Posted on: October 16, 2024

Typically, when an employee requests leave for family, medical, bereavement or other reasons, their request is legitimate. However, on occasion, some employees may try to take advantage of their leave benefits. So, what can employers do to prevent this misuse from occurring, and address it if it does occur? Here are some approaches to help you.

Preventing misuse of leave

It’s important to note that the trust between an employer, manager and their employee is crucial to your company’s success. So, when an employee does request leave, it is often for a legitimate reason and need. However, there may be instances where you might suspect an employee is taking paid or unpaid leave under false pretenses. Some examples can include, but are not limited to, fabricated deaths in the family or exaggerated medical conditions.

There are many ways to help prevent employees from misusing leave policies. Here are eight strategies to help you prevent leave misuse:

1. Use proactive policies and procedures.

Taking a proactive, balanced approach when it comes to creating, maintaining, and enforcing leave policies can help you curb leave misuse. If you are providing the leave because it is required by law, ensure your policy aligns with all applicable laws.

Also, ensure you maintain written policies (especially where required by law) that explain all of the requirements of the leave benefit, including who is eligible, the circumstances under which employees may take leave, and how employees may request leave.

Using compassion when evaluating, updating, and generously tailoring your leave policies can help demonstrate an understanding of employee needs, including an increased focus on employees’ mental health needs, align to company needs, and may make employees feel less inclined to fabricate a leave request. 

2. Require reasonable advance notice.

Under many leave laws, employers may require advance notice when the need for leave is foreseeable. The amount of advance notice may depend on the law. When the need for leave is unforeseeable, employers may generally require notice as soon as practical given the circumstances. For example, employers may require employees who are sick to call in and speak with their supervisor before the start of their shift. 

Note: Ensure your notice requirements align to all applicable laws.

3. Seek documentation, if permitted.

Requesting documentation (where allowed by law) can also help employers enforce their leave policies.

Under certain leave laws, employers may ask employees to provide reasonable documentation of the need for leave. However, some laws have restrictions. For example, some state and local paid sick leave laws prohibit employers from requesting documentation, unless the employee has taken sick leave for more than three consecutive days.

Certain jurisdictions, such as Illinois (plus Chicago and Cook County), Maine and Nevada, have laws that entitle employees to take leave for any reason. These laws may restrict or prohibit employers from seeking documentation from employees. For example, in Illinois, employees aren’t required to provide a reason for the leave, and employers are prohibited from requiring them to provide documentation or certification in support of the leave.

Some of these laws include different rules. For instance, Maine employers may require an employee to provide a general reason for an unplanned leave, but employers cannot require a medical note or other documentation unless the employee's leave is for more than 3 consecutive days.

Ensure you follow all applicable documentation laws, and in the absence of a law, consider what, if any, documentation would be reasonable to require from employees, and ensure requests for documentation are made consistently.

4. Monitor moonlighting and overemployment.

In some leave misuse cases, an employee may fabricate a leave or take extended leave to balance working for another employer (or themselves) afterwork or during company hours. Employers generally may prohibit employees from other work during company time or while the employee is on family and medical leave, sick leave, and other leaves taken because the employee is unable to work or is supposed to be caring for a family member.

5. Prevent absenteeism around holidays.

Some employers see a rise in unscheduled absences around company holidays where employees call in "sick" the day before and/or after a holiday. Employers are generally permitted to require non-exempt employees to work the day before and after a company holiday in order to receive holiday pay. Typically, employers do not apply this policy to employees who scheduled the time off in advance.

Note: This practice may not be applied to exempt employees, who must generally receive their full salary in any workweek in which they perform any work.

6. Conduct periodic check-ins.

When employees are on extended leave, employers may consider calling the employee periodically to check-in on how they are doing, and their plans for returning to work, as long as they do so consistently for all employees on extended leave. However, if the check-ins are too frequent or are abrasive, they could be considered a violation of the law.

Develop a communication plan carefully and make sure your contact does not interfere with the employee's leave rights.

7. Implement data analytics.

Leave management can involve tracking, analyzing and reporting on employee leave data. Incorporating data analytics into your leave management practices can help you streamline and automate some of your employees' leave requests, and it can provide insights into patterns of leave requests and help identify problematic occurrences.

For example, leave reports may help you find themes, such as if an employee always calls in sick on Mondays or Fridays, or if their same relative has passed away several times over the course of their employment. Leveraging leave data can also help you effectively evolve your policies and procedures and serve as support if you suspect leave misuse.

When using data analytics for business reasons, such as policies and procedures, follow all applicable laws (such as data privacy and other notification requirements) for your jurisdiction.

8. Offer training and consider company culture.

To help prevent employees from misusing leave: promote honesty and transparency in all aspects of your business, ensure leaders are modeling ethical behaviors for their employees, train supervisors on how to respond to leave requests, and enforce leave policies and report suspected misuse.

Also, consider holding training sessions, such as when an employee is hired, on the types of leave available, the processes for applying for leave, and the implications of any policy misuse.

Additionally, when implementing strategies that may impact your company policy and culture, consider applicable laws, company values (such as trust and accountability),and keep in mind the struggles your employees may face in their day-to-day work lives.

Addressing misuse of leave

Employers of choice will promote well-being throughout an employee’s life challenges, but intentionally false leave requests can cause employer distrust and suspicion and may result in discipline, termination, or legal action.

When suspecting or receiving a complaint of leave misuse, follow established policies and procedures to investigate. If you conclude that the employee intentionally misused your leave program, consult legal counsel before subjecting the employee to disciplinary action, and enforce all leave policies fairly and consistently to deter others from attempting to misuse leave policies.

Conclusion

When addressing misuse of leave:

• Check and adhere to federal, state, and local laws to help ensure compliance.
• Respond to requests for leave fairly and consistently.
• Use care and compassion when drafting and updating policies and procedures.
• Consider conducting check-ins for extended leaves.
• Use data to gain insights on leaves and identify patterns that may indicate possible misuse.
• Cultivate your culture, promoting honesty and integrity to help prevent leave misuse.