To maintain a healthy work environment, it is vital to work on absence management. Moreover, it helps boost the productivity of your company. However, it is one of the most common issues faced by employers.
There are many reasons why employees get absent from work such as personal emergencies, sickness, or burnout. Such reasons seem logical; however, many employees get absent frequently. In such a situation, absence management comes in. It is a structured system not only to track the off days but also to handle them.
In this blog, you will learn about absence management, its types, importance, and policies and procedures you can use to manage employee absences.
Are you ready? Let’s start!
What is absence management?
First things first. Let’s cover what absenteeism is.
Absence management is the process that employers use to control employees’ absenteeism through procedures and policies. To manage employee absence, you can start by making policies that are clear and focused. You also need to understand the attendance patterns of your workers, and you need to make changes in your workplace that will motivate the employees to come to the office regularly.
You must keep in mind that absent management doesn’t only mean to prevent the absence of employees. It also means that you should focus on the needs of your employees.
Through absence management, you explore the underlying causes of employee absences.. Besides that, you must know the correct strategies to ensure your company runs smoothly.
Some common types of absences:
The following are some common types of absences in the workplace:
1. Planned absences:
These are the absences that are planned by the employees in advance and therefore they can inform the employer. Moreover, employees plan these absences according to the schedule of your company so that there is no loss.
These absences include annual leaves, vacations, public holidays, and medical checkups.
2. Unplanned absences:
These are the absences that can occur without any notice. These absences can badly affect the productivity of your workplace. Workers mark unplanned absences when they get injured, ill, or have any other personal issues.
You must ensure that absence management is not only good for your office but also for your workers.
3. Short and long absences:
These are the leaves that workers can take from a few days to months. However, you need to understand that you should know how to deal with both situations differently.
Importance of absence management
Also, you need to understand that you should not only keep the record of the attendance of your employees, but also take care of their health and other things.
1. More productivity in the office:
If you manage employee absence efficiently, your employees will come to the office regularly. This means that there would be more productivity in your workplace.
2. Reduces costs:
The high rate of absenteeism can result in the loss of organizations because of the lower productivity, overtime pay, and temporary staffing.
However, a strong absence management system minimizes the overall costs of the organization. This is done by identifying and resolving causes related to absence.
3. Increased employee engagement:
The absence policies ensure that every employee feels a sense of fairness and trust. When employees understand that they can be absent for genuine reasons, but the frequent and authorized absences are not encouraged, they stay motivated.
4. Considers the health and well-being of the employees:
Absence management is not just about reducing the employees’ absences, but it is also about understanding the reasons behind the absences. Also, it involves providing them with support.
5. Ensures legal compliance:
The employment laws require employers to deal with sick leaves, maternity leaves and disability related leaves properly. Moreover, a strong absence management procedure ensures compliance with local labor laws.
Common causes of absence of employees
To manage employee absence, we first need to understand some common causes. This would help you create good relations with the employees and avoid a bad work environment.
Here are a few common causes of employee absence:
Health issues:
One of the most common causes of employee absence is health issues. The following are some health-related issues that cause employee absence:
-
Illness:
Firstly, one of the most common health issues is illness. This includes every health issue from a common cold to heart disease. Many employees take 2-3 days of sick leave for an acute illness; however, some take 15-20 days of leave for a chronic disease.
-
Injuries:
Moreover, another major cause for employee absence is minor to major injuries. Many employees often get injured either at work or at home, leading them to be absent from work.
-
Mental health:
A lot of employees also face some mental health problems due to some reasons, including:
- Bullying
- Harassment
- Drugs
- Relationship issues
- Debts
These are some common causes of employee absence.
Personal issues:
Additionally, many employees report absences due to personal matters, including:
-
Family care:
Many employees report absences to take care of children, patients, or elderly peers.
-
Personal matters:
Apart from that, many employees face hardships due to their personal matters; as a result, they miss work.
Workplace issues:
Lastly, many employees also miss work due to workplace issues. Some offices burden their employees with unmanageable work. In addition to this, many employees don’t get support from their managers and HR, due to which they lose interest in their work.
Absence management policies
It is a document that states how absences will be handled in the organization. It sets clear expectations for the employees and managers. It typically includes:
- Notification procedures: You must tell your manager that you will not come to the office. Also, you need to tell them why you are absent.
