With flu cases on the rise and this year’s variant being dubbed ‘super-flu’, it could see more employees affected than usual. This prospect will be concerning for businesses, especially as for some, it is a particularly busy time of the year with staffing already stretched.
Whether it’s employees being absent due to being ill themselves or in connection with it, for example, seeking time off in relation to a sick dependent, there can be a lot for managers to think about.
So, what is it useful to know from an HR perspective, and are there any steps you can take to help minimise disruption to your business?
- Plan ahead – think about a ‘sickness’ action plan
- Be aware of the right to take dependent care leave
- Consider the Working Time Regulations
Plan ahead – think about a ‘sickness’ action plan
This can be a quick and easy step to help you reduce the likelihood of disruption in your business should employees fall ill, whether with ‘super-flu’ or another winter bug or illness. To get you started, think:
- Assess: Consider whether your employees are familiar with your sickness absence reporting procedure – employees not calling in sick or not doing so by the required time can understandably cause disruption (and frustration) for businesses. If you think a refresher on your procedure would be beneficial, issue a quick reminder. This can save management time in the long run – need help with a Memo? Reach out.
- Educate: Make sure that those with people management responsibilities in your business who will be handling calls from employees regarding sickness absence know what they can – and should ask. Our earlier Legal Update can help you with this. It may seem obvious, but sometimes it’s the simple things that get missed – knowing about matters such as outstanding work and how long an employee anticipates they may be off sick can make a real difference in helping a business to cope if there are staffing challenges, such as particularly high absence rates.
- Document: Ensure that you obtain either a self-certificate from the employee to cover a sickness absence of seven days or less, or if they are absent for longer, a medical certificate and that this is done consistently across the business. If these aren’t forthcoming, remember to get in touch with us for help.
- Monitor and evaluate: Consider whether you need to put in place any extra temporary monitoring of work/workloads. This could be not only to make sure that work levels remain appropriate even if your staffing numbers are reduced due to sickness absence, but also to help managers quickly and easily identify any work that may need picking up in the event of a high rate of unexpected absence, this can help to prevent things from getting missed. Depending on the nature of your business and employees’ roles you may want to check that work practices/systems allow an easy transition if work needs to be picked up by other team members during an absence.
Have a question in relation to your business’s ‘sickness action plan’? Please get in touch.
Be aware of the right to take dependent care leave
It might not be just when an employee themselves is unwell that they need to take some time off work because of sickness, it could, for example, be in connection with a dependant, such as:
- Because their child has fallen ill whilst at school, and they need to be collected early
- A nursery or school has closed temporarily as a ‘fire-break’ against illness
- Care for an older dependent, such as a parent, has been temporarily disrupted, for example, because a carer is too unwell to look after that person as usual, and an employee needs some time off to make alternative arrangements
In such circumstances, an employee, irrespective of their length of service, can be entitled to take dependant care leave; this is a ‘reasonable’ amount of time off necessary to deal with the emergency. In many cases, a few hours or one or two days will likely be all that an employee needs. However, there may be some situations in which a longer period is reasonable.
In many situations, it’s likely to be difficult for your employee to give you advance notice that they need to take dependent care leave, simply because of the circumstances in which it is usually taken. Your employee should follow the usual absence reporting procedure if it is possible for them to do so. If for some reason, this cannot reasonably be done, your employee should usually notify you as soon as reasonably possible of the reason for their absence and how long they expect to be absent from work.
There is no statutory right to pay when taking dependent care leave, but you should check your contracts of employment (and past practice) as some employers offer an entitlement to pay. Sometimes employees ask to use a holiday rather than take unpaid time off, and you can agree to this if you wish to do so (and the employee has enough holiday left in the holiday year). Bear in mind that you cannot insist that an employee take dependent care leave as a holiday.
It’s also worth being mindful that employees are protected from being dismissed or being subjected to any other detriment in connection with taking dependent care leave, so it’s important that they are treated appropriately.
On the topic of employees with caring responsibilities, if an employee has a dependant with a long-term care need, you may find it helpful to also be aware of one of the newer employee rights – Carer’s Leave. You can find out a bit about this in a previous Legal Update.
Have a question? Please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Consider the Working Time Regulations
If employees are working extra hours, whether to cover for sickness absence or it’s just a busy period, remember that there are working limits and rest break entitlement for most adult workers, and that there are more restrictive requirements for young workers.
It can be helpful to bear in mind that most adult workers can opt out of the weekly working time limit by signing an opt-out agreement if they wish. For further information on this or an opt-out agreement for use in your business, please get in touch.
Need help with an HR matter in your business? Remember, we are here to help.