For managers and business owners, and employee who regularly takes short term sickness days can be a real hassle. Of course, nobody wants to bring sickness into the workplace. It does become clear, however, when the sick days being used are merely for days off. The practice of limiting short term sickness days is difficult to define and manage but making an effort to encourage more attendance at work on days not honestly spent feeling sick can be overall beneficial to workplace morale and productivity.

Limiting Short Term Sickness

The trouble with short term sickness abuse is that employees become unreliable and hard to trust. The constant, unexpected absences make it difficult to keep up with company tasks, run the day to day of a business or attraction, and offer time and energy to other projects and essential aspects of the job. Covering for someone who is expected to be present puts, other employees and managers, behind. Because of this, keeping short term sick days limited is a crucial practice to include in business strategy and workgroup communication. Here are a few ways to ensure employees are incentivized to come in when scheduled.

Remind Employees of Short Sickness Day Policy

In a lot of ways, one employee’s behavior can influence the rest of a team. Because of that, one rotten egg may reinstate misunderstood practices of actions that are not consistent with the employee handbook or rules are given to hired workers. A reminder of the policy regarding short sickness days can be beneficial. Rather than email or briefly mention the theory in passing, a meeting formally addressing the system helps ensure everyone is on the same page.

Keep an Eye Out for Patterns of Short Sickness Day Absences

If an employee is calling in sick on specific days, make sure to try to take note. For example, if Thursday shifts are consistently a problem, talk with the employee about why it keeps reoccurring. There may be difficulties at hand that has made it a tough day to manage. If there is wiggle room in the schedule, shifting them to another day may be easier than wondering whether or not the worker will show up or not. If no flexibility is available, address the issue with the employee and ask for an explanation and plan of attack moving forward.

Keep Talking to Employees about Short Sickness Day Absences

Communication is vital for managing repeated short sickness absences at work. Discussing and reevaluating the policy at work could help alleviate stress and concern for repeat offenders.