The Cost of Sickies - When is it Too High?

Australian businesses lost $30 billion due to record absenteeism levels in 2010. Absenteeism rose by 5% in 2010 to reach a peak average of 9.87 days per employee per annum, with the banking, finance, telco and public service industries the hardest hit, the DHS 2010 survey reveals.  It is estimated that the cost of sickies is 22 times more than that of strike action. And employers believe at least half of all sick leave days are not taken for genuine reasons!

With averages up from 9.3 days per year 12 months ago, 36% of organisations quoted increased levels of absenteeism. The UK's average is seven days and the US's is six. Highest absenteeism is amongst call centre workers, union members, Gen Y members and employees with children or other dependants. IT industry workers have the lowest levels. The consequences of casual and genuine sickies include $30 billion in lost productivity for the economy a year. There are impacts on the staff who "fill the gaps" in terms of overwork and burn out and more absenteeism.
As a result, it has been suggested that businesses are not doing enough to manage their sick leave.

Reasons for "Sickies"

Key reasons suggested for the rise in sick leave taken include:

• The onset of the global financial crisis, which has caused morale to drop and stress to rise, along with poor management as employers shift their focus away from employees and more on the business at large. Anxious post-GFC employees are staying in roles they don't like rather than risk changing jobs and thus are suffering higher-than-usual levels of stress.
• The outbreak of swine flu increased sick days taken.
• There also been a big increase in mental health issues, particularly in the younger demographic, and overweight and unhealthy eating means people are more likely to get sick.

However, absences from the office are about a lot more than illness. Two of the biggest causes of absence are low morale and the imitation of the behaviour of others in the work unit. Poor supervision and management styles, unrealistic workloads and deadlines, feelings of unfairness in how staff are treated, lack of job security and low morale in the workplace can lead to increased absenteeism from employees who find their work environment stressful. A "culture" of sick leave, where staff imitate the existing behaviour in the business unit and "take their quota" of sick days can also be a major contributing factor.

Strategies to Reduce Sickies

Organisations are still battling to tackle unplanned absence effectively. The solution to absenteeism begins with leadership and management. To reduce absenteeism, leaders need to:

• Focus on creating a positive workplace where they take the time to listen to employees, treat them fairly and with respect and provide realistic timeframes and the necessary support to complete their workload.
• Be in tune with their employees' needs and be aware of any evidence of employee stress in the workplace.
• Keep abreast of market salaries and remunerate competitively
• Recognise and reward employee contributions
• Increase employee involvement in decision-making processes.
• Support work life balance principles in the work place.

Perceived unfairness in the workplace is absolutely under the control of individual managers. If there are good relationships and clear expectations and staff feel managers care about them then staff won't want the company to suffer.

Other strategies are available to reduce absenteeism that can have significant cost savings. Tighter controls on sick leave including:

• Monitoring absences more closely.
• The need to ring the manager and give clear reasons for the absence.
• Ongoing contacts from managers during the period of absence.
• Contact from health workers, following up sick staff with treatment advice.
• Medical certificate requirements.

 More information from Crossroads HR?
Contact Kim Murrells at Crossroads HR on 9862 5900 if you would like to talk further about Managing Absenteeism or other HR issues.