Regular sick leave and lwop

[tubefeed]

We have several emps that use all of their sick leave, and if none is available still take leave and just say make it lwop.

This does not help when there is work to do. We have one emp in particular who uses every bit of leave possible and then does lwop. We have sent him numerous letters stating that this is not acceptable.

His standard of work is good, however he takes days off whenever something happens with his family (understandable) but does not seem to have a back up plan for these situations. His wife works several days a week, and her taking a day to look after the kids is seemingly out of the question.

We have offered him flexible hours - which he has, we have offered part-time - declined, however this continues to frustrate....what can we possibly do about this?

[Qld IR Consultant]

I know this is an old post, so I have no idea if you have resolved the issue yet but i thought i would post some advice.

First off you have to draw a line in the sand. Understandably he has family issues, perhaps legitimate sickness on some days. But at the end of the day he is paid to be at work and fulfilling his role.

Secondly, he needs to be advised officially that the business is no longer prepared to tolerate his actions. This advice needs to be in writing.

Thirdly, within this written advice you need to implement an absence management plan. You need to show that (even though it sounds like you have in the past) given him ample opportunity to address the issue. Whether that be part time, flexible hours etc.

He then needs to stick to that plan. If not, thats the trigger for disciplinary action.

Be warned though, when dealing with excessive sick leave, work life balance etc, the road is sometimes bumpy, and filled with pot holes.

Good luck.

[Cottoneyes]

Another alternative is to write up a LWOP policy. I've seen some companies make it a policy that LWOP cannot be accessed until 'all other forms of paid leave available have been exhausted'. The employee may not be worried about losing a few hundred each pay packet, however if when they come to take their annual leave for 2 weeks and have no leave balance left to utilise, they will notice going the fortnight without pay alot more.
You will need to check though this doesn't go against any of your industrial agreements though and won't necessarily help in this case, but will hopefully help in future ones, particularly if there is a culture of this activity already creeping into the workplace.

Also another issue you may want to look at, why does the manager of this employee not have a back up person able to do the work? As an employee who's manager has not bothered to find a back up for my role for 9 months now, I can tell you it is very frustrating when I want to take leave, and is seriously impacting on my engagement within my role. There could be some issues with the manager that could be the reason why this employee is acting the way they are.

[tubefeed]

Yes cottoneyes, I agree, the LWOP policy is long overdue.
As is the policy of requiring medical cert's after excess personal leave.
We have been way too soft, and feel that emps have taken advantage of this.
We now have a situation where 3 out of 5 emps take a day a month sick leave as though it is a right. It is such a frustrating situation and rotten culture.
Are we able to put rewards in place for those that only take 2 or 3 days a year? Is this permitted in today's Fair Work environment???
I really don't think perf mgt or penalties will be effective, I would rather put positive incentives in place...

[Cottoneyes]

I've heard of 'attendance bonuses' being paid in companies, but not in any I've worked for in the past to discourage the taking of the sick leave without due reason. I think this is usually a bonus paid in the range of $500 - $1,000 if less than a set target of personal leave is taken (including LWOP). Think this amount is set based on how much the wages involved are typically.

Things to consider though with this - the bonus could be superable (as it is based on performance, assuming it is paid as cash), make sure this is taken into consideration when setting the amount and ensure the policy clearly communicates whether the amount is inclusive of this or not. If paying cash, keep in mind this will be taxable, if giving vouchers etc, FBT needs to be taken into account. Also be clear on what time frame this will be based on and when it will be paid to avoid any issues down the track.

You may also encourage employees to attend work when they shouldn't be at work, you then have the downside of 'presentism' when they sit at work but get little achieved, or even worse bring their germs to work and spread them to the other workers, thereby possibly making the situation you wish to avoid even worse.

It's a tough one to juggle, but hopefully this gives you some points on how to deal with this.