Healthcare and Medical employers have been under increased pressure since many COVID-19 restrictions were dropped across the country, and their struggles are reflected in new data gathered from Peninsula’s dedicated Advice Line for business owners.
The employer Advice Line took 17,000 calls in Australia in January from employers seeking employment relations help on a wide range of issues.
Of these calls:
20% percent were made by business owners in Healthcare and Medical industries as they deal with the increase in COVID-19 patients and employee burnout.
More than two thousand calls were specifically about work absence – a 41% increase compared to the same time in 2021. Half of these absence calls related specifically to sick leave – mostly from employers in Healthcare and Medical industries who have frontline staff off sick.
Employee termination is also at the forefront of employers’ minds amid vaccine mandates and workplace COVID rules and restrictions. More than two thousand calls received in January related specifically to termination – the majority of which again were made by employers in Healthcare and Medical industries.
Regarding other high-risk industries, 18% of January’s advice calls were from employers who work in trade and construction, 7% manufacturing, 7% retail and 6% hospitality and tourism, who also heavily enquired about absence, sick leave and termination.
Other major issues employers contacted Peninsula about related to employee entitlements, employee management, and work health and safety.
Commenting on the trend, Peninsula Business Partner Emma Dawson said, “Staff shortages due to the pandemic are a real concern for employers as the country learns to live with COVID-19 and employees contract it. It is increasingly important for businesses to plan for temporary workforces to offset potential impacts of employees taking annual leave, or are sick due to COVID-19. This may include hiring casual employees, obtaining labour hire workers or engaging contractors to mitigate the risk of operational impacts.”
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