Don't let your business catch a cold

May 7 2009 By Keith Land for The Journal

It is unclear whether or not the country is in the grips of a flu pandemic.  The reports as to both scale and effect tend to vary.  What is clear though is that, as usual, the public react badly to such news which in turn can have an effect on employee absenteeism.

A survey carried out last week showed absence rates towards the end of last week running at as much as 27% above normal as employees with any cold symptoms are now being much more cautious.  There was a call from the Forum of Private Business to employees to not only think about the impact of the flu virus but also "the impact on the economy".

It is the age old problem for employers – how to tackle very short periods of sickness absence and ensure that they can distinguish those with a genuine illness and those whose absence may be a little less genuine.  The use of medical certificates in such instances is limited as a doctor's note will generally only be available for absences of 7 days or more.  This means that internal sickness policies become more important.

Employers, faced with a lot of short term sickness absence should:

·                ensure all employees comply with the employer’s rules as to self certification of sickness absence;

·                carry out return to work interviews with employees.  If an absence has to be explained face to face it will make some employees think twice about whether or not to stay off work;

·                consider the terms of sick pay schemes.  Not all employees automatically get company sick pay – there are many employees who get statutory sick pay only and, generally, SSP will not pay out for absences of less than 3 days.  Whilst being careful not to encourage longer absences, strict adherence to SSP rules may make employees think carefully about taking the odd day off; and

·                communicate fully to their employees the employer's policies and procedures to make sure that employees understand how absences will be regarded. It is better to discourage absence in the first place than have to rely on procedures to deal with those who take “suspicious” days off.

Some have predicted a cost to the economy in lost business arising out of "flu" related absences of £1.5 billion per day.  This is a figure not to be sniffled at (pun intended) and on top of other economic pressures facing many businesses, something which employers should try to prevent.

Keith Land is a partner in the Employment Law Unit at Sintons LLP and can be contacted on 0191 226 4892 or k.land@sintons.co.uk