Sick Time - When is enough too much!
lrenoll
25 Posts
We currently have a sick policy in place that uses the excused and unexcused methodology. To break it down:
Excused: Anyone who calls in sick and returns to work with a drs. excuse for the day(s) taken off.
Unexcused: Anyone who is absent and returns to work without the drs. excuse. Please note that anyone missing three consecutive days must have a drs. note in order to return.
Furthermore, we allow sick time hours to be carried forward from year to year with no limits.
As the policy stands now, once someone accumulates 32 hrs of unexcused sick time, they receive a friendly reminder letter (regardless of how much banked sick time the person has accumulated). Additional unexcused absences are then treated as such.
1.) Written warning
2.) Written reprimand
3.) Second written reprimand with an immediate 3 day unpaid suspension and may be dismissed at this time.
The policy has worked great thus far. Now, here is the situation ... when do we consider excused absences as being excessive?
For instance, I have one person who has 8 hours of unexcused sick time and 96 hours of excused sick time.
Then, I have someone who is already at their Frist written reprimand stage (Has in excess of 56 hours of unexcused sick time) and now has 32 hours of excused sick time.
How do other companies with similar policies define excessive absenteeism for excused absenteeism?
Hope i'm not being too confusing!
Excused: Anyone who calls in sick and returns to work with a drs. excuse for the day(s) taken off.
Unexcused: Anyone who is absent and returns to work without the drs. excuse. Please note that anyone missing three consecutive days must have a drs. note in order to return.
Furthermore, we allow sick time hours to be carried forward from year to year with no limits.
As the policy stands now, once someone accumulates 32 hrs of unexcused sick time, they receive a friendly reminder letter (regardless of how much banked sick time the person has accumulated). Additional unexcused absences are then treated as such.
1.) Written warning
2.) Written reprimand
3.) Second written reprimand with an immediate 3 day unpaid suspension and may be dismissed at this time.
The policy has worked great thus far. Now, here is the situation ... when do we consider excused absences as being excessive?
For instance, I have one person who has 8 hours of unexcused sick time and 96 hours of excused sick time.
Then, I have someone who is already at their Frist written reprimand stage (Has in excess of 56 hours of unexcused sick time) and now has 32 hours of excused sick time.
How do other companies with similar policies define excessive absenteeism for excused absenteeism?
Hope i'm not being too confusing!
Comments
The issue you're addressing is attendance and by specifying how much absence is permitted, your staff will know what is expected. Attendance is a fundamental prerequisite to employment and this type of policy simply says that excessive absenteeism means we invite you to go work somewhere else. We use seven (7) occcurences per year b/4 discharge occurs (an occurrence is 1 or more consecutive days of absence) and we progressively discipline along the way. It's a no-fault program so it doesn't matter what the reason is. It has cleaned up the prior mess we had-----which was very similar to what you're describing.