Struggling against the sheer number of workdays lost through employees taking “sickies,” Norfolk-based food firm VJS Foods has introduced a bonus scheme for spotless attendance records.

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A monthly draw, open only to those employees with consistent attendance, boasts two prizes of £1000. After six months of continued non-absence, employees are guaranteed a share in the £50,000 jackpot.


Personnel manager Mark Oliver told just-food.com that, “it boiled down to the fact that a 3% pay rise is neither here nor there, really, and we were just trying to look at a way of rewarding those people who do come to work every day.” Apparently, the particularly high level of non-medical absenteeism during last summer also prompted the birth of a scheme designed to eliminate unjustified employee absence.


The 400 strong workforce at VJS has apparently welcomed the scheme, which has gone ahead with the full support of the on-site trade union, and the first monthly draw was held last Tuesday (2 January).

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