How to Manage Employee Absences

Understandably, your employees will not always be able to make it into work whether this is due to illness, an emergency, or using their holiday. However, it is a major cause for concern if there is not a valid reason for absenteeism as this can create issues throughout the business. Employee absenteeism is challenging in the short-term as you must figure out how to cover the workload and this can bring down productivity, but it also can create issues amongst the workforce which can lead to a wide range of issues. This is why businesses need to know the best ways to manage employee absenteeism — read on to find out more.

Create & Enforce an Attendance Policy

First, you need to make sure that you have a clear policy in place for employee attendance. This will clearly outline what is expected of your staff and what the rules are in terms of scheduled absences, unscheduled absences and lateness along with any disciplinary measures for unscheduled absences and lateness. This creates a transparent, fair and consistent approach which will make absences much easier to manage.

Use Return-To-Work Interviews

A smart way to both manage and deter employee absenteeism is with return-to-work interviews. This simply involves meeting with the team member when they do return to work so that they can outline the reason why they were absent, to explore and discuss and issues and to get an accurate record as well as inform of any disciplinary measures if necessary. This is used to create a supportive culture but also acts as a deterrent for people taking unscheduled days off as people will know that they have to give a valid reason.

Manage with Employee Relationship Management Software

Employee relationship management software can make it quick and easy to manage employee leave and absences with reporting and trend analysis, helping you to spot patterns and potential issues with staff which you may have missed otherwise – this is particularly helpful for big companies with a large workforce.

Determine the Cause

If you find that there are patterns and trends with certain staff members when it comes to absenteeism, then it is important to get to the bottom of why this is. You should ask them directly and provide clear evidence of the trends and give them the chance to explain themselves. It is important to address this from a supportive angle as you might find that there are things outside of work affecting their attendance and you may be able to help whether this is adjusting their schedule or providing resources for mental health support. Of course, if there is no valid reason for absenteeism, then you need to use discipline as outlined in the employee attendance policy, which will hopefully address the issue.

Managing employee absenteeism is challenging, and you must have a clear system in place so that you can be consistent, fair, and swift in your approach. This post should help you to do this and hopefully cut down on unscheduled absences.