Companies offering uncapped sick leave say workers don't abuse it

Thursday, 11 June 2020

The Council of Trade Unions is campaigning for sick leave to be doubled, from five to 10 days per year.

If you had as much sick leave as you wanted at your disposal - how much would you use?

That's a question that's been pondered around the country in recent weeks, as unions called for employers to offer more leave in the wake of Covid-19.

People who are unwell are told to stay home, and to keep any sickly kids home, too - but what if you don't have any more sick leave owing?

While many businesses stick with the minimum five days' sick leave a year, some offer as much as you can handle. And they say, for the most part, that works out fine.

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ANZ, one of the biggest companies to offer uncapped sick leave, says workers don't abuse the privilege.

The country's biggest bank offered its 9000 staff 'managed' sick leave instead of completely unlimited sick leave. The bank reserves the right to limit it.

ANZ talent and culture manager Gina McJorrow said the bank found offering limits on leave meant people took a couple of days 'here and there' when they needed it.

'If you give people five days or if you give people 10 days, they tend to use that as an entitlement. In our experience, because we provide flexibility, when employees are well, they're at work,' McJorrow said.

In May ANZ saw a 17 per cent drop in staff taking sick leave compared to the same time last year.

Managed sick leave also took the financial pressure off staff that needed to take extensive time off due to serious medical conditions, she said.

After an initial increase of staff taking sick leave in March, there was a 17 per cent drop in ANZ staff taking sick leave in May compared to the same time last year, McJorrow said.

She would not reveal how much leave staff took, on average.

Across the country, the average rate of sick leave absence in 2018 was 4.7 days per employee, according to Business NZ and Southern Cross' biennial survey of wellbeing in the workplace.

Registered psychologist Yvonne Hall said workplace culture had a greater influence on workers abusing their entitlements than how much leave workers were given.

'If you have an organisation where morale is low and workers don't trust each other, offering unlimited leave won't be an effective strategy,' Hall said.

'If you're an organisation that offers flexibility, and people want to work there, perks like unlimited sick leave can make excellent business sense.'

Hall said presenteeism, the practice of being present at work for more hours than required, or working despite being sick, was a bigger cost to businesses than absenteeism.

She said especially because of the job uncertainty and financial insecurity people were facing due to Covid-19, there was a greater risk of presenteeism hurting business.

Frog Recruitment director Jane Kennelly says people who can work from home may be more willing to do so if they have sniffle than to take sick leave.

'Presenteeism decreases productivity, increases errors and can pass on a virus.'

Frog Recruitment director Jane Kennelly said when she owned her business for 18 years she provided all staff with unlimited sick leave and workers did not abuse it.

Kennelly said for a company to raise its sick leave entitlement, or provide unlimited sick leave, it needed to build a strong trust with its workers.

'When I offered unlimited sick leave people thought staff would take leave willy-nilly. But quite the opposite happened. We were well below the average just because there was an element of trust,' Kennelly said.

Unions are pushing for employers to be more generous with sick leave to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

'Where people rip off the system is where there is no trust in the work environment.'

Kennelly said staff who were able to work from home were less likely to use sick leave for a cold or sniffle.

CTU president Richard Wagstaff says sick minimum wage workers can't afford to stay at home without pay if they've used up all their sick leave.

'By and large Kiwis are stoic and we do struggle into work even if we're not feeling well. If you can work from home people will do their best to not let the team down.

'Offering unlimited leave is still the best way to go.'

Another business that offered unlimited sick leave was Dunedin-based gaming company Rocketwerkz.

Rocketwerkz chief operating officer Stephen Knightly said generally staff didn't abuse the uncapped leave.

Although Vodafone did not offer unlimited leave, the telecommunications company was encouraging its 3000 staff to err on the side of caution and work from home to stop the spread of infection, or take sick leave if they were sick.

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says the Government may consider raising the minimum level of sick leave entitlement after the election.

'While we expect sick days to increase over the winter months just as they do every year, we believe our teams are well-equipped to prioritise their health as well as the wellbeing of others,” a spokeswoman said.

Council for Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff had been pushing for a law change to double the sick leave entitlement to 10 days a year.

'Workers can't afford to take sick leave when they've run out of it. Especially minimum-wage workers,' Wagstaff said.

'Workers are penalised financially for trying to do the right thing by staying home.'

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway said the Government was considering raising the minimum level of sick leave entitlement.

“Firstly, workers and businesses can negotiate more sick leave in collective contracts, just like you negotiate for increased wages above the minimum,” Lees-Galloway said.

“Now, that said, it is worth looking at raising the minimum. We do have a lower minimum than a lot of countries.”

Lees-Galloway said it would be something the Government would look at doing after the election.

“Employers are able to allow people to take extra sick leave and it is in their interests to do so.”

E tū union negotiator Joe Gallagher said that while sick leave needed to be increased, the cap needed to be lifted on the maximum 20 days that workers can accrue. People who do not take leave can not bank more than 20 days.

'This penalises people who never take sick leave. Then when a pandemic hits and if they need to use it, they're limited to the 20 days,' Gallagher said.