Good Reasons To Call In
No boss ever in the history of all bosses has ever doubted the best sickie excuse in the.
- It's a beautiful day, and you can't bear the thought of going into work. So you call in with some excuse about feeling ill, but you know in your bones that your boss doesn't buy it. The feeling-ill excuse is a short-term solution that won't win you any fans at the office—someone else will have to pick up the slack, or you'll miss deadlines.
- The fake tragedy. Skill Level: 4 (must know how to mimic a bad phone reception) Boss: Hello?
- Your goals for calling back are to get more information, get a status update, or just stay top of mind, but unfortunately, those aren’t great prospect-facing reasons to call. Try leaving a message like this and see if you get a call back: “I’m just calling to get a status update and check in.
- 'I have to go to court.' 'It was summer and I wanted to go to the beach during the week since it's.
Employees say the darndest things when they call in sick. “A bear is in my yard and I’m afraid to leave my house” and “I’m not sure how the solar eclipse is going to affect me, so it may be safer to stay home” were among the least believable sick-day excuses heard by company managers polled in a recent survey by CareerBuilder.
Nearly 3 in 5 employees who have paid time off programs said they felt they had to make up an excuse for taking the day off. This is despite 54 percent of employees working for companies with a paid time off program that rolls sick, vacation, and personal days together.
And while it’s not uncommon for employees to occasionally call in sick when they’re actually fine, almost every small business has one or two sick-day abusers.
Here’s How to Deal with Employees Calling in Sick Too Often
How to deal with an employee who is always sick? Merge “Sick” Days With “Vacation” Days
Tocurb employees calling in sick too often, a growing number ofcompanies now allowemployees a specified number of paid days off for any purpose—that is, both sick time andvacation time are considered the same thing and consolidated into one paidleave package. This is typically called Paid Time Off, or PTO for short.
By doing so, employers effectively rewardemployees who don’t have frequent illnesses and discourage employees fromtaking sick days off when they’re not actually sick.
With such a policy in place, sick-dayabusers may think twice before calling in because the absences cut into whatcould be their vacation. Thisis usually an effective way to deal with an employee who is always sick.
Doing Away With Voicemails Can Keep Employees from Calling in Sick Too Often
Oneof the ways employees calling in sick too often abuse sick time isif they don’t have to speak with a supervisor and can simply get out of work byfiring off an email or leaving a groggy-toned voicemail.
With this being the case, employersshould require workers, especially those whose attendance record is sub-par, tospeak directly to an immediate supervisor when they call in sick. Do not let employees call—novoicemail, no text—they must speak to someone.
Good Reasons To Call In Sick To Work
Explore an Unlimited Vacation Policy, Get Rid of Sick Days for Part-Time Employees and Full Time Staff
It’s clear when employees can take daysoff from work, it leads to increased productivity. An unlimited vacation policymeans your employees don’t have a bank of time to accrue or a set amount ofdays per year they can take off. Before you start worrying the policy could beabused, some companies found employees take the sameamount of time off as they usually do after an unlimitedvacation program was put into effect. It could be the makings of a very healthy workplace.
So, what’s the benefit of an unlimitedpolicy? Increasing morale and building a culture of trust between you and youremployees. Removing sickdays for part-time employees and replacing them with vacation days encouragestrust in your employees. Do the same for employees who are full time.
Relax Your Policies, It Can Reduce the Average Number of Sick Days Taken Per Employee
Good Reasons To Call In Sick
This one is a little counter-intuitive.But it’s possible that your strict sick-leave policy is actually having thereverse effect and causing employees to skip out on work instead of preventingunscheduled absenteeism.
Studies show the majority of workers whocall in sick at the last minute do so for reasons other than physical illness,citing personal needs and stress as chief reasons for taking time off.
Workplace flexibility, on the other hand,has been shown to reduce worker stress. In other words, giving employees morefreedom, so long as their share of work gets completed, makes staff moreappreciative of the company and less likely to take advantage of paid leavepolicies, whether they area part-time employee or full-time employee.
My Employees Keep Calling in Sick Too Often, Time To Talk
Okay,you’ve merged sick time with vacation time, done away with voicemails and boostedmorale by increasing workplace flexibility, but there are still sick-dayabusers at the company. Thereis such a thing as preventative care, but if the average number of sick daystaken per employee is still high, or you have a select few employees calling insick too often, it’s time to take them aside for a sit-down and let themknow that you’ve noticed the days off.
Emily Dusablon, an advisor at Insperity,a provider of HR services, suggests asking employees whether there’s any reason, in particular, that iscausing the absences.
“Maybe you’re not aware of an underlyingcondition,” Dusablon says. “Maybe the employee needs a schedule adjustment oraccommodation based on the Americans with Disabilities Act. Don’t assume youknow all the facts until you have talked with the employee.”
Makesure you familiarize yourself with both the Americans with Disabilities Act(ADA) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
When it Comes to How to Deal With an Employee Who is Always Sick, Know The Law
If, after a sit-down, the absenteeismpersists, and you choose to act,it’s necessary to first consider the laws associated with paid sick leave.
For instance, under the Family and Medical LeaveAct, certain employers are required to offer their employees leave to care for themselvesor sick family members. Also,make sure you know the law for sick days for part-time employees as well.
Determining if an employee’scircumstances qualify them for such legal protections, or if employers are onthe hook for paying them during such times, is typically where things getsticky. In most cases, the safest bet is to consult an attorney beforewithholding pay or firing an excessively absent employee.
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What are your thoughts on PTO issues? Letus know in the comments.
Whether you’re an experienced virtual seller or just getting your “inside legs” after transitioning from face-to-face field selling, we all need more reasons to call our customers. This is because we don’t get to “bump into” customers in the hallways and because we tend to get less accomplished in sales phone calls (See this blog here on call goals).
So why do we need a reason to call? Because “touching base” is a mortal sin. Wait, too much? Nope, seriously not overstating that. Never ever, ever just call to check in. Your prospect’s time is valuable, and if you’ve nothing better to do than check in, don’t call at all. (You’ll notice I’m interchanging customer and prospect in this article. Treat them the same.)
And why do we need multiple calls? Because we’re fighting “out of sight, out of mind,” and because we have our own goals to accomplish. We may not have gotten all the information we needed in our previous calls, or we may just be trying to avoid the dreaded “gone dark” that happens more in virtual selling than face to face. Your goals for calling back are to get more information, get a status update, or just stay top of mind, but unfortunately, those aren’t great prospect-facing reasons to call. Doubt me? Try leaving a message like this and see if you get a call back:
“I’m just calling to get a status update and check in. Call me back…”
You’ll be waiting a long time.
So the goal instead is to call with a customer-value-add reason and then accomplish your goals. That brings us back to the topic at hand.