Category: Employee Absenteeism

HR 101 for Small Businesses

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December 7th, 2020

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Many startups and several small businesses often rely on a single individual to manage human resources tasks. Some business owners make this decision due to the small nature of the company and perceived lighter workload. However, even the smallest of businesses have to comply with labor laws and other work regulations.

When a single employee manages HR, that individual has to balance compliance with administrative tasks and ensuring all employees receive accurate and prompt paychecks. Their busy workload often means they have little if any time for other HR tasks like recruiting, onboarding, and scheduling.

Investing in HR software can help small businesses reduce manual tasks and master the following essentials:

  1. Compliance. Federal labor laws are complex and constantly evolving. HR ensures the company complies with these laws and handles all required forms such as I-9s, W-2s, W-4s, etc.
  2. Payroll. HR ensures employees receive their paychecks on time without errors. Payroll is a complex task involving collecting timesheets, calculating pay, and accounting for taxes and withholdings. This process is prone to human error when done by hand, which can result in costly compliance fines.
  3. Recruiting. Finding the best person for an open position is a significant challenge. HR employees have to publish job listings, filter candidates, and perform background checks. Poor talent acquisition standards can result in high turnover and poor job performance, which has long term consequences for the company’s success.
  4. Onboarding. HR has more work to do once recruiting candidates for open positions. New employees have to fill out several forms, learn company policies and procedures, and meet their team. Onboarding is critical to help employees find their groove and understand their role within the organization. Without it, they may flounder, make avoidable mistakes, or struggle to engage with their team.
  5. Attendance management. HR manages employees’ schedules and leave requests to ensure the company has the appropriate staffing. This includes paid time off, sick leave, overtime, and more to comply with labor laws. They are also responsible for other areas of attendance, including tardiness and absences.

Without absence management software, it’s difficult to track attendance. Managers from different departments may provide sick leave requests at different hours of the day, and late arrivals may go unnoticed if it’s less than five minutes. While five minutes may not seem significant, it adds up over time—especially if the employee skims five minutes off the end of the workday and extends their lunch break as well.

Robust absence management technology allows companies to track attendance with much greater accuracy. It also allows employers to notice trends and identify attendance issues that can hurt workplace morale, productivity, and profits. To learn how mobile absence tracking software can help your business, contact the experts at Actec.

Absence Management Mistakes Costing Your Business Money

Posted on

November 2nd, 2020

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A talented team isn’t enough to ensure a company’s success. Projects will suffer if critical members duck out early, show up late, or fail to show up at all. This puts extra stress on punctual employees who have to pick up the slack, but this approach isn’t sustainable for long. Eventually, those employees will burnout, and productivity will tank across the board. If you start missing deadlines, clients and stakeholders will lose faith.

Remote employees add a layer of complexity to absence management. Many employers have a hard enough time keeping track of who arrived and at what time at their brick and mortar offices. Remote teams are even more difficult to keep tabs on due to the virtual nature of their work. For businesses that suspect or know they have an attendance problem, the following mistakes could be the cause:

  1. Insufficient attendance tracking. If a company doesn’t have a robust system for tracking tardiness, early departures, and absences, they aren’t going to know where to start to fix the problem. By collecting attendance data, businesses can see if the problem is company-wide, specific to a department or team, or an individual. This gives them a good idea of where to focus their attendance improvement efforts.
  2. Ambiguous attendance policies. Some businesses have a strict arrival time for employees while others focus more on when employees begin working for the day. If a company allows for flexible scheduling, this can make matters murky for employees. It also makes it more difficult to track without an absence management system. If employees come and go at different times, managers may not be able to keep track of who is trimming their work hours. Eliminating gray areas in attendance policies can cut down on employee confusion.
  3. Focusing on the negative. While businesses need to take action against attendance issues, they shouldn’t only focus on the disciplinary elements. Highlighting employees with perfect attendance improves morale and provides a model for other employees to emulate. Offering small incentives such as a free lunch for any employee with perfect attendance for the month can help reduce absenteeism as well.
  4. Not listening to the data. Even the best absence management software isn’t useful if businesses don’t look at the data. This information can help companies identify attendance trends before they become a widespread problem. Knowing where to start investigating saves time and money by homing in on the root of the issue.