- Sick and paid leave: if you are a worker, then you should know about the type of leave your company allows you. Some companies allow paid leave, while some don’t. You must ask your manager about these benefits before signing the contract.
- Recording absence: To ensure that our employees don’t miss work, you need to tell them about how you will track their absence, and what will be their penalty.
- Documentation requirements: set out the rules regarding the evidence and certification for absences. This means that if you take a leave for 3 days, then you must show your medical record to prove it.
- Return to your work: if you have returned to your work, then you must follow some procedures.
- Penalty: If your employee is absent for many days without giving you a good reason, then you should impose a penalty.
Procedure of Absence Management:
Procedures define the step-by-step process so that you can handle the absence easily.
Step 1: Report the absence:
The workers must inform their managers or HR about their absence.
Step 2: Recording the absence:
All absences must be documented on an attendance tracking system. This will help to identify the trends.
Step 3: Assessing the reasons:
Your HR managers must review the reasons for absence and determine if the reason is valid or not. If it is health-related, you need to show a medical record.
Step 4: Return to work meeting:
When the employee returns, a short interview is held to discuss any adjustments and address any other issues.
Step 5: Review and follow-up:
If the employee gets absent repeatedly, then the manager should conduct a formal interview and look for other options, like flexible work, etc.
Some effective strategies for absence management:
The following are a few strategies that you can apply to manage absences:
1. Making your employees happy:
Firstly, you should start by making yor employees happy in your workplace. You can do this by keeping a friendly relationship with your employees. In addition to this, you must make a good impression in front of the employees so that they don’t fear telling you about their issues. This will help you create an environment that is ideal for your employees.
2. Train managers:
In addition, train your managers on how they can manage the absence policy. Moreover, managers should know how to spot attendance patterns and how they initiate a polite conversation about absences with employees. Apart from this, they must know when they should involve HR.
3. Promote work-life balance:
Moreover, promote work-life balance for the employees by doing a few things:
-
Flexibility:
You can balance the work life and personal life of your employees by allowing flexibility. Many employees miss work due to other commitments. However, to avoid this, you can offer flexible hours. This will allow employees to complete their commitment without taking leave. Allowing flexibility also ensures better relations with employees.
-
Encourage breaks:
Besides that, you can encourage employees to take extra breaks. Many peers often get exhausted with the workload and stressful environment. Allowing them breaks will prevent their burnout and help them focus on their work without any stress.
-
Remote work:
You can also allow remote work for your employees. This will allow the employees to complete their work even if they can’t come to the office.
4. Give rewards:
In addition to this, you can give rewards to employees for proper attendance. This will encourage others to avoid unnecessary absences.
Consequences of poor absence management
Poor absence management can lead to different consequences that might affect the entire workplace.
The following are some potential consequences of poor absence management:
-
Reduced productivity:
Firstly, poor absence management reduces the productivity of the entire organization.
In addition to this, if you manage the office poorly, employees will leave your workplace. Due to this, you will have fewer employees who have to do all the work. Apart from that, if there were fewer employees in your office, the work of the remaining employees would increase. For this reason, the employees might find it hard to complete all the work within the due date. This will reduce the overall productivity of your office.
-
Higher expenses:
In addition to this, you need to keep your remaining staff so that you don’t lose your clients. You need to make sure that these workers don’t leave your office, and for that, you must pay them for working late, which will increase the expenses.
-
Stressful work culture:
Along with this, if your management is poor, then your employees might get stressed and lose interest in their tasks. Many employees also get stressed due to the increased burden and workload. In addition to this, the chances of conflicts increase in such situations, which leads to a toxic environment.
-
Damaged reputation:
Additionally, poor absence management can damage the reputation of your company. When an employee leaves your company due to the unhealthy environment or immense work pressure, they might not recommend their mutuals to join your company. As a result, you would struggle in the industry.
However, to avoid such consequences, you need to ensure reliable absence management which shows empathy with the employees and ensures a healthy and productive work environment.
Final thoughts
In a nutshell, the absence management makes sure that when employees take leave, the company’s workflow is not affected. By following the tips and policies they can minimize the absenteeism and create a good workforce.
