The Labour Court recommended that Leo Laboratories continue its absence management scheme, with safeguards for attendance information and sensitive handling of illness-related return-to-work discussions. The recommendation, issued on 17 April 2003, also called for the company to meet the Services Industrial Professional Technical Union to address staff concerns.
The dispute involved 18 clerical staff and 30 laboratory staff. The union objected to the scheme’s introduction without agreement and raised concerns about confidentiality, records and supervision. Leo Laboratories said high absence levels created costs and the scheme was needed, while acknowledging that its time-and-attendance system had previously been used in disciplinary cases.
The Court said attendance controls could be appropriate but warned that genuinely ill employees might feel harassed or report to work while ill. It recommended that attendance information not be gathered using practices the company had agreed to stop, and that supervisors handle illness sensitively.