Manual methods of attendance tracking are outmoded and don’t help businesses identify attendance trends in time to correct them. Actec developed an absence tracking mobile app to help businesses overcome this hurdle. Our absence management solutions provide several channels for communication including telephonic, text/chat, within the app itself, or the web. Employees can report in for the day from the convenience of their smartphones or devices. This is tremendously helpful for remote teams or teams working out of numerous locations. Contact the experts at Actec to learn more about absence management.

Signs Your Company Needs a Better Attendance System

Posted on

October 19th, 2020

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Keeping track of employee attendance should be a straightforward process. However, without a cohesive attendance management system, several issues can occur. Managers may report absences at different times of the day using a variety of communication methods. With HR receiving emails, texts, memos, or in-person visits on an unpredictable schedule, errors are likely to occur. However, implementing an electronic attendance system can reduce the tedium and frustrations of absence management.

Antiquated absence management processes cost time and money. Upgrading to an electronic absence reporting system can reap several benefits. The following are some key indicators that your attendance system needs an update:

  1. Frequent errors or inaccuracies. Manual timesheets or uncoordinated absence reporting channels are prone to error. Managers may not understand the various types of leave and misreport their employees’ absences as a result. For example, an employee may request leave that qualifies for Family Medical Leave, but the manager may report it as sick leave. Having a streamlined electronic system can eliminate these kinds of record-keeping errors.
  2. Productivity issues in the HR department. If HR employees are spending several hours combing through various emails, notes, and voicemails to try and track employee attendance, they’re losing valuable time. The HR department manages several essential functions that keep the business going, such as employee benefits, employee training, job design and analysis, and recruiting. Having an electronic absence reporting system can free up their time to focus on these other critical tasks.
  3. Employee performance is lagging. Unchecked attendance issues often result in productivity problems. Employees who arrive late, duck out early, or don’t show up put projects behind schedule. They also cause stress for their coworkers as many have to pick up the slack. Having an electronic system sends all attendance records to a centralized location, which allows HR to take note of negative attendance trends. With this data, managers can take steps to identify the cause of the absence issues as well as take steps to rectify them.
  4. Morale is low. Attendance can affect employee morale in several ways. They may harbor resentments toward coworkers who abuse their paid time off without repercussions. A confusing or poorly enforced system can also leave employees feeling powerless. Either way, poor absence management can result in employee disengagement. Electronic attendance software with self-service features gives employees a sense of agency and control.

If your absence management system is creating more problems than it’s solving, Actec can help. Contact us to learn about our absence tracking mobile app as well as our other absence reporting solutions.

5 Ways to Better Manage Employee Scheduling

Posted on

October 5th, 2020

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Employee rosters change often, particularly for businesses that experience seasonal rushes. COVID-19 has also changed the makeup of business hours, employee schedules, and more. Having attendance software and procedures in place can help reduce the confusion, boost productivity, and improve profits. Businesses should consider the following to improve scheduling at the employee, management, and business level:

  1. Maintain an updated list of employees. If company leadership doesn’t know who’s working for them, it can result in understaffing or overstaffing—both of which cost businesses money. Businesses should keep up-to-date records on all employees including their department, any cross-training they’ve received, their skills, and job status (e.g. contractor, temporary hire, part-time, full-time, etc.). These details allow managers to schedule relevant workers without leaving labor gaps or over-saturating a particular department.
  2. Have a plan B. Even the most reliable of employees can experience a last-minute emergency. This is where having a comprehensive employee roster is invaluable. Managers can use the list to identify other employees who have the skills and availability to take over the shift.
  3. Manage talent. Scheduling employees for shift positions that don’t align with their skillsets can erode morale and slow productivity to a crawl. Understaffed workplaces often encounter this issue as they have no choice but to schedule employees even if they aren’t the best fit for the job. Reviewing employee skills and training can provide guidance for more effective employee scheduling.
  4. Look at historical data. Businesses can analyze their attendance data to notice trends like increased demand for holiday scheduling, slow seasons, and absenteeism. This information can guide scheduling practices to ensure employees aren’t over-worked, bored, or ill-suited to the work.
  5. Keep communication simple. Employees have lives outside of the workplace that can place demands on their time and require them to take leave. They need a simple way to submit leave requests to avoid scheduling gaps and reduce staffing confusion.

