Is bad economy increasing number of call-outs?
February 5, 2009 by Fred HosierPosted in: Employees do the strangest things, Oh no they didn't, Special Report
When twice the usual number of employees call out sick — and it happens on Super Bowl Sunday — is it a case of couch potato fever? Or, as union representatives suggested in one case, was it burnout because of staff cutbacks? You make the call.
The city of Atlanta had to close five of its fire stations on Super Bowl Sunday because 27 firefighters called in sick. The average number of firefighters out sick on any given day is 13.
Enough staffers reported to work the following day to keep all the stations open.
City Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran blamed the temporary closures on a combination of staffing reductions, hiring freezes and furloughs, according to The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Cochran said firefighters call in sick more often on a weekend with a holiday or big event like the Super Bowl. However, he said he didn’t believe this was an organized action.
The head of the firefighter union, Lt. Jim Daws, said staffers called in sick because they get “burned out” by having fewer co-workers. Atlanta has also done away with overtime for firefighters to bridge temporary staffing problems.
Minimum staffing to operate is 147 firefighters. On Sunday there were 131 on duty.
Daws says there wasn’t Super Bowl-related goofing off. He said the larger number of absences is the consequence of budget cuts.
Cochran said, “Some of our members genuinely are sick.”
Can employers prevent this?
Some companies have developed policies to prevent employees from using sick days around long holiday weekends. Example: To earn holiday pay, employees must work the entire workday before and the day after the holiday. Exceptions can be made when an employee asks ahead of time to use a vacation day or if the worker can produce a doctor’s note.
Has your company ever experienced a problem with workers taking sick days before or after a holiday, or on the day of a big event, such as the Super Bowl? Did you have more employees call out the day after the Super Bowl, possibly nursing hangovers? And does your company have a policy to prevent this sort of thing from happening? Let us know in the Comments Box below.
Tags: burnout, cutbacks, furloughs, overtime, sickout, Super Bowl
February 6th, 2009 at 10:24 am
We’re living in a climate in which employers are asking skeleton crews to work more hours with less benefits and smaller, in any, pay increases. What’s worse, is that these days vacation hours are often spent checkig Blackberry’s and checking in with the office. Employees need something to help them get through these tough times. If a day of playing hooky with their family or getting some extra rest helps them recharge and relax, so be it. I don’t think punishing them for this will help anyone in the long run.
February 6th, 2009 at 10:28 am
WE don’t experience this problem because it is our policy not to pay the holiday unless you work the day before and after (unless you are off for an approved day or can prove you were truly ill)
February 6th, 2009 at 10:30 am
This article talks about sick time around the holidays, which I’m sure many companies have policies to protect against, but it refers to the Super Bowl. Show me a place that gives a holiday day for the Super Bowl and I’ll show you a resume.
February 6th, 2009 at 10:46 am
It’s all smoke and mirrors, pure and simple. As staffs reduce, I can see how existing staffs, government or private might burn out. But calling out on Super Bowl Sunday? Please. These folks just wanted to watch a good game at the expense of those they’re supposed to serve. I would expect unions to make excuses which would, in the end, empower them. But let’s not be naive about it.
In our company, when we see patterns occur, we call out the offenders, and if necessary require doctor notes for future sick days that fall on holidays or days off. As part of progressive discipline, we can coach and counsel them, and write them up as necessary. There are folks out there dying for jobs right now, so repeat offenders don’t get much slack from me.
February 6th, 2009 at 11:08 am
We do not offer any sick time, just Paid time off. Our absenteeism went down 80% after we did this because now if people call in sick, they are using vacation time and NOT sick time. Remarkable how it worked.
February 6th, 2009 at 11:27 am
We also have a policy that an employee must work the scheduled day before and after a holiday in order to get paid for the holiday. I agree with Kerri – it is irresponsibility on the part of the employee to call off for Super Bowl knowing that their absence would create a hardship for others. Using an established progressive disciplinary policy enables us to correct the behavior of some and weed out the rest so we can give jobs to those who really want to work.
February 6th, 2009 at 11:41 am
TO Bill:
We don’t offer sick time either and it DOES cut down on absenteeism but the down side is that people come to work sick. I see it all the time here.
February 6th, 2009 at 11:46 am
My focus is a bit different here – did you read this: they had to CLOSE five fire stations for the day? What’s up with that?! Who answered fire calls, another unit from out of town? What kind of agreement is written that you close a fire department for excessive absenteeism. “9-1-1 what’s your emergency?” “My house is in flames!” “Sorry, but our department is closed today, please contact your next closest fire department for assistance – click.” Yikes.
February 6th, 2009 at 11:49 am
Mike -
To Mike’s point I understand it isn’t possible “create” holiday where public servants are involved, but I do know of a company that was creative in that it had 3 “floating holidays” built into their holiday schedule and those days changed every year depending on where “events” and “lesser holidays” fell. For example, in one of our plants in Minnesota, the first day of hunting season, we saw a huge request for time off and then call offs. It made sense to use one of the floaters for that particular day since it was such a popular request. The employees were thrilled, where at another plants another day like Good Friday, or the day AFTER the 4th of July was choosen.
