Welcome back!
It’s January.
It’s 2025.
And hopefully you’re back, feeling recharged and rested after the Christmas break.
But it’s a time of year when sickness can increase.
We all get ill. Some more than others, but illness is part of life.
And most of the time, it is what it is.
People are honest about it.
They need time to rest.
And you suspect nothing other than honesty.
But what about when you don’t? When you have that niggle that they aren’t really ill?
You might feel annoyed about it?
You might feel bad thinking about it?
Here are 3 tips to help you:
- Get data – what is their sickness rate vs the school average?
- Use the Bradford factor – this is a formula that helps companies measure the impact of unplanned absences. It’s often illuminating.
- What makes you suspect it’s not real? Write this down. When you see it on the page does it change your perspective?
Most sickness is real.
Have conversations with those whose sickness is higher than your school’s average about how it can be reduced.
Those sad, long-term sickness issues are a different matter.
Spotlight Resource
I asked Clare Fowler, Employment Solicitor at YESS Law ‘Should I trust what staff are telling me about sickness?’. You can hear what she thinks here https://youtu.be/zHNoK-ffZRk
And if you’d like to ‘Tackle under-performance and sickness quickly, kindly and legally’, come along to our‘Capability Conference’ where Clare Fowler, Employment Solicitor at the charity YESS Law, Maria Brosnan of Everyday Wellbeing and I will be helping you navigate these tricky situations with kindness for all.