Sick Leave Policy and Procedure Guidelines for Employers

In the aftermath of a global pandemic, businesses understand, now more than ever, the importance of being prepared.  

Having solid policies in place is essential to be able to respond swiftly and effectively to any situation. It’s also key to helping businesses comply with labor laws, support their team, and limit disruptions.  

This is especially true for sick leave. A well-defined policy keeps teams healthy, prevents sick employees from coming into work and contaminating others, and shows your team you care about their well-being.  

In this article, we’ll explore everything you need to know to develop an effective sick leave policy and procedure.

What is a Sick Leave Policy and Procedure? 

A sick leave policy or sick leave procedure is a document that outlines how your business deals with employee absences due to illness. It sets expectations for employees on how they should respond if they need time off when sick.  

This includes how many paid and unpaid days off they are allowed, if their requests need to be supported by documentation, how to put in a request, and who is eligible. 

Why a Clear Sick Leave Policy is Essential 

A sick leave policy and procedure is a necessary component of an organized and well-run workplace. Here’s how it helps: 

Enhances transparency: Employees know what to expect and managers can enforce policies consistently. 

Ensures legal compliance: Many regions have laws requiring employers to offer paid or unpaid sick leave. A written sick policy is evidence of your business’s adherence to these laws.  

Encourages a healthier workplace: Employees are less likely to go to the office while sick, effectively minimizing the spread of illness. 

Supports employee well-being: Offering sick leave helps strengthen your benefits package to retain talent and boost job satisfaction. 

Key Components of a Sick Leave Policy 

Eligibility Criteria

• Define which employees qualify for sick leave, such as full-time, part-time, temporary, or contract workers. 
• Specify whether new hires have a waiting period before they can access paid sick leave. 
• Address whether sick leave can be used to care for a family member.  

Leave Entitlement

• Outline how much sick leave employees receive and whether it accrues over time or is granted upfront. 
• Clarify whether unused sick leave rolls over to the following year or expires.
• Outline special provisions for extended medical absences like disability or long-term illness leave. 

Documentation Requirements 

• Specify when employees must provide a doctor’s note if any at all. 
• Explain what type of documentation is acceptable and how to submit it. 
• Address privacy considerations, reassuring employees that their medical details will remain confidential. 

Notification & Reporting Process 

• Define how employees should report sick leave, whether in a PTO tracking system, email, or phone call. 
• Set expectations for when notification is required and how much notice should be given. 
• Outline what happens if an employee is too ill to report their absence immediately. 

Sick Leave Pay & Compensation 

• Clarify whether sick leave is fully paid, partially paid, or unpaid, and under what conditions. 
• Confirm alignment with state or provincial laws regarding paid sick leave. 
• Address if employees can use other paid leave (vacation, PTO, personal days) if they run out of sick time. 

Return-to-Work Procedures 

• Indicate whether employees need a doctor’s clearance for extended absences. 
• Mention accommodations for long-term or chronic illnesses. 
• Define any gradual return-to-work programs for employees recovering from serious conditions requiring extended time off. 

Abuse Prevention & Disciplinary Actions 

• Outline what constitutes sick leave misuse like taking sick days for non-medical reasons.  
• Set clear consequences for policy violations, including disciplinary action for repeated abuse. 

Legal Considerations & Compliance 

Sick leave entitlements can sometimes be a decision made entirely by companies, but at times, countries or regions will mandate it. If you have employees around the globe, it can be challenging to keep up with all the different regulations. Here’s what sick leave looks like in a few countries around the world:

Sick Leave Policies in the United States 

There is no federal mandate for paid sick leave in the United States. However, there are laws in place that offer unpaid leave in specific serious situations. For example, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides unpaid job-protected leave for serious health conditions or to be a caregiver for an ill family member. Despite there being no federal laws, certain states and cities have laws mandating paid sick leave, such as California, New York, and Washington. 

Sick Leave Policies in Canada 

In Canada, sick leave policies are mandated at the provincial level.  Unlike the U.S., all Canadian provinces require employers to offer sick leave, even though it’s not federally mandated.  

The eligibility period, quotas, and compensation vary significantly, with most of the provinces offering unpaid leave after an eligibility period that increases with seniority. Quebec is the only province to mandate paid sick leave, offering 2 days of paid leave after 3 months of employment. Many employers offer more generous sick leave benefits beyond the minimum legal requirements. 

