Addressing Frequent Medical Leave Requests in a Fast-Paced Software Development Company: Effective Policy Suggestions Needed

I am employed at a high-speed software development company. Over the past few months, we have been inundated with numerous unexpected medical leave requests. In the majority of these instances, employees are seeking extended leaves or immediate departure, even though they furnish the necessary medical documentation.

Managing these situations at short notice is proving to be quite challenging and is causing difficulties in meeting manpower demands. I would appreciate any suggestions on how we can manage these situations or establish a policy to effectively handle such cases.

Dear Lucky Mehta,

If your company is 'inundated' with medical leave applications or extensions to the medical leave, then it shows that the problem may not be what it shows on the surface. It could be employees' mental disengagement.

Since the employees produce proof of their sickness, the company authorities cannot question them. However, the company can randomly investigate the genuineness of such requests. If the fakery of the sickness is discovered, the company can initiate disciplinary action. However, if you wish to terminate the employee for producing a fake medical certificate, then please order the domestic enquiry before awarding the punishment of termination.

However, conducting an investigation and awarding punishment is negative discipline, cumbersome, and could foster distrust. Alongside, you need to investigate the causes of employee disengagement. Unless you identify the root causes and try eliminating them, there cannot be a lasting solution to the organisational challenge.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Dear Lucky Meheta,
1. Sickness is an uncertainty physical ailments which comes prior Notice.
2. To deal with leave the company have their own policy.
3. It is difficult to check without a well laid down policy.
4. You have not mentioned about your establishment and operational state.
5. Under the Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961, employees are typically entitled to 12 days of paid sick leave per year(Karnataka).
6. Thus sick leave is a statutory sanction, establishment can't stop providing leave on instances of personal illness.
7. Though the unavailed leaves cannot be carried forward to the next year, employees wants to end their quota by arranging a medical certificate.
8. You should have a policy and tie up hospital for treatment and verification of malafide medical documents.
9. You need to have extra employees for leave vecancy.
10. Conduct periodic medical check-up of staff to know fitness.

Your problem may be addressed in two scenarios. You have to have to lists of those availing medical leave continuously for longer periods for few spells and/or in frequent intervals of short leave. And most importantly during which circumstances. For e.g. if they avail all of a sudden, without prior notice/prior alternate arrangements at a time there they have to attend to important deliveries/dispose of critical commitments which might have caused embarrassment to your firm to manage at 11th hour. This type of absence could be in a way place you into difficulties. There is, as you know, every opportunity to avail leave after making suitable arrangements among colleagues which normally is not expected to cause concerns to manage with alternatives. On the other hand some times seen as habitual and casual without proper presence of emergencies and prior arrangements among the colleagues. While genuine concerns should be accommodated with empathy it may not be always the same the other occurences. It becomes imperative for managers to come over the difficulties resulted by this behaviour. There should be prevailing sense of collective responsibility and accountability among executives. If this is missing in work places, as you are aware, it would pose lots of problem for the management. As such I would suggest open to dialogues with colleagues with a view to ascertain reliably genuineness of such absence to chalk out further action dependent on those revealed. Ofcourse if there is cordial working arrangements prevailing among colleagues such concerns seldom emerges.