Strategies for Managing Sickness Absence and Supporting Your Workforce

Sickness absence costs businesses billions each year.  

Can your company afford not to address it? 

From unexpected illnesses to chronic conditions and mental health challenges, absenteeism can seriously disrupt productivity and add additional pressure to your team. But with the right strategies for managing sickness absence, you can keep things running smoothly.  

In this article, we’ll explore effective tips for managing staff sickness while creating an inclusive environment that values employee well-being and keeps operations running smoothly. 

The Costly Impact of Sickness Absence

In the United States, absenteeism significantly impacts productivity, costing employers an estimated $225.8 billion each year, or about $1,685 per employee (CDC). 

That’s a big number, but what can you do about it? 

Lots! 

The rise of unhealthy lifestyles and chronic conditions has increased significantly in the past 40 years, resulting in high medical expenses for employers and a drop in productivity (CDC). Mental health issues are also climbing, with 71% of Canadians reporting that their mental health impacted their ability to work in 2023 (Benefits Canada). 

Employers can help to reduce sick leave by creating supportive environments that encourage healthy habits. They can balance this with clear policies and guidelines that make it easy to monitor and validate that employees are not pulling a Ferris Bueller.  

10 Tips to Managing Staff Sickness Absence

Develop a Clear Sickness Absence Policy

The first thing you’ll want to do for effective sickness absence management is create a clear, comprehensive sickness absence policy for your team to follow. 

Your policy should define what qualifies as a sickness absence: Is it only if the employee is unwell? Or can it be used to care for a family member? 

Clarify the distinctions between different types of leaves, such as paid time off vs sick leave, to avoid confusion. Compliance is also important when you’re building out your sickness absence policy. It helps to know how sick leave works around the world to keep everything legal for global teams. 

The policy also needs to carefully outline the procedure employees should follow. Employees need to identify who they should notify, how they should contact them, and how early they need to inform the team. 

Teams also need to know if you require documentation: Will employees be asked to provide a doctor’s note? Or will you have a trust-based policy for short-term absences? 

Lastly and most importantly, teams should be aware of how many sick days they’re entitled to each year. The easiest and most transparent way to do this is to implement a leave management solution like Vacation Tracker. With this software, teams enjoy full visibility. They can easily see their sick leave balances and make leave requests without any ambiguity. 

Create Procedures for Reporting and Recording Absence

Once employees know how to report sickness absences, what happens next?  

Managers need to know how to handle this information so that it doesn’t just get lost in the shuffle!  

HR teams can use the data from sickness absences to discover patterns, anticipate periods of high absenteeism, and implement preventative measures to curb these trends.  

For example, if you notice increased absences during flu season, you can provide flu shots or encourage remote work to prevent the virus from spreading. 

Leave management software is the most efficient way to gather data and collect analytics for a clear, data-driven understanding of your workforce. Vacation Tracker’s robust reporting capabilities allow you to analyze employee habits and adjust your leave policies accordingly. 

Balancing Compassion with Business Needs

Let’s face it—getting sick is unavoidable. No matter how much we dread it, flu season comes around, and one by one, you see your office become emptier and emptier. So, how do you balance empathy with the needs of the business? 

The key is to treat your team with compassion and kindness during these not-so-fun times. Encourage employees to stay home and rest when they’re unwell. Forcing them to come to work while sick could result in a longer recovery period, and they could potentially infect others.  

You can also offer flexible solutions to better support your employees while minimizing the impact on the business. Offering work-from-home options or temporary role adjustments can keep employees engaged without compromising their recovery. 

Request Documentation

Trusting your team is essential, and that’s why you usually don’t need them to prove they’re sick when they’re taking a day or two off from work. It’s probably better to let them recuperate than it is to force them to spend the day in a doctor’s office.  

But, when the leave extends beyond a week, it’s important to have a clear understanding of what’s going on. 

Requiring a doctor’s note helps confirm that the employee is unfit for work and might provide additional insights into how to support their return to the workplace. This ensures transparency and ensures sick days are not used to go on a secret, sneaky getaway!

Return-to-Work Interviews and Reintegration Strategies

Sometimes, employees need a day or two to recover, but other times, healing takes longer. Make sure you meet with employees who are returning to work after an extended period to better understand how you can help reintegrate them. 