It was a win win.
February 6th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Our company had a manager who wanted to reward his employees for not taking sick days. He offered a $200 bonus if they didn’t call out sick. During the holidays, the whole department looked like a hospital ward. People were coughing, sneezing, and, all in all, weren’t performing their job well.
Sure he got his staff in the building, but at what cost to themselves and others?
February 6th, 2009 at 11:59 am
I agree Mike. I think this logic back fires when even MORE people get sick. I go to work sick sometimes and I can tell you that I’m not real productive that day.
February 6th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
I noticed that the stress of working skelton crews have caused even the healthiest of workers in the group to become sick more often whether they come in or not. There is a health price to pay for understaffing and stressing the employees.
February 8th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
If there are cutbacks in employees, it can burn people out by doing 1.5 – 2.5 work of other employees. Instead cut back the number of hours people can work. For example many non-profits pre recession era would have 35 hour to 37.5 hour work weeks for hourly waged employees. Companies may scale back on employees, I believe it is safer to cut back on hours. Morale may be low, the up side is, they still have a job at the same pay rate. Either four day work weeks with 10 hour days (which would save on electricity, and phone bills not retnt though) or 30 – 35 hours a week = 5 – 7 hour days, to avoid large layoffs.
February 9th, 2009 at 10:46 am
Burned out? “The head of the firefighter union, Lt. Jim Daws, said staffers called in sick because they get “burned out” by having fewer co-workers. Atlanta has also done away with overtime for firefighters to bridge temporary staffing problems.” If they are not working overtime how can they be “burned out” – they are working 40 hours a week to hard? We need to work on ways to fill these positions with dedicated individuals who enjoy their jobs! If you told me that Atlanta was burning down because of staff shortages I would buy into it – otherwise give these jobs to people that want them – I am sure that many qualified individuals will be knocking on my door this year looking for employment.
February 10th, 2009 at 9:33 am
Sue,
Atlanta it is rather large. I believe they have about 40 fire stations across the city. Additionally Fulton and DeKalb counties (in which Atlanta is situated) have their own fire stations for unincorporated portions of the counties. I’m sure out of the 40 stations, the Fire Chief/ or acting Chief picked 3 for closure in areas that could be covered by several other nearby stations. The 911 center probably had to use some enhanced system to figure out where to re-direct the calls to the next-nearest station covering that area. I’m sure response times probably were slower overall in those areas for that day since fewer stations were covering more area.
Our policy is that the employee must be in a pay status on the day of the holiday (or the last scheduled work day prior to the holiday if they don’t work on the holiday) to qualify for the holiday pay. If they are scheduled to come in on the holiday and call in sick without a note, it is an unpaid/unexcused absence. If they call in sick the day prior to the holiday without a note, both that day and the holiday are unexcused and therefore unpaid.
February 10th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Jackie T – SPHR
Are those “floating holidays” extra holidays? or Does it replace some existing one?
February 11th, 2009 at 10:56 am
Angela M -
The “floating holidays” are part of the years’ allotment of scheduled holidays. We have 11 total (88 hours of holiday per year). 8 of those are scheduled (Christmas, Memorial Day, T’giving, day after T’giving, etc) and then 3 of them can be used to “float”. I worked at one place where the business determined the 3 days each year (and usually they fell where it made the most sense in the calendar – example if 4th of July was on a Tuesday, Monday might be a floater to create a long weekend that year, or opening day of hunting season), and then my current company allows employees to choose when they want to use those 3 days (a birthday, a “non” holiday appointment, tacked onto a vacation, etc) but they have to get those days preapproved just like a vacation.
It works for us and give some employees leway if Ash Wednesday or Good Friday or St. Patrick’s Day is important to them, they can use a floater with approval. Hope this helps.
February 11th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Jackie T – SPHR
Thank you. I does help. It is a good idea.
February 20th, 2009 at 11:08 am
My husband works for the Chicago Fire Department and calling in sick in NOT an option. If you’re sick, you must ‘lay up’, notify the medical section, see your doctor, see the Department’s doctor and wait until both doctors release you. It’s extremely time-consuming and not worth the trouble unless something is terribly wrong with you. My husband has gone to work with the flu, strep throat, a common cold and even the day after he severed an artery in his hand (stitches and all) working on our furnace!
February 20th, 2009 at 11:47 am
For Ellen -
I know not your rules, but my husband is also a Fire/Medic in Georgia and the Chicago sick rule seems to be an example of what I call “Spanking the Class” where when some people don’t follow the rules, everyone is punished. Just like with other medical professionals (doctors/nurses) “Do No Harm” is the mantra and you can’t do no harm if you are passing along your illness to the people you work with or to the general public who you serve. This just seems extreme to me – to the point of being irresponsible.