If you were thinking of offering your employees special rewards as incentives for having good attendance records, then you must read on. In fact, employers that offer attendance bonuses may find themselves falling foul of the law.
The Royal Mail introduced a rewards scheme for staff that did not to take time off sick. Under the Royal Mail’s scheme, workers with full attendance records were entered into a prize draw to win Ford Focus cars or holiday vouchers worth 2,000. As a staff incentive, it seemed to work. The Royal Mail says its overall sickness absence levels fell during a nine-month period (between August and April) by 11%.
However, such schemes could have serious ramifications from a legal viewpoint, and leave employers vulnerable to a variety of legal claims.
Discrimination
Employees could bring discrimination claims on the grounds of disability or sex. The success of these claims would depend on each employee’s particular circumstances and needs, whether in relation to their family, religion or health.
Alternatively, qualifying employees could bring claims for being subjected to detriment treatment as a result of...