Raise your hand if you like working with someone who is sick. That’s what I thought. Nobody likes to work shoulder to shoulder with a sick coworker, manager, or staffer. So how do employers help stop or avoid office illnesses? They get sick employees to stay home, and support them in doing so.
Simply speaking, having staffers stay home when they are ill is a lot less harsh on revenue, operations, and productivity. You might be thinking, “but there’s no body in that chair doing the work!”
And, sure, having a sick staffer at home removes the body from the chair in the office, but would they really be working if they were there and sick?
Probably not, which is why having them stay home and get healthy is ultimately better for the company.
Keeping sick employees at home helps to:
- Reduce office illnesses.
- Maintain productivity.
- Build a positive corporate culture.
- Unlimited job posts
- Low, flat membership fee
- Access top-level remote advice
- Unlimited resume searches
- Reach the right candidates
- And so much more!
- Reduce sick days.
- Save on cleaning costs.
- Improve overall health and wellness.
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If you’re ready to jump on board and encourage your sick staffers to stay home, check out the below tips. Not only will you help your workers get healthy and well, you’ll save countless others from encountering and suffering from the same virus, including yourself!
Here are four tips to get sick employees to stay home:
1. Stay home when you are sick.
Set the example by staying home when you are ill. If you can work from home or even DON’T work from home while ill, it sends the message that health is important.
You lead by example by staying home and not spreading your illness. In turn, your employees will see that taking care of themselves is important and it’s A-OK to avoid the office to get healthy and keep everyone else from getting sick.
2. Encourage your staffers to say home—and give them the time.
It’s equally important to communicate with your staffers that you WANT them to stay home when they are sick. That their health and well-being IS important. Tell them, and then tell them again, and then send out an office memo. Really. You can’t stress this enough. If they feel supported in their decision and see management doing this, they’ll follow suit.
Along those lines, make sure to give your staffers the time they need. Sick days really should be a thing of the past. Consider a lenient time-off policy that enables and encourages all workers to take the time they need—whether they are sick or not. If you’re worried about people abusing the system, don’t be. You can still track time off, you just make it unlimited (within reason, of course!)
3. Create a health and wellness committee to support a healthy work environment.
Another great way to communicate the importance of health and wellness in your work environment is by creating a committee to share information. A health and wellness committee can help spread the word about programs and policies that support workers who are ill.
It can also help workers stay healthy year round by having other focuses on mental health, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, and healthy practices.
4. Allow flexible and remote work options.
Flexible and remote work options and practices help keep sick workers home. Some illnesses are worse than others. For the simple colds that just make you uncomfortable, flexible work is a great way to let people get the rest they need while staying up on their work.
If they’re very sick and want the time to get better, support that, too! Let them be the adult in the situation and assess their abilities, then do what you can to support those choices.
Here’s how to create and implement a formal flex work policy.
Readers, how do you get your sick employees to stay home? Does your company culture support a healthy environment? Share with us below!
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