It’s National Sickie Day!! Apparently the first Monday in February sees the highest numbers of employees deciding it is high time for a duvet day!
According to ACAS “Freezing temperatures, widespread ‘flu outbreaks and a stalling economy look set to compound the misery this year, as business advisors ELAS estimate that sick day absences on 6 February 2017 may have cost the economy as much as £34 million in salary, reduced productivity and, lost opportunities.”
So what will be the cost this year?
Taking out cases of genuine sickness – what are you doing in your business to ensure your staff don’t feel the need to “chuck a sickie?! Happy, engaged and motivated employees don’t feel the need to crawl back under the duvet on a Monday morning. Employees who can have an honest conversation with their boss knowing they’ll receive support when they need to manage a family situation will feel less need to fake illness.
At the same time, do you also have a clear process for managing absence and do you challenge cases where you suspect the sickness is non-genuine?