As the workplace culture evolves to increase flexibility and engagement, companies consider how to handle attendance policies. Are absence management policies still appropriate or should companies trust employees to manage their time?
Distrust Leads to Disengagement
If management distrusts staff and creates strict attendance policies, the company may see an increase in absences. Employees can tell when managers don’t trust them and this can cause staff disengagement. Disengagement can lead to a decrease in effectiveness and an increase in absences as people find convenient excuses not to go to work, like a great football game on television.
Trust Increases Productivity
Statistics prove that just as a lack of trust decreases productivity, management faith in its staff increases production and engagement. People manage their own time and DVR that football game so that they can put more effort in their work.
Is There a Middle Ground?
So if trusting employees improves engagement and decreases absenteeism why is an attendance policy necessary? Unfortunately, not everyone deserves trust. There are employees who will be habitually late or absent, so the company needs to create policies to manage this minority.
In search of a middle ground, some companies have created attendance guidelines that management enforces when necessary. This allows the majority of workers to manage their time on their own while management offers support as needed. When someone abuses this system of trust, management has formal procedures in place to reprimand the transgressor.
Absence management policies don’t need to be strict or enforced with an iron fist. A guiding hand may prove affective for most employees and you will create a positive work environment that encourages employee engagement.
If you are looking for more information regarding absence reporting or employee management, contact the experts at Actec today.
Tag: absence management
Don’t Be Tardy with Your Absence Management Strategies
Employees who are chronically tardy are the bane of many managers. Showing up ten or fifteen minutes late may not seem like an issue to some workers, however, from a management standpoint, it can be a serious problem. This is why part of a company’s absence management strategies has to include tardiness policies.
Create a Point System
Creating an occurrence policy should include people who arrive late, leave early or miss an entire day. For example, employees would receive half an occurrence if they are more than ten minutes late. This will help workers understand that the company believes punctuality is essential for continued employment.
Create a Workshop
Another strategy would be to have Human Resources conduct a workshop to help employees understand the importance of arriving to work on time. To make the workshop successful, it is important to stress the benefit to the employees and not just the company.
Put it in Writing
Create a section in the employee handbook that explains the company attendance policy and how tardiness will be handled by management. This will help if you need to reprimand or let go of employees who are chronically tardy to work.
Tardy employees effect department morale, production and management effectiveness. Including tardiness policies when you create an absence management strategy will create a better and more productive workforce.
If you are looking for more tips for improving absence reporting or employee management, contact the experts at Actec today
Reduce Employee Absenteeism by Increasing Understanding
Do your employees understand your company attendance policy? You might be surprised to find out many employees don’t know much about company policies beyond how much PTO time they have accrued. Helping your staff understand your company’s absentee management policies will reduce employee confusion and absenteeism.
What’s An Unexcused Absence?
Does your company differentiate between excused and unexcused absences? Most organizations do and try to discourage unexcused absences because of their effect on production. However, many employees don’t understand the difference, especially if they use PTO time to cover both.
Make sure workers understand that if they don’t obtain advanced approval from a manager regarding time off it is considered an unexcused absence. And if your organization terminates employees for accruing too many unexcused absences, make sure they understand this policy as well. If they think they are okay as long as they have PTO time then an employee may not comprehend why they are receiving warnings from HR.
Partial Absence Policies
Another common area of confusion between employees and management is concerning partial absences. Employees often figure as long as they show up for their shift they are in the clear. They may not realize the impact that coming in late or leaving early has on a company.
As with unexcused absences, most companies have policies regarding partial absences. Managers need to make sure that employees understand leaving at noon for a doctor’s appointment and not returning for the rest of the day is a partial absence and may result in disciplinary action if it happens too often.
Many HR and employment issues stem from an unclear absentee management policy. Companies should make sure all employees have a thorough understanding of attendance policies when they are hired. Management should also periodically review attendance policies with their teams to make sure there are no misconceptions. For more information on how you can get absence management under control, click here.
Creating an Absence Policy That is Fair and Effective
In order to be able to track absenteeism in your organization, you need to have a defined absence policy. This way everyone within the organization understands the company’s definitions and expectations regarding attendance. In order for an absence policy to be successful, it needs to be fair and effective.
