Sick of computers? Sick of work?
It is fair to say that at some point in our lives we are going to have to take time off from work because we are ill.
Most employers manage sickness very closely and work a “3 stage and you’re out rule” and although effective it takes away the human touch and understanding which I feel is important in this area.
I broke my arm whilst on holiday and had to take 4 weeks off from work to recover but on my return I was warned that if the rules had been followed I would be on a Stage 3 which made me think what happened to Stage 1 & 2.
Apparently even though I had informed work and sent in a sick note, because of the time period I would require a Stage 3 hearing to discuss my time off. Thankfully my work used common sense and ignored the computer generated warning as they understood my reasons but if left to their own system I would probably be out of work now as I broke the other arm a year after!
As much as it is important to monitor sickness I wonder if it could be handled better.
Computers to tell you when someone hits the Stage 1 barrier are all very well but the reasons behind the absence could tell a whole other story. In the days before I used computers I used to monitor absence with a card system. Each member of staff had there own card and all absence and reasons were added at the time so when I reviewed the cards every three months it was easy to see that Joe Blogs Grandma had died in January and again in August.
It was also easy to spot when someone had that same time off every month and if so, I would look to see if I could adjust shifts and working patterns to avoid this. It also gave me a reason to talk to my employees and discuss any issues that was causing poor attendance and it paid dividends. Over the years this manual system ended up on computer and whilst I agree that is better for the larger companies, for smaller business it pays to be manual as you keep a tighter hold on your information as computer data entry is often forgotten the moment it leaves your fingers on the keyboard, oh hang on that might just be my terrible memory though!
You need a proper procedure to deal with absence so you can deal with those who are less than eager to attend work but the flip side for me was when I noticed how low morale affected absence figure and yes it is obvious but as I learnt more about those I worked with I found some of there problems that caused them to miss work could be solved and with support where I could, we worked out plans to improve.
In some cases it was just a struggle over getting the last bus so we arranged a lift share for those working late so everyone got home safely. Each case is different but it made for happier employees who attended work more often and became more productive which benefits everyone.
What are your top tips for handling absence in the workplace?
Take Care People
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3 Responses to Sick of computers? Sick of work?
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When a company I used to work for before becoming self-employed looked at a round of redundancies, part of the information they considered was employee's sickness record. I believe at the time this was standard practice, but again, as you said, there was no personal touch to it, it was just another number to be plugged into the equation.
It's so important to have a realistic approach to sickness at work. Policies need to be in place and adhered to but there must be a human face and real communication as well. The new fit note will mean that employers will be required to support their employees return to work effectively.
Are you well recovered now Angie?
I remember when one of my team of teleads was self admittedly 'out of it'. I'd thought at first she meant hung over, so told her to stay off the phone and do catch up admin. She didn't, of course and when I heard her I told her to go home and come back the next day.
She got all stroppy (it was drugs, not booze – I was just too naive to recognise it immediately) and promptly went off to the union Father of the Chapel to report me. I 'headed her off at the pass' by phoning the union guy to tell him that whatever she said, not to let her put anything in writing till the next day.
He played ball; she returned to work about three days later and apologised – she'd had some horrendous personal stuff to deal with – and we quietly forgot about it.
A year or so later, when another telead filed a formal (and totally unfounded) complaint against me, the first one acted as my representative and the Father of the Chapel backed me up.
I don't believe a computer system understands or can take into account the concept of what goes round comes round… And that's very bad for morale…:-(
Twitter: Linda_Mattacks