The best way to inform your manager of your need to be away from work due to illness

11:29 p

Saturday, March 02, 2019

London – BBC

Working during illness can cause serious injury to staff. Here are some tips to inform the manager of the need to stay away until recovery.

The number of days of sick leave for British workers has fallen by almost half since 1993, according to data from the National Statistics Office. While the worker was absent on average 7.2 days a year due to illness, this figure dropped to 4.1 days in 2017.

Kailie Insley, a researcher at the Department of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology at Imperial College London, does not say that there are mutations in the medical field or that people are less likely to to contract the infection.

Experts say that the reason is a change in the culture of work, so absenteeism is thwarted. Studies show that fear of leaders and uncertainty about their reaction forced more workers to continue working during the illness.

In general, the absence of disease increases during the influenza season, which intensifies between December and February in the northern hemisphere, where the weather is cold and dry, conducive to the rapid transmission of infection.

Doctors agree that the need to stay at home in the early stages of the flu, especially the first and second days of the virus, to minimize the risk of infection, to keep the employee sick and healthy.

However, a survey conducted by AXA BBB Insurance in 2015 showed that nearly 40% of employees do not tell their leaders why they are absent when they call to report their illness for fear of not believing it.

Therefore, it is important to follow an appropriate method to express the need for absenteeism, especially for those who are under pressure from employers, as this will be beneficial to their health and productivity.

Disease stain

But why do some managers not care about the illness of their employees?

The nature and movement of work has evolved considerably in view of the dependence on new technologies and immediate means of communication around the world. Although it is different from one sector to another, the real presence of offices is no longer necessary to ensure employee productivity: many employees have all the necessary tools to work online without having to go at work.

"The older generation does not accept the idea of ​​someone working from home," said George Bowie, vice president of staff at Steez Corporation, a commercial real estate company.

As a result of a mixture of uncertainty and a constant desire to increase productivity, some managers see with suspicion the absence of the employee at work.

In the AXA PPP survey, only 42% of senior managers rated influenza as a good reason for not working, while fewer than 40% thought that back pain was a reason to miss work.

The study also found that employees tend to lie to their managers about why they stay at home when it comes to mental health, with 39% of respondents saying they lie to their managers.

The reasons for going to work during illness are not limited to the misunderstanding of the administration: many jobs are irregular and dangerous, as the economy fluctuates and fluctuates, which makes the worker impatient to To go to work even during his illness.

In 2017, Pitt Robertson, associate professor at Napier University in Edinburgh, wrote: "The work can be temporary, fixed-term, seasonal, project-related, part-time, indeterminate, or marginal, urgent, unusual, or associated with another unofficial or unofficial section. "

With the rate of staff switching between jobs, employees are more likely to operate even if it is necessary to continue working during illness or what is called "existence in n & nbsp; Any circumstance ".

"In all circumstances"

According to the Institute for Worker Development in Great Britain, the proportion of people who have worked despite the disease has tripled in the last decade.

In a survey conducted in 2018 by more than 1,000 people, 86% of those surveyed said they saw examples of employees who went to work despite their illness in the year prior to Study, compared with only 26% in 2010.

"Employers' lack of understanding of the state of staff during their illness and their lack of support explain the anxiety and reluctance of employees to communicate to report their illness," Glenn said. Parkinson, director of small and medium-sized businesses at AXA BBP in 2015. Employers should trust employees to be absent from work because of illness and allow them, depending on the circumstances, to work from home. "

The company may find that the presence of the sick employee may cost more than its absence because the illness spreads from one employee to the other. With respect to mental health and other illnesses, allowing the patient to rest early in the illness will reduce their subsequent absence from work.

A study conducted by the University of Pittsburgh in 2013 suggests that traveling to the workplace one day during the course of illness could increase the incidence of influenza at the workplace up to 40. %.

To reach this conclusion, researchers used data from more than half a million employees to apply a simulation model to the disease scenario in Alegeny County, Pennsylvania, and to calculate the default spread of the influenza virus. The model found 66,000 cases – 11.5% of all workers – because of workplace transmission.

The study found that giving the seized person a leave of one or two days reduced the incidence of infection by about 17,000 cases in one year. one day (25% less) and 26,000 fewer infections in two days (about 40% less).

"Honesty"

Experts advise the employee to promptly inform the manager in case of illness, because it can leave him enough time to predict his absence, but the most important thing to be honest is to avoid misunderstandings.

"The best way is to follow the policies and procedures adopted by the institution, the worst of which is to lie or exaggerate," says Mark M. Marsen, staff director at Pittsburgh-based Allays Health & Wellness. .

Mr. Martin points out that there are two types of leaders. The first of them immediately thinks that the employee is looking for a chance to evade work, and then imposes many rules. Managers tend to expect deterioration on the part of their employees, especially when they are not working because of illness. The second type is about setting reasonable standards and trusting staff.

Thus, according to Martin, it depends on the manager and the possible creation of an environment conducive to the lack of staff, but the best is that the manager himself is an example for others.

"This means that the manager is committed to staying at home and not teleworking during illness, so the team will know that it's okay to do the same when they're doing it." get sick." .

In all cases, a situation that is appropriate for both parties must be found so that each party, whether the employee or the manager, takes into account the responsibilities and interests of the other party before exert any pressure. However, during the season when the risk of contracting influenza is increased, work capacity should not be expected to be at the same level as other periods.