Why don’t you have an attendance policy? It exists exactly for such cases. Now you’re stuck because there’s no official procedure. My first action would be to talk to your superiors and establish some transparent rules. Everyone who doesn’t agree or can’t abide should either leave or renegotiate their conditions...
I’d worry less about the frequency of his sick days and more about his performance. What does “average” mean for your company? Is it good, bad? You can’t know for sure if that employee doesn’t have some serious health condition he isn’t ready to share with you… but you do know if he reaches your companies goals. If he’s not meeting your expectations, you can definitely let him know that he risks losing the job. If by “average” you mean he’s generally as successful as all the other team members who don’t happen to get ill so often, then I’d say he’s doing his best, and perhaps you should look closer into your working environment? Sometimes the workflow is too stressful to handle without occasional sick days.
@dknightghost The policy is HR's issue; I’m responsible for managing my team and reacting to any potential problems. I agree with you, I'd feel more comfortable if we had some guidance on how many sick leaves one can take in a month, in half-year, something like that… I’ll talk to our HR department next week and see if we can quickly come up with some legally binding rules
@Harriet Elstad If it was a symptom of a bad work environment, I’d think many more of our employees would be often absent? But it’s only one employee doing this.
As for your question, by “average” I mean that this person keeps all his work up-to-date in tickets, so when he’s absent other team members can pick up where it’s left off. And he often works remotely when he stays home. So I can’t say he’s being lazy or irresponsible, I’m more worried about his attitude and about other employees who might think this is acceptable (it is not).
@Veena Choudhary I think we can be more flexible than twice a month; I believe it would not be a problem if an employee wanted to have one day of remote work each week. But we need to have the other four days in the office, for we’re producing medical devices and we need to test things together and discuss urgent changes on the spot. This employee I was writing about calls out of work every other week, but he needs 2–3 days each time, so he’s often absent half of the week, which in my opinion is a problem. I’ll talk to our HR department about making our attendance policy official. I guess it’ll take a week or so to get approval from the top management.
In my experience, people who need so many sick days are usually unsatisfied with their jobs or are unable to work full-time. Enforcing the attendance policy doesn’t always solve the problem; sometimes it only further escalates the issue. Such people become even more unhappy about being criticized and either quit or passively wait until they’re fired.
If this particular employee is a valuable asset, or if you don’t feel like hiring someone in his place, I’d start with a one-on-one conversation, figuring out whether he has any family issues, mental burnout or any other related issues. It might be that you can’t help him anyway, but in some cases both the company and the person may profit from switching that person to part-time or remote work.
@time2time What a curious approach. I’d say if a person is well enough to work remotely, he’s well enough to come to the office; if he's too sick, he can’t be In the office, then he’s too sick to work. It does sound like he just wants to work from home...
@Robert Thank you for your advice! I was already thinking to talk to my employee about any needs to adjust his schedule (we’re very flexible about working hours). I’ll need to discuss any big changes like part-time with my superiors but it’s definitely a possibility.
@cheeky It’s very possible to be too sick to come to the office but have the strengths to work from home. I was in this situation multiple times. I tend to need several days of rest when I get the flu, and I see no reason to come to the office and make everyone ill when I’m coughing every five minutes. I’m grateful that my former employer was understanding. Post-COVID, everyone should be used to working remotely, and businesses must adjust. If I had to go to the office all the time, instead of taking short breaks, I’d end up needing even more sick leaves.
Hi,
i would say you need to have clear cut consistent rule set. Rules like work from home can only be twice a month what ever the reason is, if not it will lead to a pay cut. Only if you are clear with your rules and enforce a set boundaries will the employee know what to do. You can shoot a mail stating these rules. This mail will anyways not affect other employees who are regularly coming to office and additionally not impact the morale of the team which was your concern. Setting rules will also help you to run company formally and not be concerned about these issues rather focus your attention on other matter's for the company's growth.
As it was already mentioned, it's important to have a clear attendance policy. I would like to add that the policy should explain the difference between absences that are allowed (like being sick) and absences that are not allowed (like skipping work without warning), if there is any documentation needed to be provided, advance notice requirements, etc. It should also include what happens if you miss work too many times without a valid excuse. You can specify how many absences are considered too many before there are consequences.
Having these clear guidelines helps maintain a workplace where everyone understands what is expected of them when it comes to showing up for their job. You can also use it to help back you up when discussing the issue with your employee.
It can be quite tricky to have a one-on-one conversation with your employee about their absences. Here are some tips:
- Show them that you care. You can do this by asking them if there are any other reasons they need to stay home more often (personal matters, burnout, etc.). Reassure them that you are ready to discuss the issue and are flexible. However, before talking to the team member, check with an HR specialist what questions are appropriate to ask in these circumstances in order to avoid any bumps in the road.
- Explain to your employee how vital good employee attendance is to your operations. For example, you mentioned that it's crucial to be able to test things and discuss any changes on the spot with the team - it can help to tell this employee why exactly their attendance is important for the process. Remind them about what was expected of them when they accepted this role.
You can also use positive reinforcement, as studies have shown that employees respond better to rewards and recognition than punishment and threats. Consider acknowledging and publicly praising achievements like excellent attendance or even coming up with a reward like a small cash bonus, a gift card, additional vacation days or paid time off, etc. Those are just some ideas that might help boost the motivation of your team members.