How Do Small Businesses Deal with Long Term Sickness?

Long term sickness can be difficult to deal with in any business. However, when that business is staffed by just two or three people, when one of them needs to take a long period of time off work, because they are ill, the impact can be even greater. How do you cope without them? How long do you have to keep their job open?

One of our clients is a small agency with just three members of staff, including the business owner. Earlier this year, their secretary was rushed into hospital. After three weeks of tests, she was told that she should take another 2-3 months to fully recover. The business owner knew that this was the best course of action, not wanting his employee to return to work before she was really well enough to work again. So that he and his other team member weren’t over loaded with work (which could have made both of them stressed and ill!) they took on a part-time Admin Assistant to cover the work. The boss still had to pay Statutory Sick Pay to his recuperating secretary and, due to changes to the law that occurred in April 2014, he was not able to claim any of this back – something that is easier for larger companies to bear.

All through this time, the business owner had kept in touch with his secretary to see how she was getting on. As the agreed period of sick leave was coming to an end, it became apparent that she might not be ready to return to a full-time job. There were other complications that meant that a full risk assessment would have to be carried out, should she return. How long should the job be kept open?

Our advice to our client was to write to the employee’s doctor and ask for a full medical report. Even though this had to be paid for, it showed that she was not ready to go back to working full-time. During her time away, the other members of the small team had realised that they really did need full-time support. Because the lines of communication had been kept open, the three of them were able to reach an amicable decision about the future, which suited both of them.

The lessons they have all taken away from this situation is to stay in communication (aside from the fact that it shows you care!) and to get advice from an HR professional, to make sure you are complying with employment law at all stages. When you follow these two tips, potentially tricky situations are so much easier to resolve.

 

Top Ten Issues Affecting Employee Engagement

According to a survey carried out by XpertHR in 2011, the top ten issues that affect employee engagement are:

  1. Pay
  2. Quality of line management
  3. Job security
  4. Leadership visibility and confidence
  5. Relationship with manager
  6. Working culture
  7. Internal communications
  8. Organisational change
  9. Workload
  10. Job satisfaction

I’m not sure if these are ranked in any particular order, or the size of the companies that took part in the survey, but the list makes interesting reading.

If you ask your staff how happy they are at work and what is stopping them from being fully engaged, would they list any of these issues? How many of them?

The good news is that you can do something about all these issues – whether you think they’re a problem or not. Work through the list and make sure you’re doing all you can for your employees – giving them top quality line management, strong leadership and effective internal communication. Employee engagement, or keeping your staff happy and motivated, is not just about giving them a pay rise!

You can find out even more about the best way to keep your employees engaged – and thus how to grow your business and your profitability – at my next workshop on 17 April 2013 in Reading. It costs just £20 +VAT and places are limited, so click here to book your place.