling the role ' mentioned above? Thus, many Civil Servants took the view that they were entitled to 8 days off-sick per year on top of their already generous holiday allowance.

Of course, the Civil Service is huge and a mix of all sorts of people. I probably only had 5 days off in my 20 years and most of the people that I worked with were the same. But the problem is that it always seem to be the few who spoil it for the many.

In our business the policy is the same as the OP. and it could be said that it favours (protects?) the business rather than the employees. But, and I accept that this may not be politically correct, I dont understand why a business should automatically pay someone who cannot work because they are ill. The deal is pay in return for work. After all, the business cannot expect employees to contribute to any unforeseen business losses.

Whilst our formal policy is SSP only, in practice we will normally give the employee the chance to make-up the time and can, at our own discretion, make a special payment to make-up the loss if we decide that it is in the interest of the business.

 

[Paul Norman]

We communicate a lot with our staff regarding sickness.

Their contracts give them 2 months of sick on full pay (after a qualifying period). But when they are sick we talk to them.

If I believe someone is taking advantage and just throwing random sickies, I will challenge them on it. If I believe someone has a genuine health issue I will be supportive.

It also depends on their value to me. If they started last week and have already thrown 2 sick days then I know where that is headed. We ill be parting company.

If they have been a great team member for 5 years, and need an operation, I will encourage them to take enough time to recuperate well - on full pay.

 

[TomUL]

Thanks for the responses everyone, this is all really helpful and has given me lots of food for thought.

Having worked at larger organisations in the past, I assumed a blanket approach would work best but I guess the joy of running a small business is that you can approach things on more of a personal level and on a case-by-case basis. Keep the policy sensible, but use discretion as/when needed.

 

[Bob Morgan]

Thanks for the responses everyone, this is all really helpful and has given me lots of food for thought.

Having worked at larger organisations in the past, I assumed a blanket approach would work best but I guess the joy of running a small business is that you can approach things on more of a personal level and on a case-by-case basis. Keep the policy sensible, but use discretion as/when needed.

A 'Blanket Approach?' I tend to err towards Pillows and Cushions! - There are no Bruises!