Why Employment Investigations are on the increase in the UK
By Lead London Investigator Peter Torley
The TV news is dominated by quite a few major global issues at the moment. But one issue we all may have missed recently focuses on a rapidly growing concern and one that is increasingly a part of our investigations here at Private Detective London.
The issue is Workplace Absenteeism. According to a recent Totaljobs report, this is now a growing and worrying trend for businesses in the UK with sick days having increased by a staggering 41% over the past three years.
As stated in the Totaljobs report: “This creates a damaging cycle, where absenteeism places extra strain on remaining staff, leading to heightened stress, burnout, and reduced productivity.”
The Main Employment Investigation Concerns
More and more employers are now contacting us concerning a few particular aspects of Absenteeism – namely long-term sickness, working while on sick leave, and the attempt to get reluctant employees back into the office after working from home due to Covid-19.
These employers are increasingly keen to investigate and weed out individual cases of flagrant absenteeism so that they can then move forward more confidently in their businesses, replenishing or re-allocating staff if appropriate.
When Sick Leave Begins to Look Suspicious
Of course, it’s entirely normal for employees to become sick from time to time and all businesses are well used to dealing with short, occasional absences.
But it sometimes gets increasingly worse than that for many businesses. Sometimes they will suspect that sickness is feigned and that the employee is simply enjoying frequent time off at their boss’s expense.
Worse still is the increasing tendency for us to be told by clients that they’ve heard rumours that a “sick” employee is actually working elsewhere!
When they ask us to investigate these reports, we often find out that the employee may be secretly earning money on the side – doing freelance work perhaps, running an online business, picking up cash-in-hand jobs, or even working for some other company entirely.
We have also uncovered grave instances where employees who are “out sick” have been found to have been stealing a firm’s intellectual property and client data in order to quietly set up their own business over time.
If that’s the case, a business owner must be very cautious in how they go about confronting an employee with their suspicions. Without proper, professional investigation, these situations can be difficult to prove and may – for example – leave businesses vulnerable to claims of intrusion and/or harassment.
Getting Back into the Office post-Covid
Another major challenge facing many of our business clients is the push to get staff back into the office. When the Covid-19 pandemic forced companies to adopt remote working, many employees got used to working from home. For some, it genuinely improved their work output. But for others, it simply became a way to blur the boundaries between home life and work.
Now that businesses are trying to return to more in-office work, resistance can sometimes be strong among the workforce. Some employees are simply refusing to return to the office, citing things such as stress, anxiety or some new “long-term illness.”
In some cases, of course, those concerns are real and should obviously be handled cautiously. But in others, it can be a convenient excuse to maintain a lifestyle that they don’t want to give up.
As a result, employers are torn between being understanding and sympathetic to the individual but also ensuring that no one is taking advantage of the system.
Other Workplace Investigations
Outside of the issue of sickness, we also continue to investigate many other common instances of employee misconduct.
Recent examples include those who were supposed to be out “in the field” or working remotely but not necessarily doing what they should be – or indeed being where they ought to be. In such suspected cases, we frequently use GPS trackers, lawfully and cost-effectively, to monitor employees over a long period to gain the necessary intelligence.
Professional
In all of these cases, it’s crucial to get a professional to investigate as the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has strict guidelines on employee monitoring. Naturally, at Private Detective London, our team always operates within those guidelines – to the letter.
As seasoned workplace investigators, we ensure that every investigation is conducted ethically, discreetly, and in full compliance with data protection laws. The means of investigation usually covers procedures such as surveillance, public records analysis, monitoring of social media and so forth.
Why Work With Us?
With over 25 years of experience as Employment Law Investigators, Private Detective London helped scores of businesses uncover fraudulent sick leave claims and employee misconduct, thus saving them time, money, frustration and worry.
If you suspect an employee is taking advantage of your company, your first step should always be to get a trusted, Private Investigator to find out the truth for you.
Think you might have an absenteeism problem in your workplace? Get in touch with Private Detective London for a discreet consultation about all our Employers’ Investigative Services.
