All about employee sick leave

Sick leave is a benefit that many businesses offer to their employees. This type of leave is used when an employee is hurt or ill and is unable to perform their job. Most employees are very grateful that they have this type of benefit. The reality is that when businesses do not offer this type of benefit many employees will come to work sick. They often feel that they cannot afford to take the time off in order to get well. This is unfortunate since it puts the entire workforce at risk of getting sick. In addition, when this happens your entire workforce is not just at risk of getting sick (which will cost your money), but production and profits will go down, as well. For some smaller businesses an epidemic of illness may even threaten whether they can continue to stay in business. This is why it is so important that employers realize that benefits of offering sick leave. Here is all about employee sick leave-

- Why should a business offer sick leave? One of the main considerations for business owners who are considering offering sick leave is that studies show that when businesses do offer it they tend to attract the top tier of job candidates. Employers need to realize that their employees will most likely get sick and they will need time off. When you are able to offer them this time off they will take it, recover faster, and return to work in much less time. In addition, it has been shown that when employees have sick time they are far less likely to wait until problems are severe to seek medical attention. This translates into cheaper health care costs because they are able to recover faster with much less cost involved. When employers offer sick leave they will also not have to pay as much for temp workers and decreased production time. Finally, it should be noted that when businesses offer sick leave their employees tend to have higher job satisfaction which means that they will stay longer with your business. Since the cost of recruiting, hiring, and training are quite prohibitive businesses would do well to avoid these as much as possible.
- Do you have to offer sick leave? Business owners should understand that it may be mandatory to offer sick leave. This is often based on what state your company does business in. Business owners should check with their state's labor department to determine if they must offer sick leave. Most of the time the amount of sick leave that is offered will be based on the state's laws, the number of hours that the employee works, and the size of the business. It is important not to confuse sick leave with the Family and Medical Leave Act which is unpaid leave that is offered for family obligations. Keep in mind that the sick leave policy may vary widely between businesses. Some businesses offer their employees additional sick time each year, some businesses will bank sick time, while others offer a "use it or lose it" sick time policy. The type of sick leave policy that you offer will depend on what fits your business needs the most.
- What should I know about sick leave? The bottom line is that each business owner should make an educated decision about the sick time they will offer. Many business owners justify not offering sick time because they feel that their employees will abuse it and overuse it. This is most often because of a lack of trust within the business. This can often be gotten around by requesting a doctor's note before paying for used sick leave. Business owners would also do well to investigate what other businesses are doing in their area so that they can stay competitive and employee friendly.