Actec understands that tracking employee attendance and scheduling restraints can be challenging. That’s why we created an absence tracking mobile app to simplify attendance in the workplace. Employees have several channels for submitting leave requests including telephonic, chat/text, or through the app itself. All requests route to the same centralized location, eliminating communication errors between management, various departments, and HR. Contact us to learn more about effective absence management.

How to Track Excessive Absences in the Workplace

Posted on

September 21st, 2020

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Businesses can’t function much less turn a profit if the employees don’t show up to do the work. When absences begin piling up, it has a domino effect on the rest of the company. Projects may fall behind schedule if a key employee is regularly missing. This bleeds into other projects as well as team members may need to stop what they’re doing to catch up on the absent employee’s work. This effects workplace morale as well, causing a company-wide productivity problem.

Identifying Absenteeism

Without adequate absence management software, managers will struggle to keep track of which employees have impeccable attendance, spotty attendance, or rampant absenteeism. Before taking any action, however, managers need to determine the cause of the absence as many are legitimate. Some common examples include:

  1. Calling out sick
  2. Doctor’s appointments
  3. Paid time off (PTO) such as vacation days
  4. Maternity/Paternity leave and other leave protected by the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
  5. Religious holidays
  6. Unpaid, approved leave
  7. Jury duty

Whether the absence is valid or not, employees should give notice before the day itself with the exception of requesting sick leave. Having an absence management system in place allows managers to keep track of excused and unexcused absences.

The Benefits of an Absence Management System

Absence management systems keep all attendance data in a centralized location. This allows managers to simplify tracking attendance, tardiness, leave requests, and absenteeism. It also lets managers identify trends such as an individual employee that frequently arrives late or calls out of work without notice. With that information, managers can make data-driven decisions and changes to reduce attendance issues, address work-related problems contributing to absenteeism, and improve productivity.

Mobile Absence Tracking

With COVID-19 forcing many businesses to shift to a remote workforce, tracking attendance is more challenging than ever. Having a mobile app to manage leave requests and track absences reduces confusion and simplifies absence management. Actec’s absence tracking mobile app provides employees with several channels for submitting leave requests including telephonic, text/chat, and directly through the mobile app itself. This allows employees to choose the method they’re most comfortable with, which is vital to ensure employees follow attendance policies and procedures. To learn more about mobile absence tracking, contact the experts at Actec.

How to Track Employee Attendance During COVID-19

Posted on

August 17th, 2020

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Accurate timekeeping is a challenging but necessary task for businesses. Companies need to know when employees are absent to identify trends as well as remain compliant with federal leave laws. Without a centralized system, many employers have no idea if all of their employees came to work or not. Having an attendance system also allows businesses to process payroll in a timely manner, adhere to labor laws, calculate savings, and more.

COVID-19 has added a new layer of complexity to tracking absences as many businesses still have a fully or partially remote workforce. Having a mobile attendance system can help eliminate confusion and deliver a number of benefits. Some of the leading advantages of remote absence management technology include:

  1. Accurate and complete attendance hours. Without a mobile attendance system, employees have to call in anytime they need to take time off work. This often routes through their manager who then informs HR or via some other convoluted system. By having a streamlined absence tracking mobile app, employees can submit leave requests from their phones.
  2. Proof of regulatory compliance. Having an automated mobile solution for absence tracking allows businesses to show they comply with the numerous regulations that govern working hours and leave requests.
  3. Provides value to employees. Many businesses choose absence management systems that reduce costs or improve their bottom line. However, they should also keep their employees in mind when implementing new technology. Absence tracking mobile apps are self-service systems that remove the need for employees to contact HR or management about submitting leave requests. Many of these apps provide useful information to employees as well such as their accrued sick leave or remaining paid time off (PTO).
  4. Offers multiple channels to submit leave requests. The best absence tracking mobile apps offer multiple options for employees to submit leave requests to match their comfort level. Actec’s mobile app offers telephonic, text, chat, and mobile channels for submitting absence information.
  5. Identify absence trends. Without accurate absence tracking, businesses don’t have a clear picture of employee attendance. A mobile app provides clear data on absences and highlights trends such as absenteeism or frequent tardiness. The data can also show whether there is an absenteeism problem with an individual employee or a particular department. Knowing that information allows company leadership to choose the best approach to the problem.

