Lower Stress with a Sick Time Coverage Plan

Nov 5

By Brandy Payne, Workplace Mental Health Consultant, Brandy Payne Consulting

Follow-up blog post for October 22 webinar

CCVO Capacity Building webinars offer participants the opportunity to submit questions to the presenter, for consideration to include in a follow-up blog post. Participants are encouraged to ask questions via the comment box. Please note that speakers address questions submitted up to three days after the webinar launch date.

Thank you to the listeners of the recent webinar “From Barely Surviving to Thriving”. Below is the presenter’s response to a question from one of the webinar attendees.

Question from attendee:
How can managers and coworkers develop plans together to cover work when staff are absent – so those who are absent can step away from the work and not come back to an overwhelming amount of projects?

Response from presenter:

We know that November means cold and flu season, and that someone in our team is going to come down with something, whether it’s a seasonal illness or COVID-19. When they get sick, they’re going to have to stay home until they’re better. As with all times that employees are sick – and this year in particular – we can’t simply take cold medicine and head to the office. We have to stay home in order to protect others. Now is a great time to consider, as an organization, what your Sick Time Coverage Plan looks like.

First, make sure you have a plan for sick time that makes it easy for staff to stay home and keep the rest of the team safe. Because of the current precautions during the pandemic, which mean people have to stay home for 14 days when sick, your organization’s sick time plan shouldn’t rely on unpaid sick leave, as few people can afford two weeks (or more) of unpaid leave.

Your organization will also want a Coverage Plan that makes sure the essential tasks are covered, and that the individual doesn’t come back to a mountain of unfinished work.

The bonus? You can also use this Coverage Plan for vacations and other time off requests. Coverage Plans are great for leaders and supervisors, and also important for us to consider as individuals. If you can’t come in, what happens to your workload? By thinking this through now, you’ll save a lot of stress and worry down the line.

Here are some pieces to consider when designing a Coverage Plan for your team:

What absolutely needs to be done during the absence? Some tasks are mission critical, while others can wait. This may mean stretching out deadlines, and it might mean shifting workload amongst co-workers to make sure the critical tasks are covered.
Remember that we can only do so much on any day – if you’re adding an item to someone’s task list, that means they won’t have time for something else. Have the conversation about what will wait for another week at the same time as you’re talking about the coverage tasks.
Are there any in-person coverage needs, like front-desk coverage? As much as possible, plan ahead for who will be covering, and have a backup for your backup. That way, everyone will know what to expect when the time comes.
For sick time, will the person be able to work from home, or will they need to rest? You’ll want to call and check in with how they’re doing, and recognize that it may change from day-to-day. Sometimes, it’s best to just take a few days to rest, rather than trying to work through it.
If they need the time off, find out what’s on their list that needs to be covered by someone else, and reassign as needed.
If they’ll be working from home, think about a flex time schedule rather than expecting they’ll be online for regular hours. Ask that they keep you in the loop if things change.
Consider if folks can work reduced hours while they’re home, maybe using sick time to make up the difference in hours so they won’t have to worry about lost pay, or working when they need to be resting.
When they return, plan a 1:1 check-in to ensure you’re on the same page in terms of workload. Ideally, give them a of couple hours to sort through email backlog, then plan to sit down and go over the status on any tasks or projects while they were away. Then, prioritize the remaining items – sort the list into the top 2-3 priority items, so they only have a couple things on their plate as they get back up to speed.

When you’re thinking about a Coverage Plan for your own workload, consider these points:

Is there someone in your group who is up-to-speed on most of your work? Can they help cover off the critical pieces for you? What information would you need to give them to hand over the critical tasks?
What do you need to be able to work-from-home on short notice? Is there anything you can do now to make it easier to switch later?
Build the habit of sending your supervisor your weekly priority list – that way you’ll both know at-a-glance what the top items are.
When you return, give yourself some time to go through email, then book time with your supervisor and with each person who covered your tasks for a status update.

Setting up a Coverage Plan can feel like a big task, but it’s worth putting in the time to do it now. You’ll likely need it at some point in the next few months, and it’ll be a big relief to have a plan in place instead of scrambling last minute.

I’m here to help if you’re looking for support to design your Coverage Plan or any other part of your Workplace Mental Health plan. Book a Discovery Call at my website www.brandypayne.ca.

Looking for more resources on Workplace Mental Health and Psychological Safety? My website has information about the Business Case for Mental Health at Work, the 13 Factors that Impact Mental Health at Work, and more.

More information about the National Psychological Health & Safety Standard can be found here. As a CMHA-Certified Psychological Health & Safety Advisor, I work with Workplaces to help them implement some or all of the Standard.

From Barely Surviving to Thriving: Tools and Strategies for Tackling Mental Health Pressure Points at Work is a CCVO Capacity Building webinar. These webinars cover topics of interest to nonprofit professionals, and will include presentations on public policy, leadership, human resources, and technology - all at no cost. Listen in to learn, and build your capacity in the areas you’d like to know more about in order to be more effective in your job, for your clients, and the community. Upcoming webinar topics are listed below, and more topics will be added. Please visit the CCVO website for more information and registration details.