Define All Terms
Managers and employees need to understand the company’s definition of terms such as tardy, absence, leaving early, failure to call in, legitimate absence and illegitimate absence. A defined policy that is outlined in an employee manual will make sure that all employees understand the terms and everyone is treated fairly.
Traditional or Non-Traditional Policy
You also need to decide if your company wants to follow the traditional absence policy where everyone has a set number of vacation and sick days or non-traditional where everyone receives a vacation days and a specific number of occurrences. Many companies are adopting the non-traditional policy because if offers a way to track tardiness, absences and failure to call in.
Non-Traditional Policy
The non-traditional policy offers a specified number of occurrences that employees can use or be charged with depending on the type of absences. For example, being two hours late can be considered a half occurrence, while being absent is a full occurrence.
One of the benefits to employees of the occurrence system is that if he is absent four days in a row it is only considered one occurrence. Another possible benefit to employees is that some companies allow occurrences to be earned.
For example, if an employee isn’t absent, late or leaves work early for four months she can earn back half an occurrence.
Disadvantage of a Non-Traditional Policy
While the non-traditional policy may offer benefits to employees, it can be difficult for companies to manage. Managers have to track the number of occurrences an employee has, warn employees who are reaching their limit, and monitor if employees have earned occurrences back.
If your company is considering a non-traditional policy or looking for help with managing this process, click here to learn more.
Absence Management of Exempt Employees
Absence management can be difficult if you are a large organization or if you have full and part time employees. Management of employee absences can become even more complicated if some of your employees have exempt status. Make sure you understand Federal Labor Standards to avoid falling into common pitfalls with your exempt employees.
Department of Labor Audits Companies
If any of your employees have exempt status you should be aware that the Department of Labor does perform audits. The organization wants to make sure that designated employees truly qualify for exempt status and that your company is following the rules. If you aren’t, then the Department of Labor may revoke the status and your organization may be required to pay the employee retroactively for any overtime or deducted wages.
Common Mistakes Most Companies Make
Many organizations don’t fully understand the exempt status and make some common mistakes, including:
- Only paying an employee for a half day if they left early
- Deducting pay if the employee takes time off
- Deducting pay if the employee has jury duty
- Deducting pay if the employee calls in sick
According to the Federal Labor Standards, you must pay an exempt employee for a full day as long as they are at work for at least five minutes of their shift. An exempt employee must also be paid for days that are missed due to illness or time off unless they miss an entire week.
There are of course exceptions to this rule, such as if the employee has vacation time or sick days he can use to replace the missing pay. There are also exemptions under the Family Medical Leave Act if your organization has 50 or more employees.
Understanding and managing employee absences gets complicated but there are ways to make tracking employee absenteeism easier. For more information on how you can get absence management under control, click here.
The Importance of the Return-to-Work Interview
If you’re a supervisor who faces employee absenteeism as a recurring problem, one highly effective approach to consider is the “return-to-work” interview, a meeting to be conducted as soon as possible upon an employee’s return to work. Consider this to be a “counseling interview,” the first in a formal sequence of meetings you’ll want to schedule if the employee’s absenteeism continues to be a problem.
In this first meeting, your goals are to welcome the employee back to work, establish the cause of the employee’s absence, demonstrate your commitment to controlling absenteeism, explain how the employee’s absence has affected the department, and determine steps to improve the employee’s attendance going forward.
If at this stage any medical condition is found that’s likely to affect the employee’s ability to do his or her job, arrange an appointment with a company-approved doctor.
At all times, you’ll want to demonstrate that your enforcement of absenteeism policies is facilitative rather than punitive. Stress also that your goal is to treat all employees equally.
If the employee’s absenteeism persists without adequate justification, you should proceed as necessary through a series of additional meetings, perhaps also involving human resources and a union representative. Sequentially, these meetings will take you through the verbal warning stage, the written warning stage, and temporary suspension from work. If the employee ultimately is found to be unable to comply with the firm’s policies on absenteeism, the final stage is termination of employment.
