How to Handle an Employee Who Calls In Sick Often

A few employee absences each year (especially during cold and flu season) are understandable, but a few people always seem to push the envelope. Unfortunately, employee call-ins generate more work for those left behind to cover for them and can leave businesses short-handed and scrambling to find replacements. This is bad for customer service and employee morale, which are both bad for your bottom line.

In this post, we’re going to take a look at how to handle an employee who calls in sick often, sharing some guidance from experts and strategies you can implement to limit unplanned employee absences.

How to stop employees from calling in frequently

Is excessive absenteeism a problem for your business? Here are some ways to stop the madness:

• Have a frank discussion about your company policy. Even if problematic employees are legitimately sick, it’s worth it to protect your interests with frank discussions and an explicit company policy. Alison Green recommends saying, “Going forward, we need you to be here reliably, every day, except in the most extreme of circumstances. If you’re not able to do that, I understand, but the job does require it.”
• Offer only one type of PTO. Combine sick, vacation, and personal days for employees into one paid time off category. “Sick-day abusers may think twice before calling in because the absences cut into what could be their vacation,” explains Nate Hindman.
• Don’t allow employees to call out by leaving a voicemail. Blocking voicemail messages might dissuade those who aren’t really sick from calling in because they’ll have to fake sounding sick when talking to their supervisor. However, “truly sick workers who are trying to sleep off their ailments might resent that,” warns Green.
• Give employees more flexibility in creating their own schedules. Workers may be less likely to abuse call-outs when more in control of their own workday. While this may not be possible for every business, scheduling flexibility can be really beneficial for employees who may be calling in sick because they need to run an errand or do something for their kids in the morning.
• Let employees work from home. According to research from Global Workplace Analytics, organizations that let employees work from home saw a 63 percent reduction in unscheduled absences. Employees may still be able to do their work while sick when they’re at home, and they’re less likely to bring an illness to the workplace that could cause other employees to get sick.

First and foremost, however, you should talk to an employee who’s frequently absent to find out if there’s a legitimate reason for them missing work so often. The worker might need a schedule accommodation based on U.S. laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

You’ll also want to make sure you have an up-to-date employee attendance policy that specifies your expectations for employee attendance and walks through how you’ll handle repetitive instances of unexcused absences.

What if you suspect an employee is lying about being sick?

Trust is a big requirement for a functional working relationship, so if you’re suspicious of your employee’s intentions, the first step might be to take a step back and make sure you have sound reasoning. Ask yourself:

• Is this a difficult employee who has a habit of abusing your attendance policy, or is this a one-time, last-minute callout?
• Is it an employee who has run out of vacation time suddenly having a lot of “health conditions?”
• How dependable are they compared to their coworkers? Have the repeated no-shows started having an impact on your work environment?

The pandemic changed the template for dealing with employee illness. Demanding that an ill employee come into work can have serious impacts on the rest of your workforce. Now you have to think twice when an employee sends a text in or leaves a voicemail saying that they won’t be showing up.

Once you’ve determined that you’re willing to pursue questioning the employee, here are a few steps you can take to get to the bottom of the employee’s absenteeism:

1.  Request a doctor’s note

Asking for a doctor’s note is customary for most sick-day policies. It’s a classic and subtle step to verify the truth of the employee’s claim that they were sick, and a refusal from them to do so could further justify any suspicions you harbor.

Plus a proper diagnosis and treatment plan from a doctor would benefit the employee if they are truly sick — and would lead to less time off work overall — so it should be a win-win. Requiring a doctor’s note for more serious issues should be in your company’s attendance policy to combat absenteeism.

2.  Perform a check-in

Making a quick phone call to a sick employee could be the difference between them getting away with it or being caught out and about. Of course, they could always refrain from answering and send a text message later claiming to have been asleep.

It’s also possible you could learn the truth of the matter from their social media profiles. 43% of employers have caught an employee abusing paid sick leave thanks to their social media posts.

3.  Talk to them

Communication is critical. It’s possible that something in your employee’s personal life became overwhelming or harmful to their well-being, so they decided to take a vacation day off for their mental health and/or to address the issue. In these scenarios, personal embarrassment could prevent them from being more forthcoming with the details.

Consider increasing their trust in your human resources department so they can be more truthful in the future. You could also remind them that the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides protections that enables them to take sick days, albeit unpaid, for reasons relating to a family member or medical issues.

It’s also possible that what’s missing are some incentives for the employee to show up to work. Are they feeling burned out, perhaps thinking their hard work goes unappreciated? Would an opportunity to do remote work help boost their productivity? It’s worth fostering an environment that will allow for a fully honest conversation.

4.  Hire a private investigator

This is more of a last resort, but it becomes critical if you have a full-time employee committing repeated abuses of sick leave or full on FMLA fraud. In those situations, you’ll have to gather enough evidence to prove your case, which requires the aid of a private investigator to collect any incriminating evidence while ensuring sure you’re operating in accordance with the law.

Missing work on its own isn’t a crime, and employees should never be made to feel as such. At most, your employee handbook should outline what sort of steps you take against this (and they should start off relatively simple and grow more severe as absences increase).

However, when one employee begins to take advantage of the system in place to support your team members, it becomes vital for you to address the abuse before it negatively impacts production and work ethic across your business.