Wednesday 5 September 2012

Work accident problems

The work accident claim is one of my biggest issues at the moment at my music business' warehouse. 
I can't believe how many people in my work have taken time off and have found themselves to be injured from some form of work related injury. These work accident injuries range from a small finger cut to serious back problems. Back problems are the most common, perhaps due to the heavy lifting involved in the warehouse side of the business. I have suspicions that some of the workers who are using the back problem excuse are using it a little too often, however, I cannot be sure because most even have the correct medical notes from their doctor. 

The doctors notes are often the same, but it doesn't help the business to thrive and is indeed harming much of the business and the ability for it to make money. 

I am losing staff members on an almost daily basis. The main reasons for being off work is injuries from work. Problems like heavy lifting in the warehouse and pulled muscles I have found to be the most common of work injuries.

I would like to find out if there is anything I can do to either increase productivity of my staff, or to stop people from being very petty and taking time off work every time there is a slight injury. I’m sure that some of my staff are not even affected by work accidents but because they see other workers taking time off, they think it is OK for them to do the same. This process has snowballed over this year. More people than ever are taking time off work from work related injuries. 

The main points I would like to work on are the work injuries which are fictitious, most employees I have are not at all lying to get time off work, but some people are not injured and just take time off work for the sake of being able to. It can be really hard to do this as an employer as I feel the rights of the employee far outweigh the rights of the employer. 

How can I make sure that I take on staff who are not going to be off work all the time from so called work related injuries? 

How can I give staff who are already doing this the ultimatum without dismissing them incorrectly, or breaching some kind of worker's rights act? From here on out, I would like to let all my staff know that taking time off work, will affect the ability for me to employ and pay people. When workers change the way the business works, it can greatly affect the ability for me to employ people and make the business a success. 

I would love to find out how other businesses in my position deal with employees who are taking far too much time off work from all sorts of work related injuries. I care a lot for the workers and their families and do not wish to dismiss the true employees who are really unfit for work, but when everyone is taking time off you know it cannot simply be coincidence. Some workers I feel must be taking time off and are not really injured. 

I would like to know if anyone else has found workers in their business to be taking more time off from work related injuries? How can I source employees who will take work seriously and will not take unnecessary time off?

I aim to increase my workforce and increase the online side of the business. Online orders have really began to skyrocket, the money is there to take on more staff, so it would be a shame for me not to expand while the business could go through a growth period. 

Employees always seem to be the problem, finding staff who really want to work can be difficult and I have found work accidents to be another great problem. The fact that there are quite a few people having to move large amplifiers from the warehouse shelves, makes me think I should invest in some heavy lifting equipment to take the pressure off the works who day in and day out are getting themselves into work related accidents in the warehouse.

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