Occasional employee absence is inevitable, but the high absence rate and staff shortage can pose a threat to business continuity. Therefore, many business leaders are adopting the absence management policy to deal with excessive absenteeism and the resulting consequences.
What is Absenteeism?
Absenteeism refers to the recurring absence of employees from their workplace without any significant reason. Unexpected absences on an occasional basis can be expected as employees may face personal exigencies. Besides, there could be other reasons like lower engagement at work, workplace burnout, or work-life imbalance.
Irrespective of the causes, repeated absence of employees from the workplace negatively impacts businesses. Therefore, it becomes crucial to assess the reasons for absenteeism and proactively work on an absence management policy.
Types of Absences
Employee absences can be categorized into two types, planned leaves and unplanned. In the case of planned leaves, employees give prior notice to the management about their time off, which allows managers to delegate the employee’s job duties to other staff or temporary workers for a stipulated period.
On the other hand, in case of unplanned leaves, employees fail to show up without giving prior notice.
What is an Absence Management Policy?
Absence management is the procedure used by business leaders and employers to manage and minimize absenteeism in the office. They try to identify the patterns of employee absences and create a policy to reduce them. Usually, the HR team does this by recording the absences of employees, establishing an absence management policy, and ensuring it is being followed by the staff.
Absence management policy may contain numerous details like absences that are acceptable, the process of applying for leaves, total vacation and sick leaves, disciplinary action for violating the rules, etc.
Generally, the absence management policy used by various organizations follows a similar approach. But, as different businesses have unique needs, they can modify the policy to cater to their requirements.
What are the Effects of Absenteeism on Businesses
According to a CDC report, due to employee absence, US employers lose $ 36.4 billion per year. The repeated absence of any employee puts strain on other team members to accommodate the extra workload. It causes other staff to work extra hours, and management has to provide overtime pay to those temporary fill-in.
Most importantly, businesses are unable to serve their customers efficiently. Staff shortage can affect the quality of deliverables, leading to customer dissatisfaction. As a result, absenteeism can also squeeze the profit margins of the businesses.
Steps to Create the Absence Management Policy
- Evaluate Reasons for Absenteeism
Before creating the rules and regulations for absence management, business leaders and the HR team need insights into the underlying causes of absenteeism. They can analyze the data related to employee absence, like the reasons behind absence, leave frequency, and whether prior notice was given.
HR can also have a brainstorming discussion with employees to understand the root cause of most absences.
During this session, they can inquire if employees:
- feel disengaged at work,
- face workplace bullying,
- feel burnout or overwhelmed with the workload,
- feel undervalued and under-appreciated at the workplace?
Such a survey will help HR discern if these absences are related to low employee morale at the workplace.
- Create the Paid Time Off
Most organizations provide paid time off (PTO) to their employees to keep absenteeism in check. Some companies provide a specific number of time-offs per year as sick or vacation leaves, while some firms grant unlimited PTOs to their employees. This PTO can also include different rules and time off periods for maternity leaves, medical cases, etc.
The HR team can define in the policy the number of leaves that can be granted per year and how early employees must apply for them. They can also mention the scenarios in which time-offs can be declined.
- Set the Leave Criterion
Determine how many leaves will be granted under the PTO per year. Allot a fixed number of leaves for emergencies, vacation, and sickness, along with their eligibility criteria. Cases like death in the family, medical emergencies, or accidents can be considered emergency absences and are acceptable as unplanned leaves. However, there might be situations in which unplanned leaves may not be accepted.
In addition, absence management policy can also include some exceptional cases. For instance, an injured employee can temporarily be granted a work-from-home provision.
Determine the Consequences of Policy Non-Compliance
The key to the fail-safe implementation of any policy is making staff aware of the consequences of violation. It can include conducting one-on-one meetings with HR or taking managerial action in case of extreme cases. Emphasizing the consequences of violating policy can cause employees to be more judicious in applying for leave.
Distribute the Written Copy of the Policy
Once the rules related to the absence policy are set, their copies should be distributed among employees for reference. HR can also conduct a session to explain this policy, inform employees about their time-off rights, and answer related queries of staff.
In addition, if the business is looking forward to leveraging any absence tracking software for better management, then relevant training should be provided to HR and staff.
Record and Track the Absence
Once employees are abreast of this policy, it's time to deploy a system for recording staff absences. The record can consist of employees' names, reasons for not showing up, and the frequency of their absence. The more you analyze the pattern of absenteeism, the more you can minimize its likelihood to happen in the future.
This record will give insight into whether the employees are following the policy. Management can recognize those who are violating the policy and take steps to remedy it.
To efficiently manage employee absence, business leaders can equip the HR department with absence management tracking software. This tool must record, capture, and measure the leaves taken by employees. It also allows employees to apply for time off.
Absence Management Best Practices for Businesses
- Poor mental health is one of the root causes of employee absenteeism. To deal with this, business leaders should create an employee wellness program. This program can include flexible break options, counseling, team-building activities, etc. Fostering a good work culture and work-life balance will be helpful in reducing absenteeism.
- You can encourage employees to maintain a proper work-life balance.
- Encourage employees to avail of their leaves even as they schedule the time off well ahead of time.
- Business leaders can promote an open door policy, where employees can talk about the challenges, roadblocks, shift problems, or stressful situations they face at work. Such a culture helps in gaining employee trust by making them feel valued and heard.
- When an employee returns to work after an unplanned and uninformed absence, make sure to have a discussion. After inquiring about the reason for the absence, a possible turnaround could be explored. Specifically, if any employee has returned after a personal tragedy, you should offer empathy and ask how the management can support them to resume their work smoothly.
Conclusion
Establishing a robust absence management policy is essential for maintaining business continuity amidst the challenges of employee absenteeism. By addressing the causes, implementing clear guidelines, and fostering a supportive work environment, businesses can effectively manage absenteeism, enhance productivity, and ensure a healthier and more engaged workforce.
