What can I do if I have an employee who is currently on sick leave from work, but they have been posting images of themselves going out on social media?
Managing sickness absence is rarely a straightforward task and dealing with someone that you suspect is not genuinely ill has always been at the trickier end of the scale.
The situation is not helped by the fact that employees who are off work on sickness absence don’t have to hole themselves up in their home and not go outside. While it is frustrating, it is important to move with caution and not make any knee-jerk decisions regarding how you will deal with the issue upon their return to work.
What is the reason that the employee is off sick and the nature of the work that they perform for you? Some illnesses which make someone unfit for work will not mean that the employee cannot continue as normal in other parts of their life.
If an employee tells you that they cannot come into work because they have broken their ankle, and then you see them on Facebook dancing on both feet without crutches in a night club, you will probably be right in doubting the truth of their sickness.
The same goes for an employee who claims they have a contagious illness. You would assume that they therefore cannot be in the presence of other people, but are then seen on Instagram hugging people at a party!
In both cases you need to follow your disciplinary procedures. Falsifying sickness absence is theft (they are being paid sick pay when they aren’t sick) as well as lying, and should be handled as misconduct, potentially gross misconduct.
