Managing sick leave is a challenging task for managers, and it becomes even more complex when employees are parents of young children. Parents of young children are often balancing work, childcare and their own health challenges. As a manager, it's your job to support them through sick leave and encourage a healthy work-life balance. In this blog post, we'll explore what you should do to manage sickness absence among employees who are parents of young children in an empathetic and effective way.

1. Communicate early and often

The first key to managing sick leave for parents of young children is to establish good communication. As soon as you learn that an employee is sick, you should reach out to show care and offer support. This will help build trust and create a safe atmosphere for employees.

2. Respect your privacy

It's important to respect the privacy of your employees when handling sick leave. At the same time, make sure you're aware of any legal requirements and rights that apply to sick leave documentation and reporting.

3. Flexibility in work tasks and hours

Parents of young children may have different needs when it comes to working hours and tasks. Consider offering flexibility, such as the ability to adjust working hours or work partly from home. This can help ease the strain on them and give them the opportunity to balance caring responsibilities and work.

4. Offer of support and resources

As a manager, you should offer support and resources for parents of young children who are sick. This can include information about health insurance benefits, access to occupational health services and help coordinating any work arrangements when they are ready to return to work.

5. Clear sick leave policy

Make sure your organization has a clear sickness absence and accommodation policy that describes procedures for reporting sickness, requirements for medical certificates and the rights and obligations of both employer and employee. This provides clarity and predictability in the handling of sick leave.

6. Presence and support in the workplace

Show support and understanding when employees return to work after sick leave. There may be transitional periods where they need to readjust and it's important to give them the support they need. This can include understanding that they may not be able to work as many hours at first, or that they need flexibility in their work tasks.

7. Evaluation and customization

Each sick leave scenario is unique and you may need to customize your approach based on the individual needs of the employee. Evaluate and customize your processes based on the experiences and feedback of parents of young children who have been through sick leave.

Managing sick leave for parents of young children requires a balance between caring and business needs. By following these guidelines and showing compassion and flexibility, you as a manager can help create a supportive and inclusive work culture. This will not only help employees cope better with sick leave, but it will also help retain valuable talent in the organization in the long term.

If your employees need immediate medical assistance, you can activate the service The health phone service in collaboration with Volvat as an add-on module in 4human HRM that you can call at any time, about anything related to illness and health. Together with the sickness absence follow-up module in the HRM system, you as a manager can have full control of sickness absence.

Download the guide on 7 things that slow down your business when you don't follow up on sick leaveand understand how to manage the challenges that come with it.