The real cost of your employees taking “sick” leave

Employees are misusing their sick leave, and it's costing the economy billions of rands (Shutterstock.com)

It costs the economy billions of rands each time your employees decide to call in sick.

It costs the economy R 16 billion everytime your employees misuse their sick leave.

This is according to a recent study conducted by Occupational Care South Africa and Statistics South Africa. The study reveals that an average of 15% of employees are absent on any given day. What’s more, only one in three of those who take sick leave are actually sick.

“Some people see their sick leave allowance as a target to be misused,” Cathie Webb from the South African Payroll Association told TimesLive. The study stresses that while organisational pressures are increasing, employees need to remember that they still have a function within the workplace that needs to be fulfilled. The problem is compounded by the fact that each time a sickie is thrown in, someone else usually has to stand in for the one missing.

Furthermore, should an employee have a sudden emergency but no sick leave days, they start using up their annual leave or take unpaid leave.

Sick and tired of your employees being sick and tired?

When employees abuse sick leave, it causes a loss in productivity, reduced employee morale and ultimately, costs your business money.

Here are a few tips to ensure that you protect your business and your employees from taking excessive leave:

1. Set out clear rules and standards relating to attendance, absenteeism and leave:

Make sure your employees are clear about the following:

  • How to apply for any kind of leave
  • Who they need to contact if they are sick, injured or are in an emergency
  • What kind of supporting documents they need and when they will be expected to submit them
  • What the consequences of non-compliance are
  • For more tips read: With these tips your staff will never get away with another fake sick note again

    2. Find ways of monitoring the work attendance of your employees as well as the frequency of their absenteeism

    3. Sure your employees don’t have to disclose what’s wrong with them, but that shouldn’t stop you from initiating a discussion with them to find out if there are any serious problems you need to be made aware of.

    Remember that staff morale should be your company’s top priority. It decreases turnover rate, increases productivity and ultimately, has a positive impact on your business’ bottomline. If your employee’s are staying away from work too often, perhaps you need to keep scrolling through Careers24 for more top management tips