Yahoo Finance Australians love chucking sickies for an EXTRA LONG weekend
Almost nine out of ten Australian companies have to put up with staff taking sick leave to boost their public holiday long weekend.
With all states except Western Australia and Queensland enjoying a Queen's Birthday public holiday on Monday, research by the Australian Payroll Association has revealed many employers have to deal with extended unforeseen absences.
Employees were observed taking sick leave immediately before or after a long weekend by 86% of payroll managers surveyed.
In 47 per cent of cases, the company lost more than 5 per cent of the staff due to this problem, while a stunning 18 per cent of payroll managers saw at least 10 per cent of the workforce wiped out from a long weekend sickie.
Retail (94 per cent of employers) and, ironically, healthcare (91 per cent) were the most affected by the issue.
Illegal uses of sick leave
While many payroll managers said reasons given for sick leave "seemed genuine", such as gastroenteritis and vomiting, just as many also complained that staff don't seem to know the rules.
"We have a cultural issue around misuse of sick leave entitlements," said one payroll manager, while another was quoted as saying employees “just take the 10 days a year as an entitlement”.
One said that employees "are under the impression they are entitled to paid carer’s leave" when they just needed to do child-minding at home.
Australian Payroll Association chief executive Tracy Angwin said that employers that have a requirement that staff bring in medical certificates saw lower rates of sick leave.
"It is perfectly acceptable for employers to have such a policy," she said.
"Sick leave – now classified as personal/carer’s leave – gives each employee 10 days of paid leave a year. This entitlement is specifically for unplanned personal illness or injury that leaves the employee unfit to work. It excludes days off for elective surgery, planned medical procedures, or sick pets, which should be taken as annual leave."
Carer's leave, which is part of the sick leave entitlement, can only be used if the employee needed to look after a sick immediate family member, according to Angwin.
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