Recidivist Awayers
If there is one issue that aggravates people in the workplace, it’s high absenteeism. I’m really going to try and sit on the fence here and see this from both sides, but there’s one takeaway from this: frequently calling in sick when you are not can cause damage you won’t see and may regret in hindsight.
Frequent but unrelated
Firstly let’s define what we are talking about, and what we are not. What we are not talking about is an ongoing medical condition that causes one extended absence (e.g. cancer, broken bones, surgery etc) or frequent instances (e.g. gout, Crohn’s disease); I discuss those here.
What we are talking about here is when someone is sick a lot, for a range of reasons- a cold one week, covid the next, migraine another, and so forth, that is perceived to be too many.
Really sick?
Again I unfortunately cannot answer definitively, because this varies- by individual, by culture, even by workplace. In food manufacturing, you can’t work with certain symptoms, in healthcare you can’t work with covid symptoms, which are exceptions to the norms.
At the heart of the question is symptoms vs incapacity. Are they calling in sick because they are incapacitated or unable to work? Or are you suffering the symptoms or byproducts of an illness but capable of performing the job?
There is a grey space in between, and these generally takes two forms:
- “they would want to me keep my bugs at home/rest up”
- “I don’t really feel like working today”
The difference between these is who’s interest is the employee serving? The employer or their own? Are they off because it suits them or you? For the record, I’m not on to demand unquestioning and unconditional love for the company, but if we are in the situation where over an extended timeframe, the employee isn’t meeting their side of the contract, it’s reasonable to expect the employee to not act purely in their own self interest.
Can you ask them which it is? Are you trying to come to work, or trying not to? Maybe- this is up to you, because it’s a little risky. But here’s the idea nugget: you know the answer they will give (‘yes, I am trying to come to work’), so the point of the question is not get the answer, but to let them know you have your doubts. If this is an idea you want in their head, then perhaps ask. But if you don’t want them think you doubt them, then perhaps don’t.
Managing opinions
There is are two matters in play when an employee is off sick a lot; a) the work isn’t being done, and b) opinions are forming.
The manager in question is focused on A. HR is focused on B. That is not to say that HR doesn’t care that the work isn’t being done, but the waves that we tend to care about are those that impact the relationships- between the employee and their manager, and the employee and their co-workers. If things get bad, managers start pushing for rushed terminations, co-workers start making comments that can stray into bullying, or leaving. For the HR, the focus is in not the impact of the absences on operations, but the team.
Diagnosis, self-diagnosis and medical certificates
An underlying problem we have is self-diagnosis. If an employee advises their manager that they have been diagnosed with a condition from their doctor, then none of these questions apply. The issues lies in self-diagnosis- if you feel that you’re not well, generally you don’t seek a medical opinion to confirm that you really already know- that you’re sick.
What about medical certificates? In theory when we ask or require the employee to provide a medical certificate, we are asking them to provide a diagnosis. But in reality the doctor cannot be relied upon to be that voice of discernment- it’s a tough doctor who tells their patient (and I change my language intentionally) that the aren’t really sick and should be at work. This is not a criticism of doctors, it’s not their job, they are there to help, not judge their work ethic.
Mental health days
This is a particularly complex minefield. To keep it simple for discussion, let’s exclude existing conditions and diagnoses, and think only in terms of anticipating an illness- is it reasonable for an employee to take a sick day in anticipation of a mental health illness? ‘I’m feeling stressed and worried it will all become too much, so I’ll take a mental health day to look after myself’.
Now the problem is complex, I’ll stop sitting on the fence (didn’t expect that did you?); if someone is diagnosed as mentally unwell, we accept that. If they self-diagnose that they are mentally unwell, we accept that. If they are anticipating that they may become unwell, we push back on that.
How many is too many?
That is a tricky question, and very much in the eye of the beholder. Some workplace cultures, and some managers give a lot of lenience, while others are very strict. There is no definitive number or pattern, but there is some point, subjective to the manager, when their eyebrow arches and they think to themselves ‘again?’ or they roll their eyes, ‘again’.
What can the employer do?
This is hard (if it wasn’t you’d not be reading this), but here’s some basics:
1. If the employee has an underlying condition, it’s a question of their long-term capacity to do the job.
2. If they are sick too often, but there is no clear reason why their attendance could not be spotless tomorrow, you can treat it as a performance issue. This is not easy, because their defence will be ‘I can’t help it if I’m sick?’, and this is fair. But starting the conversation that you let them know that you don’t believe they are meeting the requirements of the contract you both signed is a good start.
3. Take a stricter line of what you can control, and what you can say no to. Often recidivist absentees are also:
o Late. This is something they can control, and something you can discipline or performance manage.
o Late notice. The contract or policies likely specify leave must be advised in advance- if not, you can make this a requirement. You can’t punish people for being sick, but you can for not telling you when they should have.
o Late annual leave requests. You don’t need to approve annual leave, so don’t. Don’t make it easy for them to not come to work- often calling in sick is just taking a day off without giving notice.
4. Keep an eye out for evidence of lying. We don’t see this very often, but once in a while an employee is caught telling porkies- this could be being seen elsewhere, posting on social media that they were out somewhere. This can be dismissable.
5. Make them call. It’s much much easier to lie via message, and much harder to in person, or over the phone. Make them call their manager.
