An article on the UK website Simply Business offers some suggestions for organizations that wish to cut back on excessive employee sick days while maintaining a positive rapport with their staff.
Causes of absenteeism include legitimate illness or injury, workplace stress and employees taking sick days when they are not justified – like kids playing hooky from school.
Employers who provide anti-bacterial soaps and keep a clean workplace may help reduce the spread of viruses when sick workers show up for duty. Additionally, encouraging those employees to take a day off may help mitigate illness among an entire staff.
A workplace should be free of safety risks and provide workers with good quality, lumbar-supporting chairs to reduce back pain, which is one of the more common causes of absenteeism. Employers may want to run a risk assessment of their workplace to screen for health and safety issues.
Stress is another reason employees call in sick. To prevent this, employers may want to make sure there is a healthy work environment and that staff members are not being overworked.
Providing incentives for employees who maintain a good attendance record may also discourage unjustified sick days.
Additionally, organizations that provide employee wellness programs with tools and resources for stress management and physical health may effectively reduce absenteeism while reducing workplace stress.