Distinguishing legitimate absences due to illness from unwarranted absences is a challenging task for any supervisor. However, through consistent use of the return-to-work interview, you’ll find you gain valuable insights and leverage in addressing the problem.
Absence Management with Employee Engagement
There are times when you want employees to call in sick. Unhealthy employees are less productive and can spread illnesses throughout the office. However, some employees call out because they are unsatisfied with their job and aren’t committed to the company. To reduce this kind of absenteeism, your company may want to increase employee engagement.
What is Employee Engagement?
Employee engagement is a term used to describe strategies that increase worker involvement with decision making, product development and management. It helps employees understand that the company values the people who work for the organization. It also helps companies by increasing flexibility and decreasing the time to launch process.
What Kind of Engagement Strategies Work?
Some of the best engagement strategies to use to increase employee satisfaction include:
- Sharing marketing and production goals with employees
- Including employees in strategy sessions
- Allowing employees to manage small projects
- Receive input from employees regarding policy changes
By implementing these strategies employees will feel valued and that they are making an important contribution to the company.
How Engagement Decreases Absenteeism
When employees feel engaged and valued, they are satisfied with their career and are committed to the company. They look forward to going to work every day and less likely to call in sick because they are bored, restless or unsatisfied.
Employee engagement increases productivity and efficiency while decreasing absenteeism and employees leaving for competitors. This will help make absentee management more efficient, but your business may want to consider outsourcing this part of HR to focus on other business processes. For more information on our services, contact us.
Absentee Management During Back to School
Now that school is back in session, companies may face a surge in employee absenteeism. By being proactive, businesses can create effective absentee management strategies that keep employees from calling out of work.
Back to School Confusion
After a few months off, employees and their families have to adjust to the new routine of getting to the bus stop on time. And if parents transport their children, the first few days can be hectic at the school drop off location. Getting organized takes time and sometimes missteps happen. Children miss their bus, forget their lunch or a traffic jam occurs in the school carpool lane.
Businesses may want to change their attendance policy to allow more time for employees to appear for work before counting against the person as a whole day. Managers may also want to talk to employees with families about changing their schedules for the first two weeks of school to help parents establish the new back to school routine.
An Increase In Illness
Back to school can also mean an increase in illnesses being passed around a family. This is especially true for young children who are going to school for the first time. Preschoolers need time to build up their immune system as they are exposed to more children and more germs.
In today’s households, both parents often work and there are many single parent families with no back up childcare. Daycares don’t allow parents to drop off children who are ill, so many employees end up having to call in to care for their sick child.
One way to help offset employees who stay home to care for children is to allow them to switch shifts with other employees. This way they can wait for the other parent to come home before leaving for work. And depending on the employee’s position, they may be able to do some of their work from home, which allow them to stay productive.
When companies enact creative absentee management strategies, employees will see the business considers them a valuable asset. When people are valued, they will make an effort to make sure that they are able to balance work and life obligations in order to reduce absences. Working together, companies and parents can survive the back to school confusion while staying productive and effective. To learn more about absentee management and how we can help your business, contact us.
Top 5: Blogging on Absence Reporting
Unreported or incorrectly reported absences can cost companies millions. And while some organizations choose to set up internal absence reporting solutions, the process is complex, expensive, and time-consuming.
Understanding absence reporting strategies, however, is crucial to fixing the problem – even when outsourcing the intake solution. Here are 5 of our most popular blog posts on absence reporting implementation, outsourcing, and strategizing:
Best Practices to Manage Disability-Related Absence
Disability-related absences are better managed by building early disability reporting practices and disability duration procedures. In doing so, employers effectively manage and reduce absenteeism.
By setting up the following practices, you can improve how absence due to disability is handled:
- Initial disability reporting: Include facts about an employee’s absence or disability in the claim as soon as possible — it’ll help cut down on the amount of time out of the office and increase the “return-to-work” probability.
- Disability duration strategy: Guidelines help forecast the length of a disability and create a standardized technique for assessing the usefulness of a return-to-work program. Employers can customize their plans accordingly.
Absence Management can help your business lessen short and long term absences due to sickness. To get rid of additional administration pressure, many companies have outsourced this service. For more information on our services, contact us.