Trend for staff to take sick leave around public holidays
Employers are being alerted to the prevalence of employee sick leave around public holidays, with 85 per cent of organisations impacted by the problem.
The Australian Payroll Association surveyed 601 payroll managers across the country’s big and small businesses to gauge how often employees took sick leave around public holidays, including last Easter and Anzac Day, as well as the Christmas holiday period.
Eight-six per cent of payroll managers admitted that at least 1 per cent of employees take a sick day at their organisation before or after public holidays. Almost half (47 per cent) said at least 5 per cent of employees generally take a sick day, and 18 per cent said at least one in 10 employees take a sick day.
The problem was particularly acute over the last Easter and Anzac Day period, with a one in four (26 per cent) organisations seeing at least 10 per cent of their staff taking sick leave during this period.
The survey revealed that the bigger the organisation, the more likely they are to see the sick leave problem around public holidays. Just 52 per cent of micro businesses (up to 10 employees) see at least 1 per cent of staff taking sick leave around public holidays. This jumps up to 76 per cent of organisations with 11-50 employees, 86 per cent of organisations with 51-200 employees, 93 per cent of organisations with 201-500 employees, 96 per cent of those with 501-1000 employees, and 97 per cent of those with 1001-5000 employees.
It is also the bigger organisations that see higher rates of sick leave. Just 14 per cent of SMEs (up to 200 employees) see at least 10 per cent of their workforce take sick leave before or after public holidays.
However, an average of 25 per cent of organisations with 501-10,000 employees see at least 10 per cent of their staff take sick leave around public holidays and Christmas periods.
The survey asked payroll managers the reasons that employees give for sick leave. Many said most of the reasons seemed genuine, such as the standard gastro and vomiting. However, many also said that employees have called in sick when they had a health- or child-related appointment, or a sick pet.
One payroll manager said, “We have a cultural issue around misuse of sick leave entitlements.” Another said that employees “just take the 10 days a year as an entitlement”, with another payroll manager reiterating this as an issue at the organisation they work at. Another said that their employees “are under the impression they are entitled to paid carer’s leave” when they need to simply look after their children at home.
“It’s interesting that several payroll managers revealed they don’t see sick leave taken very often, as their organisation has a policy requiring employees to obtain a medical certificate if they take a sick day,” said Tracy Angwin, CEO of the Australian Payroll Association. “It is perfectly acceptable for employers to have such a policy.”
Sheridan Randall, 11th June 2019
