Managing sick leave
When an employee shows up to work sick, they could spread illness and cost the practice money due to their absence. Therefore, it is important to know whether you can force an employee to leave work if they are sick.
Under the National Employment Standards, you must award full-time employees 10 days of paid personal leave per annum. Part-time employees are entitled to a pro-rata amount dependent on their working hours. You do not have to provide casual employees with paid personal leave.
Fun Fact: Did you know that sick leave as a paid entitlement has not always existed in Australia? In 1922, the first paid sick leave entitlement appeared in an industrial context known as the Engineers Award which stated “No employee shall be entitled to payment for non-attendance on the grounds of personal ill-health for more than six days in each year”. The entitlement to paid sick leave grew from there and is now an expected standard that is legislated in the Fair Work Act 2009.
Over the decades, it is not only the amount of sick leave that has changed, but how it is managed. As an employer, there are things you can put in place to ensure the process of managing employees is a smooth one.
Culture
Create a culture that supports and encourages employees to take personal leave in appropriate circumstances. An employee should never assume their employer expects them to work through sickness.
Policy
Implement a clear workplace leave policy which sets out clear expectations around sick leave and when it can be taken. This must include notice requirements.
Contracts
Include a clause in your contract which further acknowledges your employees must adhere to any policy or process around sick leave.
Wellbeing
You may wish to improve general health within your practice, focusing on health and wellbeing. This may include wellness programs or annual flu vaccinations.
As an employer, your legal responsibility is known as your primary duty of care under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011. Two of these provisions state you must:
- provide a safe working environment
- keep an eye on the health of workers and conditions at your place of work
Source: Worksafe
Under these provisions under duty of care, you can direct a sick employee to leave work and take sick leave if you reasonably believe the employee poses a risk to the health of others within your practice as well as a risk to themselves. An employee must also take responsibility themselves to determine whether they should be attending the workplace in the first instance or in the event they become ill in the workplace, whether or not they should leave.
The attached flowchart can be referred to as a a starting point to developing procedures around how sick leave is managed within your practice.
If you have any questions or need any guidance on how to manage sickness in your practice, please contact the WR Team on 07 3872 2264 or email at workplacerelations@amaq.com.au