Most Business Owners have a question before them when deciding a benefit package for their employees. How many, if any, paid sick days should I give them? That is a real serious question.
1. If you give paid sick days, will your workers take them the first week in January? I have actually observed this. Luckily, the company was a large one, could absorb the workload for those calling off, and most employees were smart enough to save the days later in the year when they were really sick. Those that had taken off "sick" immediately then had to come to work later when they felt lousy.
2. Are sick days a luxury? Some owners believe so. It is the fault of the associate for getting sick in the first place. They should be at work every day they are scheduled. No excuses. Sick days are not like vacation days whereby the employee has earned them for successfully completing scheduled time at work.
3. Should a person with a fever come to work? You remember the rules of a childcare facility or school. Do not bring a child to childcare or to school until the fever has been gone for 24 hours. Does this apply to adults?
4. When does contagious symptoms/illnesses apply? Currently the United States is going through a flu epidemic. Do you want a person to come to work and infect others? Are they spending more time in the bathroom than at their work station/office? Will productivity be affected? Will some employees have to go home, or not show up at all? These are tough questions to answer.
To see the interactive map of how states have/are affected through this flu season,
see: http://gis.cdc.gov/grasp/fluview/main.html
To see full information, see http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/
5. Here are some suggestions to think about.
A. NUMBER ONE: Take time to hire the best people. Not just people with the best skills for the job, but just plain best people. Look at the total picture. Can the best person who has just a little less skills be taught the difference? Ethics do count. Look at the total picture. Who has common sense already? Do you want to spend your whole time lecturing people about when to show up for work or do you want people to already know about responsibility?
B. Look at when you give out benefits package. Do you want to start it at Day One or after Probation has been completed? There are positives/negatives to both. If you have done your job with (A), then Day One shouldn't be a problem. Paying a decent salary to start with/attracting the right kind of people for your company is a discussion for another day. In the meantime, Please do not reward your employees for attendance. When they shake your hand and agree to work for you, they are agreeing to show up for work. Rather, take that "bribe" fund and use it for good wages.
C. Respect goes both ways. Things come up. No one really plans to get sick. I would rather have one person out than a whole department working at half strength. I had an employer who gave paid sick leave but let it be known they expected everyone to come in anyway, except for unusual health problems. So I came in and got 7 people sick over the course of several days. They wanted to get back at the employer for being so unkind and all went home with the contagious "creeping crud". Work slowed down to a trickle. The virus ran its course, they all returned when the symptoms stopped. I did what was required of me. I even tried to stay away from my co-workers, to no avail.
Think of your employees not just with productivity in mind, but as human beings. Also, be practical.
Tell people if they have the flu, etc. to stay home. Practice good hygiene at work. That will help those that are healthy to stay healthy. Buy lunch or snacks during a flu epidemic for example, that have good vitamins and liquids that will help those stay healthy or are recovering. It can be simple, it doesn't have to break the bank. But it will show you value their work and you value them as people. And they will try harder to accomplish the tasks at hand while people are absent and the workload is tighter.
It is a return on your investment because you understand "The Panoramic View".
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