I have a long-time worker who is notorious for filing for sick leave on Fridays, Mondays, and the day before or after holidays. I consulted our human resources (HR) manager who advised me to ignore such minor issues. But we have important work to do and can’t afford emergency absences in our understaffed department. What can we do? — Blue Mountain.

I have encountered two such problem employees in companies I worked for, except that they were motivated for the wrong reasons. I suspect they were also trying to test my patience. In Company A, we were in charge of publishing a two-page weekly newsletter which needed to come out early Monday. The mandate was clear.

The newsletter had to be put together no matter what, even to the extent of working weekends. No ifs, no buts. When I moved to Company B, I was assigned a much more difficult task — to publish a biweekly eight-page newsletter that must also come out Mondays.

This task came on top of everything else that was assigned to me. I handled labor relations, managed employee discipline, did public relations work, coordinated with the labor union, organized sports and socials, handled corporate social responsibility, managed employee benefits, and many others.

In publishing the newsletters, we did research, conducted interviews, took photographs, wrote and edited the content, laid out the articles, and coordinated with the printer. Unfortunately, the burden was not shared by my two publication assistants in companies A and B.

Or at least, that’s how I felt at the time. They resorted to emergency leaves and sick leaves for dubious reasons, most of the time without informing me directly and instead relaying the message through our department secretaries.

This was when mobile phones were not yet in wide use. When deadlines approached, my work schedule was thrown into disarray. I also had to work during weekends without extra pay because I was salaried.

FIVE OPTIONS
I communicated this problem to my bosses, whose advice was similar to the position taken by your HR manager: grin and bear it. Somehow, I managed the situation by spending long hours at work, in the process proving that I could do it without their assistance. I turned the tables by outsourcing the task to on-call writers, cartoonists and layout artists, even spending my own money to do so.

It was all worth it. My assistants started to feel insecure about their jobs.

I’m not sure if such a solution works for you. Our situations may vary and require different approaches. If that’s the case, let me share with you the following options:

One, establish a pattern of emergency leaves. “Emergency leaves” mean any absence from work without prior management approval. This includes any situation like a broken-down vehicle of an employee, fire in the neighborhood, assisting a family member who is hospitalized — in other words, events that are difficult to predict, including illnesses that require sick leave.

The challenge is to determine the reasonableness of these leaves in a given year.

Two, calculate the damage or losses. This includes the amount of overtime pay for other employees who are required to pitch in, professional fees of subcontractors and other related expenses, like the use of utilities (electricity, etc.) in the office. That’s not all. You may have to include other nonquantifiable expenses or any amount that you are forced to absorb.

Three, engage a physician to do house calls. The doctor may be assigned by a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO). This face-to-face visit could pose additional cost for the organization and can only be used sparingly depending on the situation or the employee’s notoriety. If medically feasible, “arrange” with the HMO to bring a sick worker to a hospital to deliver a message.

Four, connect habitual sick leaves with the medical exam. Include a provision in the HMO contract giving the latter the right to conduct physical check-ups on those accumulating excessive sick leaves. This may discourage people from calling in sick if they know that the HMO will conduct a mandatory check-up and withhold medical benefits to those who refuse.

Last, conduct regular engagement dialogues. Maintaining open communication is very important. However, you must come prepared with data on the frequency of the worker’s emergency leaves and how they are adversely affecting company operations. Explain the issue and secure a commitment from the concerned employee.

If the problem persists, disallow the “emergency” or “sick” leave as a last resort. If you’ve reached this stage, monitor the employee’s reaction and prepare for a more difficult situation. When you do this, be honest with yourself. Who knows? You might be part of the problem.

Bring Rey Elbo’s leadership program called Superior Subordinate Supervision to your management team. Chat with him on Facebook, LinkedIn, X (Twitter) or e-mail elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.com