Reduce Sick-Leave Abuse Through Policy Reinforcement and Revisions

​Sick-leave abuse is a headache for HR, but whose fault is it—the employees who take too much leave or the employer's policies that may be allowing it? It might be both.

Either way, sick-leave abuse needs to be straightened out fast, but be on the lookout for legitimate, protected reasons for leave.

Review leave policies regularly, said Amy Casciotti, vice president of human resources at TechSmith Corp. in East Lansing, Mich. "You want to make sure that what your policy says is what you are expecting," she said. If updates are needed, make and share them with staff. Train managers on how to have conversations around leave and performance.

"It is imperative that abuse of leave be addressed quickly and effectively," she said. "Sick-leave abuse can have a negative impact on the organization with decreased morale, decreased performance and increased workloads on other employees."

An employer should get ahead of the problem as soon as it is recognized before it becomes an issue for the company, Casciotti said. "An employee who is continuing to abuse leave policies is most likely not performing and [is] having a negative impact on other employees and their motivation."

Signs and Causes of Sick-Leave Abuse

Signs of leave abuse include an unusually large number of sick days without an obvious legitimate justification, regularly taking sick days in a way that extends the weekend and taking sick days when there are no apparent symptoms of illness, such as sneezing or coughing, said Robin Shea, an attorney with Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Sick-leave abuse may happen just before or after holidays or present as late arrivals with questionable excuses. The employee may have used up all other paid time off (PTO), shown a drop in performance and missed deadlines, said Phyllis Hartman, SHRM-SCP, president of PGHR Consulting Inc. in Ingomar, Pa.

"Absences can be a sign of an employee being burned out, disengaged, bored or [in] conflict at work, in addition to being sick," Casciotti said.

Sometimes disengagement is the cause. "If an organization works to connect with and engage its employees and helps them understand their value as well as understand what employees need to do the job, they are less likely to have abuse of sick-time policies," Hartman said.

Policy Reinforcement

If there's sick-leave abuse, employers should review with the employee the company's sick-leave policies and the consequences of violating them, Casciotti said.

"Ensure they are aware of the leave they may be eligible for and how to apply for it," she said. "There could be a health issue going on that is covered by various government requirements, and you want to show that you did notify them of the availability of these leaves." Clear expectations around performance also should be set. "If you are not working, you can't be performing."

Employers should also remind staff of employee assistance programs or other programs the company offers in case there is a personal or mental health issue that is contributing to absenteeism. Remind them there may be help available to them, Casciotti said.

If the problem becomes ongoing, the employer will need to investigate more of what's going on, she stated.

"You will need to follow your discipline process if the employee is found to be abusing sick leave," she said, adding the employer might need to consult with counsel to ensure compliance with leave and accommodation requirements.

Unlimited PTO may make it harder to spot abuse, especially if the employer is not having employees report absences and if there aren't expectations or guidelines around how to do so, Casciotti said.

"When there is a specific amount of allotted sick time, it is clear when the employee has used up all of that time," she said. "After that time is gone, if another leave is not applicable, you can start your discipline process."

However, Hartman said companies with unlimited PTO often report employees taking less time off. "An employee of one told me he is uncomfortable taking time off without guidelines," she said.

Policy Revisions

If sick-leave abuse has occurred recently, the employer should review the sick-leave and attendance policies to see whether they are leaving too much of an opening for misconduct, Shea said. "If so, those policies might need to be revised."

The sick-leave policy should give the employer the right to request a note from the employee's health care provider if it suspects abuse, Shea said.

"It's not realistic to require or expect an employee to bring in a doctor's note every time she is out for a day or two with a cold or sore throat," Shea said. Employers may be better off with a policy that provides a reasonably limited number of paid sick days on an honor system and a year-end payout for sick days not taken or allowing carryover into the following year, she added.  

Some companies have policies that require employees to provide a statement from a health care provider if they are absent more than three consecutive days, but not give details about the illness, Hartman said.

A sick-leave policy should, Shea said, also state that the employer will monitor whether an inordinate number of sick days are being taken on the days immediately before or after the employee's regular days off.

In addition, she said the attendance policy should provide that, once the employee's sick days are exhausted, any further absences will count as occurrences under the employer's attendance policy, unless the time off is:

• Covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act.
• Covered by an applicable state or local law.
• Supported by a note from the employee's health care provider.
• Allowed by the employer as a reasonable accommodation for a disability.

"Employers should take care not to treat employees with legitimate chronic medical conditions as sick-leave abusers," Shea cautioned.