Team member sick

[Whoknowsa]

I manage a team and have a few members in my team who live alone and no other family in this country. One of them messaged yesterday to say she has been very unwell and has not gotten out of bed in 24hrs and so taking time off sick. I sent her a check in wattsapp this morning but she has not seen the message. At what point do you start worrying about them and what would you do in this situation? This happened once before with the other team member and I was equally concerned. I don't want to be intrusive but I also care for them.

Do you have an hr dept?
I can’t imagine that anyone is employed without a next of kin listed

Call her rather than messaging her. If you are a big company HR should have a policy for things like this.

I’d call them.
Some might find that intrusive, I suppose, but if they’re genuinely alone they’ll probably be very glad there’re someone out there showing concern.

You follow your work policy and so do they. If it says they have to report sickness every day then that's what they need to do, if they don't then you are likely within your rights to follow up with a phone call just to check because they haven't fulfilled their side of things. But as I say, start with the policy, it will protect it and should have steps to take in the event of non-contact.

Thanks. Yes the work policy has been followed etc. This is about going over and above that, which is why I don't want to be intrusive. If they lived with someone else I would not even give it a thought

I think I'd try an old fashioned text - my thinking is that a WhatsApp you can see if they've seen it, so they may be aware you've sent a message but don't want to open it in case it's something worky and they don't want to feel obliged to answer straight away.

A text they can open without you knowing, just asking them to send an emoji or something so you know they're alive, would perhaps be more likely to be read.

If no response to the text after a while I'd phone, but I'd be worried about calling while they're asleep, which is why I'd text first.

My work runs courses for managers to help us deal with sickness, explaining the policy and how to keep ourselves in the right when things aren't clear cut. So I'd have a chat with your HR contact / dept and ask for guidance (then follow up in an email to HR). It's a tricky situation and there's a fine line between showing concern and being intrusive.

Thanks. Glad to see I am right to think twice and it is a hard balance. Will speak to Hr.

I would ring them if you're concerned. That said, if they are due back in tomorrow it's probably fine. Chances are they have their own friends about. Id be surprised if they don't

to say she has been very unwell and has not gotten out of bed in 24hrs and so taking time off sick

I would assume that she did not mean that literally (rather laying it on thick to justify taking the day off sick) and therefore temper my worries accordingly. If she was so ill that she hadn't gone to the toilet or got herself a drink for 24 hours then she probably wouldn't have been well enough to follow the sickness process correctly.

Does your policy allow people to just message when they're taking unplanned time off sick? We have to phone, which I think helps to guage whether you might need to worry or not.

I’d probably follow up with a message to say you’re worried so can they give a quick thumbs up. Our policy is to contact NOK if can’t get in touch but your employee has obviously already informed you they are sick. I lost a close friend last year and many of us regret not going over when she wasn’t replying. It wouldn’t have made a difference to the overall sad outcome but we all felt terrible about the fact she was at home seriously unwell before someone went over. So I will probably be more cautious in future with staff at work aswell as friends.

Then leave them alone, I'd hate it if my boss texted or called me beyond their remit

I live alone, and would be very pissed off, if after calling in sick, and following company policy, my manager sent me a whatsapp message to see how I was. And even more annoyed if that was followed up by a call.

I would report manager to HR

I had a colleague who lived alone and once didn't show up or message. It was rare but not unknown for people to forget their shift, turn up late, lose their phones etc. My boss and another colleague said we should visit, but I thought it overkill. They did anyway, and found him collapsed at home. He had an undiagnosed brain tumour. He returned to work after surgery and rehabilitation.

They have replied to the wattsapp and grateful I checked in. They are doing fine. I am better prepared for when this happens next time.

glad to hear she’s okay OP, this would have flagged as a concern in my workplace to and we’d have called the emergency contact the next morning if we still hadn’t heard.

Our sickness policy says to contact your manager each day during self certification though, so employees do know we expect to hear from them.

Really? What a strange attitude you have to kind concern by your colleagues.

And this is why managers tie themselves in knots instead of just checking up on colleagues and why sometimes the opportunity to prevent a catastrophy is missed.

You did the right thing OP. You contacted them
out of genuine kindness and with a willingness to help them, which is not the same as just checking to see how they are.

It is more important to make sure that people on their own have what they need than to avoid irritating the few people that are offended by kindness.