It’s cold and dark, you wake up in the morning, look at the clock, and realize it’s one of those days when you just can’t make it to work. We’re not talking about the genuine reasons here, we’re sharing some of the more inventive reasons for work absences and how to manage them.
“I’m having a digital detox day.”
Yep, you heard right—someone actually called in to say they couldn’t work as they needed a digital detox. We all know it’s important for our mental health to take time away from tech but it’s probably best to do it in your own time rather than your employers.
“The Wi-Fi in my area is down, and I can’t possibly work without it.”
Ah yes, the classic internet excuse. Perhaps it’s time to remind your employees that work is not just a series of online meetings and there are some things that could be done without Wi-Fi.
“My dog doesn’t want me to leave today.”
Puppy dog eyes, they’re impossible to resist.
“It’s my birthday”
Maybe they just didn’t want to buy the cakes, but it being your birthday is not a good enough reason to not go to work. Unless it’s been booked it has holiday or you’re an employer that gifts birthday days off.
Absences and how to manage them
While these excuses for not going to work are funny, it’s important to approach all reasons for absences the same way.
Set Clear Expectations – Having a clear policy on absence management including reporting will help manage last-minute absences. Having some responses in your back pocket to address the more unusual explanations will come in handy and will help nip the behaviour in the bud.
If the excuse is a technical failure (like “the Wi-Fi is down”), remind employees that many tasks can still be completed without a high-speed connection. Like using data or switching to low-tech tasks that don’t require Wi-Fi
Coming up with different reasons for not working can be hard work, where you have a persistently absent employee you should see if there is something genuinely going on with them. Regular absences from work can be a cry for help for things such as overwhelm and burnout.
We’re expecting to see an increase in short term sickness absences, and costs to your business, once the new plans to make SSP payable from the first day of absence come in to effect, along with the plans reduce the 2-year period of employment before unfair dismissal can be claimed it’s crucial to ensure you have a meaningful process in place.
Your company sickness policy should lay out the expectations you have of your employees to inform you of their sickness related absences. It should also let your employees know how you will manage any instances of sickness absences, including pay.
When an employee does not follow your sickness policy processes for reporting their absences it can cause resourcing and work planning issues for your business, or it can be problematic for paying them if they do not provide you with the correct forms following an absence.
As an employer you are not able to request medical evidence for absences under 7 days, therefore, as part of any policy or good practice when it comes to recording sickness absence an employee should complete a self-certificate form after every instance of sickness absence.
The self-certificate will then form part of the audit trail of your employee absence records and will serve as evidence in any persistent absence management, disciplinary matters or potential employment tribunal claims made against your business by employees.
Employees may also find it harder to be creative with reasons for non-genuine absences when they are asked to document them.
An employee who has been or will be absent from work for over 7 days and their fitness to work is considered impaired is required to provide the employer with a ‘Statement of fitness to work’ more commonly referred to as a Fit Note.
The form should be signed by a registered medical professional, a registered medical practitioner, nurse, occupational therapist, physiotherapist or pharmacist.
The fit note should tell you when the employee was assessed, the assessment of the employees fitness to work, how you can support the employees return to work and the period of time the fit note covers, and if it likely they will need to be reassessed at the end of the period covered by the note, although we know that quite often they’re not fully completed.
You should always request a fit note from any employee who has been or is currently absent from work for a period longer than 7 days so you can assess whether any adjustments are needed to enable their return to work and also to determine whether the employee is eligible for any company or statutory sick pay. If your policy states it you may be entitled to withhold company or statutory sick pay where a fit note has not been provided until you have it.
Having a return-to-work meeting with the employee can be a real benefit in early detection of any issues. The meeting may be a simple discussion for a one-off absence, it could be where you identify an issue, or trend in absence that needs further discussion or it would be something more in depth where there is persistent short term absences or where it relates to a longer term period of sickness.
Return to work meetings should be recorded to form part of the audit trail of your employee absence records and will serve as evidence in any persistent absence management, disciplinary matters or potential claims made by your employee at employment tribunal.
All of these steps will make absences and how to manage them easier to deal with.