Policies for sick leave

One thing that employers dread is if they have a sick leave policy in effect that employees are going to take advantage of it. What this means is that if the employer is going to provide some kind of benefit, such as paid sick leave, that the employees are actually going to call in sick more often. So usually what happens is that employers do not offer any kind of sick leave policy because they figure that their employees will call in sick less often, meaning only when they really have to. And while this is true to appoint it is still a good idea to offer some kind of sick leave policy so that your employees know what they can do and what they can't do when it comes to taking time off for being sick.

Here are some things you want to keep in mind when you are coming up with your policies for sick leave.

Tip one:
The first thing that you want to think about is the fact that by law you are not required to provide your employees with any paid time off. This means that you do not need to pay your employees for any time that they take off of work, including vacation, holidays or sick days. So basically it is up to you whether you decide to pay your employees for any time that they are taking off, either willingly or because of holidays. But something else that you need to think about is that the Family and Medical Leave Act could apply to your place of business so you want to look into that law when developing your policy.

Tip two:
Another thing that you want to make sure that you do when developing sick leave policies to include exactly what you expect from your employees in the policy. Basically you want to spell out exactly what they can and can't do when it comes to taking time off. You also want to make sure that they are clear about the difference between sick leave and vacation. But in the policy you are also going to want to include if you are going to pay them for any sick time they take off, what they have to do in order to take sick leave, whether they have to provide doctor's notes, etc. You want the employees to know what they need to do in order to qualify for sick leave.

Tip three:
Not only do you want the employees to know what they can expect in order to take sick leave you are also going to want to be specific on what is going to happen if they abuse the sick leave policy. Basically you want to include any disciplinary measures that you are going to take if the sick policy is abused or if the rules aren't followed. This can include write ups, verbal warnings, termination, whatever you deem appropriate for the offense. But you are also going to want to include what is going to happen the first time, the second time, etc. You want to make sure that this is clear to your employees so it helps lower the chance of people abusing the policies.

Tip four:
You are also going to want to make sure that you follow through with what you have included in your sick leave policy. Basically what this means is you are going to want to make sure that the employees are doing what is required of them to take the sick leave and then you are going to want to make sure that if anybody is abusing the policy that you are following up in the correct manner.