Similar to the FMLA, the federal government offers Employment Insurance (EI) sickness benefits. This provides eligible employees with financial support if they are unable to work due to illness, offering a maximum of $695 per week for 26 weeks.  

Looking for information on regulations in your region? Find your country in our leave laws resource and get all the answers to your questions.   

Best Practices for Global Compliance 

Local Adaptation 

As we’ve seen above, every country, and in some cases individual states or provinces, has its own set of laws for sick leave. Employers with employees in various countries should tailor their policies to align with local regulations rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach.  

Review the entitlements for each country and make sure to understand minimum leave requirements, paid versus unpaid leave distinctions, and any clauses, including those about industries or seniority.  

Consistency in Communication 

A sick leave policy and procedure is only effective if employees understand it. Ensure policies are accessible and easy to understand. This includes having your documentation translated into multiple languages where necessary and clearly outlining entitlements and processes in an easy-to-understand format. Provide digital access to your policies, whether through an HR portal, employee handbooks, or onboarding materials, making sure that all employees, regardless of location, can access the information they need. 

Regular Policy Reviews 

Labor laws change frequently, and failing to stay updated can lead to non-compliance, legal challenges, and employee dissatisfaction. Employers should conduct regular audits of their sick leave policies to ensure they are aligned with current legal requirements and evolving best practices. This includes tracking legislative updates at both the national and local levels and adapting policies proactively. 

Legal Consultation 

When operating across multiple jurisdictions, businesses should consider hiring legal professionals to review their policies. Relying on internal HR teams alone may not be sufficient. Instead, work with someone who has the necessary expertise to interpret complex international labor laws. Although this may be an additional cost upfront, seeking professional guidance can prevent expensive legal disputes in the long run.  

Best Practices for Implementing and Communicating a Sick Leave Policy 

Now that you have a sick leave policy and procedure in place. What’s next? 

If you don’t implement it and share it correctly, your team will still be in the dark about what your policies are. Here’s how we can prevent that from happening: 

Train managers: Your management team will likely be the ones enforcing your policy, so they need to understand it. Keeping your management team in-the-know on your policies is key for a successful implementation. 

Ensure policy accessibility: Your managers shouldn’t be the only ones who are informed. Your policy should be easy to access and understand for all your employees. This means swapping out the legal jargon for simple terminology to convey clear rules. You also need to make it easy to find. Consider placing it with your employee handbook, in your online portal with your other HR documentation, share it via email upon hire, and have a physical copy available in the office. 

Keep policies current: Laws evolve, things change. Having one policy and keeping it as is isn’t enough to be compliant. You need to regularly review your sick leave policy and procedure to ensure it's compliant with local laws and still matches your employees' expectations.  

How Technology Can Help Manage Sick Leave 

Your sick leave policy and procedure should not rely on manual work. Managing sickness leave by hand, with a spreadsheet, paper forms, or maybe via email, opens the floor for endless mistakes. Sick leave is different than simple leave like vacation days or personal time. It can be a legal matter, something all businesses do not want to mess around with. 

Imagine you make a mistake in tracking and reprimand an employee for taking too many sick days without documentation, only to realize you miscalculated. Or that you approved someone's time off but didn’t inform the rest of your team, causing significant delays and missed deadlines. Or worse of all, imagine your employee, waking up with an awful flu only hours before they need to leave for work only to panic and wonder – how many days off do I have left? Who can I inform when I'm this last minute?  

A reliable leave management system streamlines sick leave tracking, ensuring compliance and accuracy. Vacation Tracker simplifies this process for growing businesses.  

If you’re in the stage of formalizing your policies and procedures, we’re here to help! 

Our tool takes the headaches out of tracking sick leave with a simple interface that’ll only take you 30 mins to set up. Now, all employees can see their leave entitlements, make and modify requests, and receive approvals all in one place, whether that’s in our online system, Microsoft Teams, or Slack. 

Available in 8 languages, our system is perfect for global or remote companies. Plus, the system keeps accurate records of all sick leave for audits, reporting, and workforce planning, making sure your team is never in the dark. 

As the most flexible and customizable PTO tracking tool, we’re continuously adding features and building add-ons. If you want to take our software for a test run, we offer a 7-day free trial. No strings attached.

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