Common cold no excuse for time off, say employers

Eighty-eight percent of employers are ignoring doctors’ advice, by stating a heavy cold is not a good enough reason to take time off work, according to a survey by Croner, one of the UK’s leading providers of business information and advice.

The medical profession advises that, for the fastest recovery, people suffering from a bad cold should stay in bed, take medication and plenty of fluids.

But the survey of human resource professionals carried out via Croner’s www.humanresources-centre.net discovered that only 12 percent were in favour of employees keeping their germs at home.

Croner is alerting employers that this is adding to a growing ’martyr culture’, where we drag ourselves in to work and consequently spread sickness around the workplace. This view is supported by the TUC, which has characterised people bringing their illness in to the office as ’mucus troopers’.

Richard Smith, employment expert at Croner, which is part of Wolters Kluwer UK, believes that the fear of taking time off, even when workers are clearly unwell, is adding to stress and anxiety at work. It is also reinforcing the fact that the UK is one of the hardest working nations in Europe, despite some research which suggests these long hours don’t necessarily lead to greater productivity.

He says: Working late, long and hard is ingrained in our culture and taking time off for having a cold can be viewed as a weakness, or even skiving.

A few sniffles may be controlled with medication, with no need for time off. But when a bad cold sets in the employee is unlikely to be productive and it’s best for them to stay at home and recover. From a health and safety point of view, if employees are bringing their germs to the office, they are inevitably risking their colleagues becoming ill too, which has greater consequences to productivity than if the employee had taken a day or two off to recover.

The typical adult suffers two or three colds and takes an average of nine days sickness each year.

Richard continues: Staff illness is a difficult area for employers to manage as there will always be some employees who take advantage of the system, and others who will drag themselves in to work, even on their last legs. But if employers monitor sickness against an average benchmark then it is easy to identify potential ’skivers’.

It is essential that employers do not instil a feeling of guilt or dread when an employee feels they need to ring in sick, and make staff feel comfortable about taking time off if they are genuinely ill. This is likely to have a positive effect on team morale and the overall health and wellbeing in the workplace, and therefore boost productivity.

As we move into springtime, this problem will once again be forgotten, but employers need to assess their workplace culture towards sickness now, and take steps to minimise staff turning up to work when they are obviously too ill to be there.

Croner is advising employers to:

Check that guidelines regarding sickness are clearly outlined in the contract of employment.
Believe that an employee is genuinely ill. If they have been off with a cold, this doesn’t mean that they have taken the ’soft option’ to take time off. They will be much more productive if they feel supported and may reconsider ’skiving’ a day off later in the year.
Encourage them to go home if they show signs of being too ill to work. An illness is best nipped in the bud, so if a member of staff comes in red-eyed and holding a box of Kleenex, ask them if they should really be at work.
Don’t make employees feel guilty or worried about work piling up on their desk. Encourage the whole team to pull together so that, if someone is ill, they are not sitting at home panicking about deadlines and can rest and recuperate at home. The more rest they get the sooner they will be back.
Monitor employees’ sickness to identify people who are regularly absent. They may not necessarily be ’pulling a sickie’ but may have other problems which need to be addressed.