Excessive sickness

[Dadsmada]

I work in an office of approx 25 people and today there were 8 people off - 1 long term sick 1 suspended 4 on leave another sick and myself who phoned in sick today with a stomach bug

A colleague of mine informs me that all the ones off sick are being sent letters and will be investigated - the others would have a sickness record a lot worse than mine and this is only my second instance of sickness in 15 months

Would this be deemed as excessive?

I feel I am only being made an example of because so many were off today ( if I was the only one off nothing would be done I believe )

There's also a colleague of mine ( the one suspended ) who has been off over 6 weeks in the last 2 years and no action was taken.

Your thoughts please

 

Thanks

[Sidewinder]

Unlikely to be a major issue - just that they have a business to run I suppose. Two instances of sick in 15 months would not be excessive. You may well be reminded of company policy regarding sickness absence and any trigger points which might start a warning process but I wouldn't expect anything too much. It would be a good idea to check your contract or company handbook on the subject, or to ask for a copy if this is not available.

 

At the end of the day, even though clearly staffing is tight and losing a couple more may have caused problems, a stomach bug is a pretty good reason for being absent - they might otherwise be looking at 3 or four others off sick later in the week if you had struggled in and passed it on!

[Conniff]

Perhaps the company now feels it is being taken advantage of and that the staff aren't reliable or loyal enough in keeping with future plans.

The problem with sickness (if genuine) or sickies (if not) is that no notice if ever given so that can really mess up a companies plans and schedule plus others are having to work twice as hard to cover for those not there.

 

Twice in 15 months doesn't sound that bad, depends how long the absences were for.

[GarethHendon]

It would depend on each company but in some smaller businesses, the definitiion of excessive sick time would only kick in after you've exhausted the statutory periods over a 12 month period.

 

One company I worked for a few years ago, it had about 400 employees, and when you were sick you were required to call the MD himself to inform him you were going to be off. There was no option of leaving messages with reception, sending an email or texting a colleague. You had to call him personally and it certainly reduced absences. I myself never took a dodgy sick day once I knew I'd have to do my acting over the phone with his lordship. Cruel but effective.