Without the strict COVID guidelines that we had in previous years, some SMEs are really feeling the pinch as winter hits them hard with sick leave, carers and personal leave.
The sheer volume of absences has made it extremely difficult for some small businesses to keep their doors open, with Chief employee experience officer at MYOB, Helen Lea, saying that many are squeezed.
“It has been a difficult winter for many small businesses and we continue to see them dealing with leave requirements brought on by COVID and other illnesses,” said Ms Lea.
July saw a 44% peak above the long term average for employees of small businesses taking time off, which was similar in April and May, but thankfully not as high as in January, where SMEs were faced with more than 100% increase in employees taking leave.
Ms Lea also said that these increased levels of leave will likely continue throughout the rest of the winter.
The state of Victoria was hardest hit with those taking personal leave 47% above the pre-COVID baseline in July. Tasmania followed at 46% and South Australia at 43%.
Interestingly, the front-facing healthcare sector was impacted least, alongside the social assistance sector, with an increase of 29%, whilst the arts and recreation sector was hardest hit with sick leave averaging a whopping 74% above pre-pandemic levels.
MYOB uses anonymised data from more than 1 million SMEs to create these statistics and have many years of data to compare with. It is interesting to see the uptick of sick leave taken as we battle through a winter of coughs and colds and are more sensitive to illness as a result of the pandemic.
At Accounting Tax Solutions, we understand the impact that absent staff can have on any business, especially one that is still recovering from the economic shock of the pandemic.
We would like to take a moment to offer bespoke financial advice to business owners who would like to have some tools at hand to ensure they are making the right decision for their company when issues like extended sick leave become problematic.
Talking with someone who can offer unique ideas to a situation can be the catalyst for positive change for your company and could be the difference between surviving and thriving.
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