If you’re a business owner, then you’ll understand the impact that long term sickness leave can have on your bottom line. When an employee takes regular sickness leave, it can have an effect on customers, targets, projects and other colleagues who are forced to pick up the slack. If you suspect that someone is not being entirely honest about their medical issues, what can you do?
Firstly, you will require solid evidence. Suspicions and hearsay are not sufficient. An employee can self-certify for seven days but any longer than this will require evidence from a medical professional. For help from a Private Detective London, visit https://isg-investigations.co.uk/
A good way to begin with the problem is to keep records of any absence. This will reveal any potential patterns to the absence, such as always on a particular day or on payday, for example. When returning to work, a meeting should be held to determine if they are fit to come back to work. This serves two main purposes – firstly to show that their absence is being noted and secondly, this acts as a deterrent for fake sickness if an employee knows they must meet with a manager on their return.
When solid evidence has been gathered, an investigation meeting can take place. It is wise to keep this meeting well-mannered and relaxed before issuing accusations. It is important to discover if there are any underlying problems that could be causing the absence, like problems at home, serious long-term health issues or an issue with the work or workplace itself.