According To The NY Times...
"Thirty percent of employers say they check in on workers who have called in sick to see if they really are ill, according to a survey. And 15 percent, drive past their employee’s house, 19 percent check the person’s social media posts, 17 percent have another employee call the sick worker and 64 percent require a doctor’s note." - You're the Boss, Nov 11, 2013 NYTimes.com Where do you fall, and what do you feel if any are the repercussions to morale?
We went to a PTO program and thus have no interest in any time off that is pre-approved. The same, nonchalant approach spills over into absences that are not pre-approved, unless they are excessive occurrences.
When they become problematic, they are addressed as performance issues. We don't question their authenticity or necessity. One avoids potential legal entanglements by using this approach.
I've known of the "drive past the house" or tracking employee whereabouts outside of the office situations. IMHO this is an excessive intrusion into an employee's private life. As I said previously, address it as a performance issue and stay away from spying, accusations and the like, lest you end up in legal hot water.
Treat your employees the way you would want to be treated! Otherwise, you are just being a tyrant.
If you have an employee that does not reciprocate the Golden Rule gesture, address it as the performance issue it really is. If you have to, replace them. You'll be doing all involved a favor.
I agree with anon. This seems like a small company/small ball approach (driving past their house/stalking) which is indicative of really poor management/
Actually the only time I can understand that type of activity is where employees have unlimited sick time (usually police/fire).
Some high tech companies in our area are doing quite the opposite - you have 20 days FTO a year, no reporting, let your boss know when you'll be gone. It's up to the employee to be honest and not take extra time.
