Every year, flu season blows around and more people show up to work sick.
For small businesses with few team members, being short-staffed can cause operational chaos. However, the potential impact of a staff member continuing to work while unwell can be worse.
Here are three ways to minimise the impact of sickness on operations as a small business owner or employer.
Implement clear policies and procedures around sickness
Implementing policies and procedures that dictate what should happen when an employee is unwell makes it easier to manage and plan for absences due to sickness.
These policies offer a structured approach to addressing absences but also play a vital role in preventing and isolating the transmission of illnesses within the workplace. This is especially crucial for small business operations. Cold and flu can quickly take down a small team working in proximity – as the COVID pandemic proved, infectious illnesses spread like bushfires.
Make sure to specify evidence requirements and notification procedures and periods. Employees must notify the business as soon as reasonably possible if they are sick, ideally before their shift begins and with enough time for managers to find a replacement.
Ensure these guidelines are communicated clearly and can be easily accessible, to set expectations and avoid confusion.
Lastly, be aware that an employee’s eligibility to access paid sick leave is determined by their employment status or type. Seek expert advice If you have any doubts about your employee’s entitlements.
Scrap the ‘soldier on’ mindset
It’s common for people to ‘soldier on’ and continue working despite being ill, many because they feel pressured to by their managers and teams, or due to personal worry about falling behind on their responsibilities or bills.
It’s better for both businesses and their staff for an employee to take sick leave and return to work once they’ve recovered.
In addition to a higher likelihood of sickness spreading through a workplace, persevering with work through an illness almost always delays the recovery process, and working at a reduced capacity means productivity is lower and mistakes more likely.
Proper rest ensures a return to health, and work, in the shortest time possible.
As well as ditching the ‘soldiering on’ mindset, help your employees understand why it’s important for them to put work on hold, rest and recover.
Ensure staff are comfortable taking sick days
Make it clear to employees that health comes before work and ensure they feel comfortable taking sick leave when they are unwell.
If an employee who is clearly unwell and unfit to work does present for their shift, discuss their wellbeing with them in a non-confrontational way. Ask:
- How are you feeling?
- Why do you want to work if you feel unwell?
- What’s stopping you from taking the day off and resting up?
These discussions often reveal that they’re worried about their workload being unattended, about the impact to their peers, or about their reputation.
In these cases, it’s best to reassure the employee. Explain that you want to support them to get well and remind them of the importance of their health and the entitlements available to them, like sick leave.
It’s important that if you send a sick staff member home, you do it with a sense of care, sensitivity and understanding for the employee’s needs. Encourage them to consider those needs and potentially head home of their own accord.
While it’s not ideal to be a worker down when someone is struck by a cold or the flu, the consequences may be worse for individuals, coworkers, and businesses if a sick employee continues to work.