COVID-19 forced many businesses to transition to a remote workforce. With little time to prepare, tracking absences and leave requests is more challenging than ever. Actec’s absence tracking mobile app is a simple, self-service tool that delivers absence notifications to a centralized location. Contact us to learn how we can help your business’ absence reporting needs.

Steps to Manage Employee Absenteeism During COVID-19

Posted on

August 3rd, 2020

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When a significant number of employees begin to call out of work or a single employee incurs an abnormal number of unscheduled absences, most businesses know their first step to rectifying the issue is to identify the cause. Stress outside of the workplace, unpleasant managers, and more can contribute to employee absenteeism. However, with COVID-19, businesses already know the why. The pandemic has changed everything about “business as usual” and absence management is no exception.

Companies can take the following actions to manage COVID-related absences in a compassionate, reasonable way:

  1. Update attendance policies. Businesses will need to create new guidelines that are fair to the staff as well as the company. Pre-COVID policies will fall short of reality and create confusion for employees. Most policies will likely require increased flexibility to allow employees to comply with self-quarantine guidelines should they fall ill or experience COVID-19 symptoms.
  2. Plan for absences. Unlike other forms of absenteeism, companies know with a reliable degree of certainty that COVID-19 will cause significant absences in the coming months. Staggering office workers’ schedules or cycling employees in rotating groups can help stop the spread of workplace illnesses. Hiring temporary workers can also help bridge the gap while employees stay home until they’re healthy.
  3. Consider long-term remote options. Several states began phased reopening procedures, which included bringing many employees back into an office setting. However, while some jobs can’t happen in a remote environment, many employees can remain productive from home. Businesses also need to consider that many employees are afraid of falling ill by returning to the office. Many others have children at home with no childcare options or high-risk family members living with them. For a variety of reasons, many employees may want and need the option to continue working from home.
  4. Track absences accurately. COVID-19 added a new layer of difficulty when it comes to keeping track of leave requests. With many employees still working either entirely or partially from home, keeping track of who is absent, tardy, or requesting paid leave is more challenging than ever. Investing in an absence management mobile app can give businesses the flexibility they need to keep absenteeism in check during these unusual times.

Actec understands the difficulties businesses are encountering due to COVID-19. Our absence tracking mobile app allows companies to capture all attendance data, receive absence notifications, and identify attendance trends. Contact us to learn how we can help your business manage employee absences through the pandemic and beyond.

5 Best Apps to Help Employees Manage Stress During COVID-19

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June 29th, 2020

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For many employees, the COVID-19 pandemic has reached a turning point. As many states scale back their stay at home orders, certain employees will return to the workplace while others may remain remote depending on the situation. Regardless, it represents yet another change in an already turbulent time. With so much uncertainty, it’s highly likely that the majority of employees are struggling with stress. High levels of tension can tank productivity and morale as well as lead to problems with attendance.

The following apps can help employees manage their stress and anxiety as they enter into a new phase of working during the pandemic:

  1. Stop Panic & Anxiety Self-Help. This self-help app is useful for reminding employees of their strength and ability to overcome panic. It includes a diary to help employees identify and challenge thought patterns that precede panic or anxiety attacks. The app includes reading and audio resources as well to cope with panic as it occurs. Employees can download this app free of charge; however, it’s only available on Android devices.
  2. Headspace. This free app focuses on improving sleep, mood, productivity, and mindfulness through targeted meditation. The app aims to enhance focus, reduce stress, and recognize stress trigger to limit their control over the user’s reactions and emotions. It’s available for Android and iOS users.
  3. Rootd. Similar to Headspace, this app introduces exercises to improve mindfulness as well as tactics to help reduce stress and anxiety. The app also incorporates a handy feature that allows users to call a confidant or emergency service with the press of a button if they’re in distress. This app is free for individuals to download on Android or iOS devices as well.
  4. MyLife (formerly known as Stop, Breathe, & Think). This mindfulness app differs from the above by tracking the user’s mood and making recommendations to help them at that moment. Once the user checks in with how they’re feeling, the app may recommend specific relaxation exercises, meditation, and more to help achieve a more positive frame of mind. This app is free for Android and iOS users.
  5. Dare—Break Free From Anxiety. Avoiding stress and anxiety often makes the situation worse. This app helps employees to exist alongside their stressors, worries, and fears without being consumed by them. Employees can follow along with guided content as they face their stress head-on.

