HCS Business Matters
17 November 2009
Monday Morning Blues!
Did you know that more than a third of all sick leave is taken on a Monday, whereas Fridays account for only 3% sickness during the working week.
As we approach the winter months, employers can again expect the number of employees calling in sick to rise – especially in January which is typically the worst month of the year for sickness absence (averaging half a day per employee during the month).
Interestingly, women have a 24% higher sick leave rate than men, and are more than twice as likely to be off for emotional illnesses such as stress and depression. Men on the other hand tend to have higher instances of absenteeism in relation to more physical ailments such as fractures and muscle sprains.
Although the majority of the time employees are genuinely absent for a good reason, it is still important to monitor absenteeism for all employees, regardless how trivial these may appear on the surface.
HCS recommends:
- Implementing a clear, transparent and unambiguous absence policy will ensure all employees understand your expectations of them, should they have to be absent from work for any reason.
- Gaining buy-in from your management team, and encouraging them to lead by example will help abolish a culture where absenteeism is acceptable.
- Implementing consistent absence management records ensures every instance of absenteeism is effectively recorded, helping you identify trends and issues early.
- Keeping accurate records of absenteeism can help you identify trends and issues and also help you measure the effect of absenteeism on business costs and overall company performance.
- Implementing a structured process for managing absence and investigating the causes of absence to help overcome the problem.
- Always conducting “return to work” interviews with all employees, to help you understand causes for absence, and consistently recording / monitoring these.
14 January 2010, webeditor
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