Knowing What’s What With Sick Days
Sick days aren’t always used for physical illnesses. Many employees will use this time off to take mental health days or avoid coming to work when they’re feeling burned out. Why is this an epidemic in the workplace? In order to curb the misuse of sick days, experts suggest you focus on ways to make your employees less stressed on a daily basis. Here are some ideas.
- Create a wellness initiative. Wellness programs can be for both physical health, such as screenings or flu shots, as well as stress management. Programs that help reduce stress in the office will allow your employees to also use these techniques in their personal lives. When a company makes time for these issues, the employees are likely to follow suit.
- Offer flexible hours. The stress of the morning commute can be enough to drive anyone to distraction. Is there any way you can offer flexible start and end times? Parents will be able to leave early to get their kids from school, and others may prefer to work later to miss the traffic on the way home.
- Create “work from home” options. Another possibility is to allow your employees to work from home part or all of the time. We have access to incredible technologies that can allow employees to stay connected while away from the office, so tap into them to keep employees from missing too much work.
- Provide results-based incentives. If you’re concerned that people are using their sick days inappropriately, rethink the way you recognize the work they do. Provide incentives for their results rather than concentrating too hard on the individual steps. If they feel micromanaged, they may use sick days to avoid the process.
Do you have rules regarding sick days in your office?
Pam Morton
Benefits by Design Insurance Services
415-524-8959 Larkspur, CA office
760-696-3573 Carlsbad, CA office
PamM@benefitsbydesignca.com
www.benefitsbydesignca.com
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