Demystifying HR myths
There are lots of myths that involve HR processes which are simply not true and here we’ve explained three of them.
1. You can’t contact employees when they are off sick!
You can and you should. Keeping in touch is key to checking on their wellbeing – your duty of care does not end when they finish their shift at the end of the working day. Regular contact with sick employees should not just be about when they are coming back or what work is outstanding, albeit a necessary part of it; it should focus on their wellbeing, the reasons they are off and how you can support them back to work.
2. You can’t give a ‘bad’ reference for an ex employee!
You can, provided it is factual and not misleading e.g. if they were dismissed, you can say they were dismissed however if they were rubbish at their job and you never performance managed them (so nothing had been formalised), then you shouldn’t say they were an under-performer.
3. If an employee is ill during their holiday leave, then tough luck!
This is a myth, if an employee falls ill just before or while on their leave then they are entitled to take sick leave and keep their holiday entitlement for another time, usually provided they have followed your absence procedure. If holiday is converted to sick leave, then your employees will only be paid in accordance with your organisation’s sick pay rules and they need to understand that this could reduce their income over this time, particularly if you only pay SSP and do not pay for the waiting days.
Having a reliable, knowledgeable HR partner when dealing with HR matters is important, having an HR retainer with us also doesn’t need to be expensive. We only ask that you sign up for one year (we of course want you to stay with us forever and lots of our clients in fact do).