Health Policy Briefing - Assignment Example

Health policy briefing Introduction Every employee looks forward to paid sick leaves. There are many employees who often like to extend their holidays by taking their annual leaves, while others may present the excuse of being unwell and remaining absent from work, which may bring the companies they work in to question the absence of the employees on medical ground. When a firm grants a sick leaves to their employees without arranging for any backup it may be quite disruptive for the workflow of the organization. However when the employees fall sick, such kind of leave can be unavoidable for the firms. The need for paying employees in such cases is also recognized by the labor law which states that the employees should be paid for the time when they fall sick and take a leave. Such rights given to the employees are neither unqualified nor unlimited. The Employment Act of 1955 states the minimum sick leave that should be provided to the employees that fall within its scope (Malaysian Employment Act 1955 - a brief, 2013). The duration of the sick leave may sometimes also depend upon the contract of employment signed by the employees. According to the Employment Act of 1955, the employer is entitled to grant leaves for 14 to 22 days, depending on the duration the employee has been working with the company. When hospitalization is involved the sick leave can be extended to 60 days. The entitlement to the sick paid leave may also be based on the medical certificate provided by the medical practitioner, or any doctor employed by the State or Federal government (Payment for sick leave, 2013). Advantages for Employees It is certain that paid sick leaves provide the employees more consistency and protection. Many employees are granted limited benefits by their employers. Where one firm allows its employees to enjoy a substantial sick leave allowance, the other one might receive no allowance at all. A law can be used for redressing this imbalance existing between organizations. It is included in the Act that the employees must be paid while they are on their sick leave, as it is their basic employment right and such type of legislation also contributes in improving the working life conditions. When the employers do not pay to the sick employees for their time off then this certainly indicates that the employees have to return back to their job in order to meet their financial commitment. If the employees are ill and they are still working then they would certainly spread the illness in the work environment. This would impose an overall dramatic influence on rest of the employees. Therefore, allowing the employees to stay at home while they are sick is not just helping them get better but it also ensures that no one else get sick too (Sick pay rights, 2013). Abuse of Sick Pay Leave The small business owners have a lot to lose from this legislation. They have small profit margins and having to cater the needs of their sick employees can be difficult for them at times, as they are not able to afford their employees’ paid sick leave. It has been pointed out that about 64 percent of the workers in a city like New York do not have access to paid sick leave. If the employers are forced by the government to pay allowance to the employees while they are on sick leave, then they will definitely start discriminating in who they employ in their companies. In such case workers who are old, smokers or obese might find it difficult to find a job, as they are considered to be the part of group possessing higher instance of absenteeism. Many of the employees view their sick leave entitlement as some mandatory benefit and try to make most of it, regardless of the fact that whether they are sick or not (Work Hours, 2013). This may create some additional cost for the company, problems for their colleagues and it may also give rise to potential management issues. Some employees may take the fact that they will get paid as granted, as they are not aware that paid sick leave is not yet included in the basic right of the employees but it is rather the policy of the firm to allow whether or not the employees get paid sick leave (Kelly & Kossek, 2008). Conclusion Sick leave should be considered as the basic right of the employees only if they do not misuse it. There are several measures that can be employed by companies to make sure that the paid sick leave is actually being used for improving the health of the employees and not for any other purposes. The firm must establish a sick leave policy where the employees taking off on any of the working days must be asked to produce a medical certificate. Another thing is that the employees must be aware of all the terms and conditions of company’s sick policy, so that they can be disciplined in case of breaching the policy. The firm must treat the sick leave of its employees as unpaid if they do not provide any valid certificate. The employees must be asked to fill the sick leave form, whenever they think of taking a sick leave. This will help the firm to keep a track the employees’ sick leave pattern. In the situation where the employees are found abusing their sick leaves, the company should immediately take notice of such consequences. The manager must ask the employees the reason behind missing work, which they must together try to sort out. If the company implements the above mentioned action and strategies they will definitely reduce the risk of abuse of sick paid leaves. The employees and managers must be on the same page from the beginning when it comes to sick leave policy. If there is even a little misuse then the abuse may become more disruptive for the organizational work schedule. Additional measures must be introduced by the human resource department of the organization for preventing such abuses from occurring. References Kelly, E. L., & Kossek, E. E. (2008). Getting There from Here: Research on the Effects of Work–Family Initiatives on Work–Family Conflict and Business Outcomes. The Academy of Management annals, 305-349. Read More