Sickness…..

We had a debate about this on the Horton Hangout a few weeks ago and have had so many practices asking for help since.

It’s a grey area in practices but here are a few areas you need to look at:

1. Do you provide sick pay and does it form part of the employment contract? I do not feel it should be part of the employment contract but can be provided for genuine sickness for good employees. This shows you reward the good employee who rarely lets you down. But this is a business decision that’s made.
2. Do you have a bonus system? Does sickness mean the team member(s) do not get the monthly bonus? This should be the case but it should be the next payable bonus. Again this shouldn’t form part of the contract as you may wish to look after the welfare of an individual as a one off depending on their situation.
3. Is your system consistent and fair? Usually it is not and some team members get special treatment.
4. Do you complete back to work interviews? 100% essential for every day off regardless of role or hours of employment. Remember you must be consistent and fair.
5. Do you have a good culture in your practice whereby the team won’t call in sick unless they really aren’t ill? If you have a problem with sickness in your practice then you need to address the culture from the top down as this is usually the problem!

Laura Horton

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