Managing employee stress will be vital to resuming business operations, sustaining productivity, and keeping absenteeism in check. To learn more about absence management, contact the experts at Actec.

How Flexible Schedules Can Benefit Your Business

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June 17th, 2020

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Absenteeism in the workplace is a challenge all businesses need to be ready to take head-on. Letting attendance problems slide can lead to a productivity crisis as well as spread like an infection to other employees. However, preventing absenteeism is a lot simpler than many companies realize. By implementing flexible schedules, employers can see an uptick in punctuality, productivity, and more.

Reducing Tardiness, Early Departures, and Absenteeism

Employees that work traditional nine to five jobs suffer through rush hour traffic on the front and backend of their workday. This can cause them to arrive late or duck out early to avoid it. Spending hours of their day in traffic can also lead to resentment and burnout. By allowing employees to shift their schedules to an earlier or later time, they can avoid rush hour and find a better work-life balance. Happier employees are more punctual and less likely to call out of work as well.

More Productive Employees

Allowing employees to set their own schedules gives them agency and improves engagement. Often, they get more work done than usual because they’re in a better mood and not struggling with work weariness. If your business doesn’t have to adhere to strict, traditional work hours, you can reap the benefits of improved productivity such as better workplace morale and more profits.

Recruit Top Candidates

Having a flexible schedule is a much sought after benefit and can attract top tier job candidates. Having the ability to set their own schedule can entice applicants away from the competition as well. In addition, employers don’t typically have to worry about absenteeism from high-quality applicants. This saves time and money by reducing employee turnover rates.

Making the change to flexible scheduling may seem radical to many businesses, especially if they’ve always operated during traditional work hours. However, it doesn’t have to be the scheduling nightmare it seems like with the proper tools. Contact the experts at Actec to learn more about our absence management solutions.

5 Personal Habits to Stop Spreading Germs in the Work Place

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February 3rd, 2020

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Cold and flu season is notorious for causing frequent, prolonged absences in the workplace due to illness. Businesses attempt several methods to reduce this problem by implementing hand sanitizer stations, employing industrial-strength cleaners, and providing employees with resources on staying healthy. While these are all good things to do, employees can take additional steps on their own to ensure their continued good health.

  1. Stay home when ill. Many employees feel compelled to come to work even when they’re sick. They may be afraid of falling behind on a major project or overburdening their team by not contributing their part of the work. However, coming to work with an active infection or illness can spread the disease and cause widespread absences, which will only worsen workloads and deadline delays. The best thing employees can do once they contract the flu or other illnesses is to stay home until they’re no longer contagious.
  2. Limit sharing. Borrowing a pen or sharing a bag of chips may seem charitable, but it’s asking to spread germs. Coworkers don’t always show signs of sickness despite being infectious in the early stages of their illness. Limiting contact with coworkers during cold and flu season is a smart tactic to avoid germs.
  3. Keep hand sanitizer close. Employees accept forms, sign for packages, use communal office equipment, and perform several tasks that bring them into close contact with each other even if they avoid sharing personal items. Having hand sanitizer to use after touching office supplies and equipment can cut down on the spread of germs.
  4. Stop touching your face. People touch their faces constantly throughout the day without thinking about it. Rubbing their eyes, scratching at their nose, and covering their mouth while they yawn are instinctual actions, but they also spread germs. Employees that frequently touch their faces are giving germs easy access to invade their bodies and spread disease.
  5. Keep a tidy workspace. Wiping down surfaces, keyboards, and phones with disinfectant wipes can halt germs in their tracks. Being mindful of coffee cups and food containers are also critical as germs can linger on these surfaces and infect employees when they drink or eat. Thoroughly cleaning dishes and keeping food containers sealed can help prevent this.

Educating employees on personal habits to prevent illnesses is critical to reducing disease-related absences. If your workplace is struggling with absenteeism, Actec can help. Contact us to learn more about our absence management system.