This morning we have received calls from employers in regards to this weekend’s festival, Electric Picnic.
Here is one question from a worried employer. “A lot of my staff requested the weekend off work to go to Electric Picnic, I could not accommodate all the request so it was offered on a first come first serve basis. I overheard two employees who had their requests declined saying they are going to call in sick for the weekend in order to go to the festival. What can I do?
Peninsula would advise the following,
This is a common predicament that employers are faced with particularly this time of year. What you can do is invite each employee into a meeting. During this meeting you can speak to them about what was overheard and you can issue them with an absent without leave in advance letter. If the employee still calls in sick for the weekend you can then proceed with a disciplinary process in line with your companies procedures. Consideration should be given to the response given by the employee, and from there a decision can be made as to how to proceed. It is important that employers have polices in place in relation to employees being absent without leave.
Employers can take precautionary measures and issue the policy to all staff to remind them of the ramifications of taking leave without prior authorisation. Any employer facing similar problems can call the advice line on 0818 923 923
