How To Reduce Absenteeism In The Workplace – At first glance (or belatedly), employee absenteeism and tardiness may not seem like a big deal. After all, extreme situations happen. Shifts are rearranged, so it can be rewarding to watch your team come together to cover for a sick co-worker. But what if sometimes at least once a month or once a week? What if absenteeism stopped being a habit and became a behavior?
Employee absenteeism is absence from work without a justifiable reason. Absences do not include accidental missed calls, absences, or circumstances beyond your control, such as illness or car trouble.
How To Reduce Absenteeism In The Workplace
According to CareerBuilder’s annual survey, employee absenteeism is currently on the rise, and in 2017 40 per cent of workers admitted to taking sick leave in the past 12 months, compared to 35 per cent in 2016. An excuse to call was reported. In places where the bear was in the yard, workers were afraid to leave until the dog swallowed their car keys. And in 2015 alone lost productivity related to absenteeism costs US employers $225.8 billion annually. USD or USD 1,685 per employee.
Four Strategies To Reduce Absenteeism In Your Workplace
Employee absenteeism can be difficult to deal with when it becomes a habit or accepted behavior within your team. After all, you can’t force employees to arrive on time. But instead of tracking the unexpected costs of absenteeism, try this six-step process to reduce employee absenteeism:
The first step in learning how to deal with employee absenteeism? Create a formal employee attendance policy. Attendance at work should mean arriving on time as planned. But actually figuring out how to track, document and correct employee absences can be difficult, and there can be many, if any, IFTTW situations. What if the employee arrives 45 minutes later but still shows up? What if they have a sick child or other emergency? What if they don’t show up for work at all? So what?
It doesn’t matter if your company doesn’t have a formal HR department or if you have five or fifty employees. A formal attendance policy allows all team members to clearly understand expectations for work behavior and discipline. So take the time now to create a policy that works for you and your employees. Review a variety of attendance issues such as scheduled absences, unscheduled absences, and tardiness, and determine any necessary disciplinary action and follow-up. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Instead, focus on policies that prohibit absenteeism and explain in clear, simple language what each type of absence means.
When you’re done, you can simply stick the new attendance policy in a binder on a shelf or hide it in a nice sheet of employee letterhead. Ensure that all employees, including new hires, have the opportunity to see and be informed of changes. Emphasize the importance of participation as a shared responsibility and that everyone is expected to keep their end of the bargain. Have your employees sign a waiver acknowledging that they have read the policy and agree to work under the new attendance requirements. It’s a good idea to check your records in writing if any disciplinary issues arise later. And speaking of disciplinary matters…
Manage Workplace Absenteeism
A habit doesn’t happen overnight. The pattern of absenteeism develops over time and may already be viewed as acceptable behavior by the time the problem reaches your desk. To learn how to deal with employee absenteeism, you should consistently implement your attendance policy every time.
That doesn’t mean you can’t show empathy to employees or have room for emergency situations. Instead, proactively include these terms in your policy. There is a slight increase in unplanned absences. One may be acceptable, but two may result in formal review. But remember: an unscheduled absence is very different from a “show.”
Sending messages that they will be late, swapping co-workers, or calling in sick at least lets you know that the employee won’t be working as planned and can give you time to find a shift or prepare for an understaffed shift. If you don’t show up, you can wonder where they are, what happened, and your entire team can be left hanging. Have a separate application for both attendance situations and apply it to all employees, including managers and supervisors.
When it comes to employee attendance, it’s important to keep accurate records. How you track employee absences depends on what works best for you and any shift tracking or management that will use attendance policies. Another easy way to track employee time is with a time clock app that provides convenient on and off notifications.
How To Create An Effective Employee Attendance Policy: Prevent Absenteeism Among Shift Workers
Every time an absence occurs, record it in your time tracking system or employee activity tool. Alternatively, consider creating a separate spreadsheet to track attendance issues. Without a strategy for documenting employee absences, it can be difficult to track employee attendance and flag when one unscheduled absence becomes a regular occurrence.
If your team is small enough to monitor employee behavior, limiting access to yourself may be sufficient. But if you can’t be everywhere at once, make sure other managers also have the ability to document absences and tardiness—even if it’s a separate column or note in that week’s shift schedule.
Why write everything? Many states have legalized layoffs, meaning workers can be fired unless employers can find “just cause” to fire them. But that doesn’t mean you have a blank check to fire all you want—bad firing habits still put you at risk of a wrongful termination lawsuit, and your first line of defense is a well-written paper trail.
Absences may also be covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which provide workers with statutory protections or accommodations for various types of absence “events.” Paid sick leave is also mandatory in some states. Track unique absences, including planned and unplanned absences, to ensure you meet your employer’s legal requirements. And in the event that you need to let an employee go because of absence issues, you’ll have a record to back up your decisions.
Addressing Absenteeism In Your Workforce
Absence is possible. But if an employee calls in sick or doesn’t show up for work, address the situation directly. Don’t allow too much time (or other absences) to pass between them. When you get back to work, sit down and discuss what happened, why it happened, and what is expected of them moving forward. Make sure they know if any disciplinary action or action has been taken as a result of their absence.
Depending on how long you’ve been away, you may want to hold a formal return-to-work interview. Previous research has shown that return-to-work negotiations have a positive effect on absenteeism and may be more effective for small employers. Returning employees will see that their behavior is taken seriously and does not slip into anonymity.
As we’ve discussed before, there are legitimate legal reasons for an employee’s extended absence, such as FMLA or ADA compliance. In some cases, now is the time to decide where to draw the line. How many times can an employee log in on Fridays and Mondays before court action begins? Don’t they seem to arrive on time every Tuesday? Is one absence too many?
If you see a pattern in employee attendance, call. Ask them directly why they tend to be absent on certain days and use your documents as proof. Set specific times and days and see how they respond.
How To Reduce Employee Absenteeism
You may find that there are other things outside of work that are affecting your work and causing you to overeat. Their childcare schedule may change, making it difficult to find a babysitter on certain days of the week. Maybe they started taking night classes and find it hard to get there on time in the morning. After all, it may not be the employee at all, but their schedule.
If your employees have a valid reason for excessive absenteeism and their performance is otherwise strong, find a way to work things out together. Create a performance improvement plan, review employee attendance forms, and adjust schedules where possible. Set goals for yourself over the next 30 days, including reducing absenteeism and tardiness. But if they just skipped work to get an early start on the weekend, it’s time to make some tough decisions.
The main thing here is not to let things go too far. Hopefully, your new employee attendance policy will identify and correct attendance issues at their inception. Being open with your employees can also help them feel more comfortable discussing any issues with their work schedules that may cause absences.
Think about which of your employees missed work,
