Need inforrmation from someone running a small business re sick days?

Question

My dad runs a smal business - 3 employees altoghether, with occasional extra help. One empoyee is taking a lot of sick days whenever his kid is sick. His wife goes to work and leaves him with the kid because he is paid for all sick days. This was never a problem in the past, but now it has reached the taking the piss stage and is affecting a fragile business. The question is, what can my Dad do to change sick day provision after a certain number of days off, as is commonly the case?

Answer 1

Sick days are for the employee and apply to him or her-not their child. When an employee has a sick family member all that falls under Family Leave and the laws that apply to it which most small businesses with only a few employees don't fall under anyways. I would come up with a company policy that outlines this, let everyone know what the policy is and then go from there. Along with that I would also educate the employee that sick days are for employees and while you will attempt to work with all employees concerning other problems like kids off from school unexpectedly, etc, and situations like this it does not fall under the "sick day" policy and what a sick day is for.

When it gets to the point where their personal situation is having a negative effect on your business and the other employees and their schedules you usually have to draw the line like this and tell them to call a babysitter, or have their wife stay home, or leave the child in the care of another family member and come to work. I would also lower the number of sick days that a person is paid for as well as take this all into consideration come the next time this person is scheduled for a raise. That can also be effective if they are told that they only got a five cent an hour raise instead of a twenty cent an hour raise because of excessive absentism and all the problems it has caused for the business and eveyone else's schedule. Most people are able to do the math and realize that your generosity and understanding in offering sick days is not to be abused and is actually costing them more in their pocket book over the course of six months or a year than what they want. The fact that you are such a small business and offer them is great but unfortunately you are being taken advantage of I think.

Answer 2

Since your business only has three employees, I don't think it falls under the Federal Family Leave Act (but I'm not sure), which states that by law, employers must allow a certain number of days off per year (unpaid) for people to take care of sick immediate family members. Your dad should check and see if his business is required to follow the Federal Familiy Leave Act or not. If he is, he needs to understand exactly what the rights of this employee are and follow them to the T. If not, changing the number of sick days allowed per employee and sticking to it (warning and then firing if the limit is exceeded) is the only answer for a small business, unless you want to be creative: if the kid has a genuine chronic illness and your Dad wants to be nice but impossible to fool, he needs to make a space inside the office for the kid to rest and play where you all can help your employee keep an eye on the kid. That way, everyone pitches in, the small business really is a "family" and the employee, unless you guys have to follow the Family Leave Act, can't get away with not coming to work all the time.

Answer 3

He can set a certain number for each year for each employee. 7 sick days a year I think would be sufficient enough. Another thing is just talking to the person taking all the time off and let him know that while he gets paid for sick days there comes a point in which it affects the company and he cant be doing that. If your dad just changes the days without any reason the employee might feel backdoored or upset. Communication is the key.

Answer 4

I used to own a small business. At one point, I created an Employee Manual to document these company policies. I gave 7 sick days a year which could NOT be rolled over to the next year. I did allow them to be used for the employee, their kids, or even as mental health days. Any additional days were without pay or borrowed from vacation days. I also documented a vacation policy, with an accrual formula (2 weeks your first year, 1 day per additional year up to a 20 day max). I used a software package that had Employee Manual boilerplate--it was very useful. If you are unsure about your state's laws, it would be worth the $500 to ask a lawyer.

Answer 5

I allow 10 sick days for every employee per year. I guess that is pretty generous from what I read so far. But, my people are worth it and it has never caused a problem. It is vital to have a written policy with a signed acknowledgement from every employee. This proves that they were informed of the policy should things get ugly down the road.
I allow my employees to take sick days to stay home with their children. I have been in that situation myself and I know how stressful it can be faking your own illness so you can stay home with a child. And then it really getrs hairy if you need a doctors note to come back to work when it was your child that was sick. I would prefer my employees be honest with me than go through all that.
I allow them to take as many as 5 vacation days as sick days per year. After that they have to take unpaid sick days. In three years, I have only had to enforce that policy for one day, one time.
I would sit him down and talk to him honestly about how his attendance is affecting the business and his fellow employees. Be as pleasant as possible, but make sure that he understands this can not continue without consequences. Document the conversation with a bulleted list of what was discussed at an minimum.
I would also create or modify any existing employee handbook to address attendance policies, including sick days. I would do that as soon as possible so you can have it ready for everyone prior to January 1st. Make the new policies effective January 1st. Also, make sure there is a signature page at the back of the book to return and be filed which acknowledges receipt of the new policies. It would not be a bad idea to run any new handbook past your attorney before enacting any new policies.