It is Friday morning before a Public Holiday weekend in Ireland. You are looking forward to the long weekend, and so is your team. Then, the phone rings or a message pop up: an employee has called in sick.
As a manager, your initial reaction might be a mix of frustration and disappointment. It is natural to feel that an employee might be using the sick leave policy to carve out an extra-long weekend. However, how you handle this moment—and the days that follow—defines your leadership and sets the tone for your team’s culture. Here is how to navigate this situation professionally, legally, and effectively based on real-world management experience.
Handle the Call and Separate Suspicion from Process
When an employee calls in sick on the Friday before a Public Holiday, your first step is to take the employee at their word. Express genuine concern for their well-being and wish them a speedy recovery. Even if the timing feels suspicious, it is essential not to judge this employee against past experiences you may have had with others.
While it is disappointing for the business, reacting with accusation or skepticism during the initial call damages trust. Accept what the employee is saying in the moment, clarify that their next expected working day will be Tuesday morning after the public holiday, and shift your immediate focus to covering critical business needs.
Enforce Company Policy and Require Sick Certificates
Once the initial call is complete, ensure you adhere strictly to your internal policies. Under Ireland’s Statutory Sick Pay rules, statutory sick leave requires medical certification. Furthermore, many company handbooks specifically stipulate that a doctor’s certificate is required for any absence directly preceding or following a public holiday or weekend, even if it is only a single day.
Requesting sick certs strictly in line with company policy is a step managers often overlook or let slide. Consistently enforcing this requirement ensures fairness across the entire workforce and reinforces that sick leave policies are structured and monitored.
Check out ISME Absence Policy for more information
Conduct a Focused Return-to-Work Meeting on Tuesday
When the employee returns to work on Tuesday morning, conduct a formal Return-to-Work (RTW) meeting using a Return-to-Work form ISME return to work interview form. This conversation should be calm, professional, and structured around business reality rather than personal suspicion.
During the meeting, cover these key talking points:
- Discuss the reasons for the absence and collect any outstanding medical certificates required by company policy.
- Express fair disappointment regarding the timing of the absence and highlight the direct impact it had on the business and their colleagues who had to cover for them.
- Review the work left incomplete from Friday.
- Agree on an actionable catch-up plan for the remainder of the week, acknowledging that because of the Public Holiday, it is a shorter working week with tighter deadlines.
By keeping the focus on business impact and accountability, you send a clear message that unexpected absences affect the whole team without turning the meeting into an unfair interrogation.
Check out ISME’s Return to Work Process for more information
Build a Culture That Minimizes Short-Notice Absences
While policies and Return-to-Work meetings address absences after they happen, building a transparent workplace culture helps prevent them in the first place.
Managers can reduce non-genuine sick calls before long weekends by focusing on two key areas:
- Highlight the Team Impact
Regularly remind your team how last-minute absences affect their peers. When staff realize that calling in sick right before a holiday places an unfair burden on their colleagues, they are far more likely to plan ahead or request annual leave properly.
- Offer Practical Flexibility
Where practical for the role, allow employees to work remotely on Fridays. Providing flexibility around long weekends gives staff the freedom they need to adjust their schedule or travel plans without feeling driven to use sick leave as an excuse for an extra day off.
By combining clear expectations, strict policy enforcement, and practical flexibility, you can manage short-notice absences effectively while keeping team morale high.
To strengthen your approach to employee absence management, statutory sick leave and workplace policies in Ireland, join ISME Skillnet’s HR Bite-Sized Essentials course next Tuesday for Session 4: Managing Absence and Statutory Leave. Find out more and book your place here.
If you are an ISME member and require any HR assistance for your business, please visit ISME HR Hub and login to access policies and templates or alternatively phone 01 6622755 Option 2.
