Causes of (too much) Sick Leave

Causes of (too much) Sick Leave

Reasons for calling in sick are infinite. Of course people get sick, but what if problems in an employees’ personal life compel him or her to call in sick?

There are many reasons for calling in sick.

The first and most obvious one of course is.... people do get sick. The seasonal flu, being involved in an accident, a sports injury or your employee has come to suffer a chronic disease that is unfortunately part of human life.

However there are plenty of reasons, sometimes even non-medical, for an employee to call in sick. 

A short list of possible causes of (too much) sick leave:

- Actual physical or mental illness
- An unhealthy lifestyle
- Personal emotional issues
- The need to take care of family members
- Problems in the work place, causing avoidance or stress-related illness
- Lack of understanding of sick leave policies
- Low job-satisfaction and disengagement
- Low quality of life in economic, social and physical terms
- A lack of appreciation at work.

As you can deduct from this short list, there are many causes for sick leave and most of them are non-physical!

Getting to the source of the problem

Our physicians are trained to be able to recognize when a person is calling in sick for other reasons than a physical illness. Just analyzing their physical signs and symptoms and not adressing the underlying issues will often worsen the problem. Sometimes it’s better to allow a person a day of sick leave to get their personal issues sorted out, than to send them back to work because their physical complaints are not severe enough to stay at home. However the main purpose of a Sick Leave Management program is of course to reduce the overall sickleave numbers for a company. This is why at Medwork, being a company doctor is not a one-man show.

Medwork as a team

At Medwork our physicians are part of a team of specialists that work together to achieve the best possible solution for the problems that an employee is facing. Our company doctors hold the position of a gateway to many other Occupational Health specialists and services. Occupational Psychologists, specialists in ergonomics or company wellness; all are ready to offer their expertise and experience whenever a company doctor deems it neccesary. And whenever a certain specialty that is not part of the Medwork team is needed, we will outsource the solution to this problem to one of the specialist organizations in our large network of business partners. It does not matter how complicated things get, you will still be talking to one and the same person; your Medwork account manager.

Introduction Examinations

Upon hiring or when returning to duty Mostly voluntary, but sometimes required by law, a determination whether or not a person is considered to be fit for the job is a good way to prevent possible health and or safety risks for an employee and his or her co-workers. Ideally Occupational Health medical examinations strive to place and maintain employees in an occupational evironment adapted to their physiological and psychological capacities. Whether at the start of a professional career, at peri...
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Introduction

Reducing sick leave.... and its’ costs Do you ever get frustrated with employees who call in sick too often? Or are you more concerned about sick people who DON’T stay at home and spread illness to other co-workers? Sick leave for staff, whether it’s used for ligitimate, or not-so-legitimate  reasons, has become a major problem for many organizations and industries worldwide. Each year, it costs companies around the world billions of dollars. The Medwork Sick Leave Management Program is more tha...
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What is Sick Leave

What is Sick Leave Management? Knowing whether a sick person should stay at home, or can be considered (partially) fit for work, requires the expertise of a physician specialized in the field of Occupational Health. As an employer you are confronted with staff members calling in sick almost on a daily basis. It is normal for people to get sick of course, but how do you prevent your organization from suffering too much from the consequences of absenteism due to illness (both on a financial level...
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Why Sick Leave Management?

The approach that works! How does it work?  In our approach we counsel the absentee in order to reduce the duration of absenteeism to a minimum and in doing so limiting the costs to the company. Our guidance in cases of sickness absenteeism it targeted to explore possible links between absenteeism and circumstances in the workplace and reporting to the management thereon.The Medwork approach will reduce your absenteeism numbers, without compromising the labor relationship between the employer an...
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Illness versus disability

Does a sick employee always need to stay at home? Is a person suffering from Diabetes fit for work? Most likely he or she is. On the other hand, if this person needs to be able to work under strenuous conditions for prolonged periods of time in a hot environment? The difference between a general physician and an Occupational Health physician. We are aware that most employers, managers and teamleaders do not hold a degree in medicine. So how do you know if a person who is claiming disabilty for w...
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The costs involved in Sick Leave

The costs involved in Sick Leave The costs involved in sickleave cannot just be expressed in dollars. Just think of the organizational stress and loss of productivity whenever an employee calls in sick, or the burden put on a co-worker that has to work overtime. It’s more than just the money. Calculating the exact costs involved in Sick Leave is a complicated matter. More than just the loss of salary of the employee who has called in sick, there are several consequences that cannot be put into f...
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Long Term Management

Management for long-term or permanent disability A leave of absence due to illness that lasts for more than 6 weeks is considered Long-Term Sick Leave. This is when attempts need to be made to start a re-integration process. Long term disability Usually an employee that has called in sick will return to his or her duties within a few days. In some cases however the employee is not able to resume work and it becomes apparent that most likely it might take weeks or even more before the employee ca...
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Statistics

Know your numbers and trends For companies affiliated with Medwork Sick Leave Management services, getting exact numbers on sick leave and a clear visual overview of sick leave trends is just one mouse-click away. Company doctor: Physician and Advisor Employers are becoming increasingly aware of the fact that besides managing the current sick leave and attempting to re-integrate disabled workers back into the organization, more attention needs to be given to the prevention of sick leave. In othe...
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