Can I ask an employee to go home if they come to work ill?

After all it is WorkSafe Queensland who support this approach by saying, “A safe workplace benefits everyone. It protects workers from injury and illness, but it also increases productivity, lowers running costs and improves morale”.

How do we tell an employee that they should go home?
As we head into winter, there are steps we can take and should take before we have to direct an employee to go home, but first let’s look at what our legal responsibilities are.

What are my legal responsibilities?
As an employer or business owner, your legal responsibility is known as your primary duty of care in the Work Health and Safety Act 2011.

To meet your duty of care, you must:

• provide a safe work environment
• ensure safe use, handling and storage of machinery, structures and substances
• make sure your facilities are well-maintained and at an acceptable standard
• give your workers any information, training, instruction or supervision needed for safety
• keep an eye on the health of workers and conditions at your place of work
• keep an injury register
• have a workers' compensation policy and a return to work plan.

Source

How do we meet our duty of care?
We start with making sure we have policies and they are accessible to all staff, in this case a Workplace Health and Safety Policy and a Leave Policy. This will allow employees to take sick leave without fear of negative consequences, such as loss of pay or job security.

Talk to staff about health and safety in your practice, encourage staff to prioritise their health and well-being. Include in the discussion specific scenarios and what the practice expectations are including, being clear about what an employee should do if they become ill at work, such as informing their supervisor and going home as soon as possible. Follow up with supervisors to make sure there are no deviations or leave unapproved that goes against practices’ expectations and lastly, don’t forget to lead by example. 

How do we ask staff to go home?
This type of conversation can be uncomfortable, if you want to know what I mean by uncomfortable try writing your name with your non-prominent hand. Conversations are like writing your name, you do it every day often without thought. Swap that pen to your other hand and all of a sudden we start to question which way the letters go.

A tip is to be compassionate and understanding when speaking with an employee. It can be difficult to take time off work, especially if the employee is worried about falling behind on work or missing out on pay, if they are a casual. By being supportive and understanding you can encourage the employee to priortise their health and well-being while also maintaining a positive and respective work environment.

You can contact us via phone (07) 3872 2222 and email support workplacerelations@amaq.com.au. 
Workplace Relations Toolkit subscribers receive a Work, Health and Safety Policy and Leave Policy template with their subscription.
Workplace Relations Consultancy can offer comprehensive and tailored advice to members who may be experiencing ongoing leave and staff attendance issues within their practice. Through this service we can provide a tailored approach for your practice and guide you through any difficult conversations. 

	Workplace Relations Support  Workplace Relations Support can provide general over the phone or email support to members if they have additional questions about how to direct staff to go home when they are ill. You can contact us via phone (07) 3872 2222 and email support workplacerelations@amaq.com.au.
	Workplace Relations Toolkit  Workplace Relations Toolkit subscribers receive a Work, Health and Safety Policy and Leave Policy template with their subscription.
	Workplace Relations Consultancy Workplace Relations Consultancy can offer comprehensive and tailored advice to members who may be experiencing ongoing leave and staff attendance issues within their practice. Through this service we can provide a tailored approach for your practice and guide you through any difficult conversations.