It is remarkable that many short periods of sickness fall around a weekend, especially if the weather is nice or during recent days people have been partying. And usually it is the same people.

But some go a step further. They report that a member of their family is seriously ill and request extra free days or flexible working hours so that they can care for their sick partner, child or aged parent. There are few managers who will refuse such a request.

A fieldworker had requested to exchange his day shift for evening work because of the incurable illness of his wife. This would enable him to care for his wife during the day and other members of the family would take turns to sit with her during the evening hours. Of course his request was granted and he received profuse expressions of sympathy from management and colleagues. Imagine the surprise of a colleague when they saw the man’s wife walking along the street. She limped a little but that was because she had fallen off her horse, otherwise she was perfectly fit.

We discovered that the real reason that the man had asked for a change of working hours was that he was having an affair with the wife of a colleague and that colleague worked evenings. The man wanted to be able to meet his colleague’s wife when that colleague was working.

In another instance an employee requested permission to take some days off work to care for his dying father and after his death to make funeral arrangements and settle his father’s affairs. Again there was no objection by management. Again the desperately ill person was seen in the street. With the consent of the employer we were able to speak with the father and afterwards with the son to give him the good news that his father was not dead and showed him a photograph we had taken to prove it.

The employer then proceeded to deal with the man’s absenteeism.

| Prevention Guide | Volume 7 | No: 1 | article 3 |

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