By sitting down together, you’ll be able to better understand the reason for their absence and identify ways to make the transition back into the workplace easier.  

For example, if an employee was off due to burnout, you might want to ease them back to work by offering temporary role adjustments and maybe even adjusted hours. This way, they don’t feel overwhelmed.  

These interviews also help you learn how your organization can improve to better support them and prevent future absences. By taking the time to understand what led to the sick leave, you can take proactive steps to create a work environment that caters to your team’s needs.

Implementing Flexible Working Arrangements

Allowing your employees to work flexible hours or even from home provides them with a great work-life balance. When employees feel they have control over their schedules, they’re less likely to experience burnout or stress, which can lead to illness. 

For instance, parents can structure their workday around their children’s school schedules, and no one needs to go through the headache of submitting documentation for a simple dentist appointment. Rather than take time off, they can make these obligations fit into their schedule.  

By offering flexibility, employees feel that there’s space for both their personal and professional lives, making them feel respected and understood by their employer. This fosters a positive work environment where employees are more engaged, productive, and present. 

Create an Inclusive Environment

An inclusive workplace makes it easier for employees with disabilities or chronic illnesses to thrive.  

Accommodations like flexible schedules or assistive technology remove the barriers that often make it difficult for employees with preexisting conditions to feel confident and comfortable at work. Encouraging open communication about health challenges also helps to address issues early and prevent them from escalating. 

When employees have access to the resources and support they need, they are less likely to require frequent time off. Creating a work environment that is accessible and inclusive helps everyone thrive.

Mental Health Support

Did you know that poor mental health is the most common cause of long-term sickness absence, with stress being the third most common cause (CIPD)? 

The mental health epidemic is real! 

HRs need to monitor the work environment to make sure the culture is not toxic. Work should be a safe space for employees to speak their minds, try new things, and make mistakes without excessive stress or fear of harsh consequences. 

Work is not always the cause of mental health issues, but regardless, businesses can help employees manage their anxiety. Try offering mental health workshops, counseling services, or stress management programs as part of your benefits package. Providing your employees with the skills to cope helps to reduce stress and anxiety and lower the odds of long-term absences.

Promoting a Healthy Work Environment

Prevention is key! Sure, we can’t always avoid acute illnesses, but promoting a healthy lifestyle can help prevent common chronic conditions such as back pain, obesity, and diabetes.  

Start by creating a workplace that promotes physical well-being.  

Consider investing in ergonomic chairs, keyboards, and mice to encourage proper posture and avoid repetitive strain injuries. You can also offer healthy, balanced snacks to fuel your team and encourage clean eating. Some companies even motivate their team to exercise with fitness challenges or by contributing to a gym membership.  

By prioritizing health and wellness in the workplace, you can reduce the chances of employees needing time off for preventable issues like back pain, stress, or poor nutrition, and help limit the development of chronic conditions caused by unhealthy lifestyle choices.

Keep Track of Time Off

HRs need to have a birds-eye-view of where their employees are and how they’re doing. Managing staff sickness is hard to do when your data is spread across a few outdated spreadsheets and dizzying email threads.  

Automating the process is the best method to make sure you’re keeping an accurate record of employee time off.  

With Vacation Tracker, managing staff sickness leave is effortless. Employees can request leave, and managers immediately get notified. The best part is all this can happen within their preferred platform, such as Slack, Teams, or Google Workspace. The entire process is hands-off for HR, allowing them to focus on data analysis and optimizing policies for a happier, healthier team. 

Why Proactive Sickness Absence Management is Key to a Thriving Workplace 

Proactively managing sickness absence is not just about tracking who’s in or out of the office, it’s about creating an environment that prioritizes both the health of your employees and the productivity of your business.  

By combining clear policies, compassion, and proactive wellness initiatives, you can reduce absenteeism and keep your business running smoothly. 

The right strategies can make all the difference. And with the right tools, like Vacation Tracker, managing absences becomes a seamless process. 

Teams can take a proactive approach to sickness absence by monitoring trends, addressing issues early, and ensuring your team has the support they need to stay healthy and productive.  

Remember, the strategies you implement today can prevent disruptions tomorrow! 

Try Vacation Tracker for free and see how easy it is to manage leave, track absences, and keep your team organized.  

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