Employers Tell Dedicated Employees to 'Go Home'
RIVERWOODS, Ill., Nov. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- As another flu season gets
under way, employers are increasingly concerned about the threat sick
employees pose in the workplace. According to the findings of the 2006 CCH
Unscheduled Absence Survey, 56 percent of employers now report that
"presenteeism," when sick employees show up for work, is a problem in their
organization, up from 39 percent just two years ago. As those who catch the
flu also pass it along, CCH highlights the important steps employers can
take to avoid presenteeism and keep a healthier workplace during flu season
and throughout the year. CCH is a leading provider of human resources and
employment law information and services and a part of Wolters Kluwer Law &
Business ( hr.cch.com ).
"Presenteeism is a concern for employers not only because it lowers an
employee's productivity, but because that employee can pass along
contagions to other workers and customers," said CCH Employment Law Analyst
Brett Gorovsky, JD. "Employers need to understand why employees are coming
to work sick and what they can do to help address this -- whether it's
adapting policies, educating employees and managers or taking some other
steps to make it clear that while they need employees at work, they also
want a healthy workforce and workplace."
The Hero, Haggard and Hording Employees
There are many reasons why employees don't stay home to recuperate,
including being overworked, considering themselves too devoted to the
company, saving time off for future use or being strongly discouraged by
their company from taking sick time.
Having too much work / fear of missing deadlines was the most common
reason sick employees come in to work, mentioned by 66 percent of
respondents to the CCH survey. The lack of anyone to cover a sick
employee's workload was cited by 56 percent of respondents, and company
loyalty was a factor in 36 percent of presenteeism situations.
But not wanting to use vacation time and trying to save sick time for
later in the year also were common reasons sick employees are at work,
cited 50 percent and 41 percent of respondents, respectively.
Of particular concern are the numbers of employees who are showing up
for work ill because either they want to avoid disciplinary action or their
company discourages taking sick time. Forty-six percent of survey
respondents cited fear of discipline as a reason why employees come to work
sick, while 25 percent report their company culture discourages using sick
days.
"If an employer takes disciplinary action regardless of the
circumstances when an employee exceeds a sick-day limit, then an employee
who has been out with the flu for several days may choose to come into work
sick rather than risk disciplinary action," Gorovsky explained. "Given that
the height of flu season is at the beginning of the year in most parts of
the country, employees are particularly concerned about using all of their
sick time early in the year. Employers need to be particularly careful that
their policies are not encouraging the wrong behavior, which can be
counterproductive to a healthy workforce and have costly consequences."
The 2006 CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey found, however, that
disciplinary action is still the number one absence control program, used
by 97 percent of employers to help control high rates of employee absences.
Employers Try to Keep Sick Workers Home
At the same time, employers are taking steps to help overcome the rise
in presenteeism, according to the CCH survey. A majority of companies (62
percent) with presenteeism problems report that they try to combat the
issue by sending sick employees home; 46 percent educate employees on the
importance of staying home when they are sick; 36 percent foster a culture
that discourages workers from coming in sick; 22 percent permit employees
to telecommute when they are sick; and 9 percent report they give employees
an unlimited number of sick days.
More employers are also allowing employees to carry over unused sick
time from one year to the next, with 44 percent of employers now allowing
this, compared to 38 percent in 2005. Also on the rise are Paid Leave Bank
programs, also known as Paid Time Off (PTO), which combines all time off
into a single bank of days to be taken in the way that best meets an
employee's needs. According to the CCH survey, 70 percent of employers now
offer PTO programs.
"With a PTO program, employees have more control over how to use time
off, helping to eliminate the fear of depleting sick days early in the
year," Gorovsky noted. "But it's apparent that companies need to take
multiple steps to combat presenteeism if they're going to address all the
different reasons workers show up for work sick."
Tips for Employers to Promote a Healthy Workplace
Among the steps CCH notes employers can take to help ensure a healthier
workplace and minimize disruptions during flu season:
-- Offer a flu-vaccination program: Sixty-four percent of organizations
CCH surveyed now sponsor flu-shot programs for employees, up from 61
percent in 2005.
-- Tap your employee assistance program and healthcare support services:
Determine if they offer a hotline or web site your employees can use
to access FAQs and get guidance and information about healthcare
issues.
-- Establish and communicate guidelines: Help employees understand under
what conditions they should stay home, and when it's safe to return to
work. For example, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
estimates individuals who get the flu may be able to infect others
from the day before their symptoms develop, to five days after
becoming sick.
-- Provide tips on how to avoid spreading germs -- a good source is the
CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/stopgerms.htm#GoodHealthHabits .
Use posters or offer the information on your corporate intranet.
-- Ensure absence control polices are not counterproductive: Programs
such as disciplinary action need to be assessed to ensure they don't
unnecessarily pressure sick employees to report for work.
-- Foster a healthy environment: Ensure managers are fostering an
environment in which ill employees feel comfortable asking to leave
the workplace or, better yet, not report to work in the first place.
-- Set a good example: Managers should be urged not to come in sick as
employees may then see the message to "stay at home" as lip service.
-- Work with employees and your facilities group to keep common areas
clean: Make sure these areas are cleaned regularly; this may even
include cleaning conference rooms between meetings.
-- Recognize helpful employees: Consider bonuses, rewards or other
recognition for employees who step in to help do extra work for ill
colleagues.
About the CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey
The 2006 CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey, which surveyed 326 human
resource executives in U.S. organizations, found that the rate of
unscheduled absences has increased to its highest level since 1999 and can
cost employers as much as $850,000 annually in direct payroll costs.
Findings related to the cost, rate and reasons for unscheduled absences
were released in late October and are available on the CCH press center at
http://www.cch.com . The survey was conducted for CCH by Harris
Interactive.
About Wolters Kluwer Law & Business
Wolters Kluwer Law & Business is a leading provider of research
products and software solutions in key specialty areas for legal and
business professionals, as well as casebooks and study aids for law
students. Its major product lines include Aspen Publishers, CCH, Kluwer Law
International and Loislaw. Its markets include law firms, law schools,
corporate counsel and professionals requiring legal and compliance
information. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business, a unit of Wolters Kluwer, is
based in New York City and Riverwoods, Ill. The Law & Business human
resources site is hr.cch.com.
Wolters Kluwer is a leading global information services and publishing
company. The company provides products and services for professionals in
the health, tax, accounting, corporate, financial services, legal and
regulatory, and education sectors. Wolters Kluwer has annual revenues
(2005) of euro 3.4 billion, employs approximately 18,400 people worldwide
and maintains operations across Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific.
Wolters Kluwer is headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Its shares
are quoted on the Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and
Euronext 100 indices. For more information, visit
http://www.wolterskluwer.com .
SOURCE Wolters Kluwer Law & Business
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Related links:
http://www.cch.com
http://www.wolterskluwer.com
http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/stopgerms.htm#GoodHealthHabits
CONTACT:
Leslie Bonacum, +1-847-267-7153, or
mediahelp@cch.com, or Neil Allen, +1-847-267-2179, or
neil.allen@wolterskluwer.com , both of Wolters Kluwer Law &
Business
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