Tag: absence reporting

How to Keep the Workplace Healthy to Prevent Business Interruptions

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March 2nd, 2020

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The novel coronavirus has made headlines for weeks and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. With infected Americans returning home from abroad, experts say it’s not a matter of if the virus spreads across the country but when and how severe the effects will be. The CDC confirmed the first case of the illness in the United States with no known origin—the individual hadn’t recently traveled to China or had close contact with anyone suffering from the illness. While the CDC hasn’t confirmed this is an instance of community spread, it’s a harbinger of illnesses to come.

What Businesses Can Do to Prepare

The CDC has three recommendations for what businesses can do now to lessen the spread of the illness outside of pharmaceutical means. These include:

  1. Urging employees to stay home when ill
  2. Canceling large gatherings of people such as conferences or training seminars
  3. Vigilantly cleaning surface in the office

In addition to encouraging employees to stay home when sick, businesses should also consider suspending the requirement to produce a doctor’s note for employees suffering from respiratory illnesses. Doctors’ offices will likely be operating at a hectic pace and doctor’s notes aren’t likely on their priority list. Employees should refrain from returning to work until their temperature has remained below 100.4F for a minimum of 24 hours without the assistance of medication.

As for the workplace, performing routine cleaning of all touchable surfaces is critical. As it’s still cold and flu season, it’s likely employees are already taking measures to protect themselves from airborne and contact illnesses. However, businesses should ensure surface cleanings include doorknobs, keyboards, and any other surface that employees touch that can be wiped down.

Posting signs about proper sneezing and coughing protocol can help prevent the spread of germs as well. In addition, many adults fail to wash their hands properly so businesses should also consider posting notices with guidelines near all sinks.

What to Do in the Event of Closures

Employees may have no choice but to stay home in the event of daycare or school closures. Businesses may opt to temporarily close as well if a certain percentage of the staff falls ill. However, not all businesses can withstand a prolonged shutdown. Businesses should consider updating policies regarding working from home as well as using teleconference tools.

There’s no way to predict where the coronavirus will spread or how it will affect businesses. Now is the time for companies to look at their sick leave policies and ensure employees understand all procedures regarding calling out, working from home if applicable, and returning to work.

Keeping track of office-wide illnesses can spiral out of control if businesses don’t have a solid absence reporting program in place. Contact the experts at Actec to learn more about absence management technology to track paid leave, identify absenteeism, and more.

How to Prevent Time Theft in the Workplace

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February 17th, 2020

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Nearly three-fourths of businesses experience a problem known as time theft, which is when an employee receives income for time he or she didn’t work. This isn’t like sick leave or vacation leave, as the employee informs his or her employer of those absences. With time theft, the employee takes the pay on the sly and the employer is often none the wiser.

What is Buddy Punching?

Buddy punching is one of the most well-known forms of time theft and many employees don’t realize they’re doing anything wrong when they do it. Employees who are running late or need to leave a few minutes early will ask a coworker to punch in or out for them to avoid trouble with their boss. Most coworkers don’t view this as time theft but as one buddy doing another a favor.

A few minutes here and there may not seem like much, but time theft like this costs businesses across the country more than $373 million per year. For small businesses with numerous part-time employees, this could shake out to roughly $30,000 per year. Thankfully, businesses have a number of tactics available to them to prevent buddy punching:

  1. Develop clear rules and enforce them. Employers may think actions like buddy punching are clearly a bad idea, but that isn’t always the case. If attendance guidelines aren’t explicit, employees have room to interpret them on their own. Spelling out attendance rules in clear language allows employers to enforce them effectively.
  2. Stop using physical cards. While not many workplaces use antiquated punch machines these days, plenty still have physical cards that are easy to swipe in or out for a friend. Several online applications allow for digital timecards, which are less prone to buddy punching.
  3. Implement sensitive logins and passwords. While high-tech time cards are harder to falsify, it’s not impossible if employees share their logins to continue their buddy punching practices. Making ID numbers personal or sensitive will make employees less prone to sharing the information and thus cut down on buddy punching.
  4. Lean on technology. If all else fails, employers can turn to biometrics or geofencing to eliminate buddy punching. With biometrics, employees can’t scam the system since their thumbprint or facial recognition won’t match up correctly. Geofencing is also effective as it relies on GPS, Wi-Fi, and cell data to create a fence around the business. If the employee isn’t physically within that fence with their cellphone, they won’t be able to clock into work.

Businesses, especially small businesses, can’t afford to lose thousands of dollars every year for work their employees never performed. Eliminating time theft like buddy punching can help improve attendance as well as boost businesses’ bottom lines. However, buddy punching can be a symptom of a much larger issue. Employees who arrive late and leave early can be a sign of a burgeoning absenteeism problem. Contact the experts at Actec to learn how we can help your business improve attendance and reduce absenteeism.

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.

Addressing Excessive Workday Breaks

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January 20th, 2020

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Employees need breaks to re-energize and remain engaged with their work. Slogging through the workday without pausing to eat and take a mental break can lead to burnout and hinder productivity. However, employees who take excessively long breaks create problems as well. When an employee leaves for lunch and returns well after they’re due back, they can hold up projects or spread the behavior to other staff members.

If an employer suspects or notices staff members stretching their lunch break, they can take the following steps to rectify it and prevent further instances of it in the future.

  1. Outline clear policies. Many company handbooks discuss major attendance issues like how to request sick leave, how the employer handles tardiness, and so on. However, taking excessive breaks doesn’t always make the cut. While employees should know they can’t extend their lunch hours, providing clear, direct rules can resolve any confusion.
  2. Keep records. Having proof of break abuse can assist in facilitating a productive conversation with the offending employee. Making accusations without evidence of any rule-breaking can cause employees to become defensive.
  3. Find out the cause of the behavior. It’s rare that an employee is slacking off for the fun of it. If employers notice employees suddenly taking longer breaks, they should look for the root cause. Problems such as bullying, feeling unchallenged, or issues at home can leave an employee feeling fatigued and disengaged with their work.
  4. Establish a strategy. After addressing the problem, employers need to develop a clear plan of action for the employee while offering support if necessary. Simply telling an employee to stop taking long breaks doesn’t address what’s causing the behavior in the first place.
  5. Avoid micromanaging breaks. It’s not worth raising a fuss over employees that are only a couple of minutes late from their lunch, particularly if it’s not a frequent occurrence. The best way to know if extended breaks are becoming a problem in the office is to keep track of them with an absence management system.

Taking long breaks can lead to additional unwanted attendance issues. Arriving late, leaving early, and long breaks can all culminate in a rampant absenteeism problem. Contact the experts at Actec to learn more about our absence reporting solution.

How to Manage Employees Abusing Their Sick Leave

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January 6th, 2020

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There are several legitimate reasons an employee may call out of work. Illnesses, federally protected leave, and family emergencies can arise without notice. However, when employers begin to notice certain employees always seem to call out sick during the summer or holiday season, they may have an absenteeism problem on their hands.

The Effects of Absenteeism

Absenteeism rates vary depending on the industry, but the averages range from 2.1% to 4% of the workforce. While that may not seem very high at a glance, it can have far-reaching consequences. For businesses with 500 employees, this can mean as many as 20 employees are misusing their sick leave. This costs employers in several ways. Not only do they have to pay the employee for work they didn’t perform, but it also puts a strain on the remaining employees as they have to pick up the slack. This can result in missed deadlines, a loss of reputation, poor workplace morale, and a hit to profits.

Monitoring Sick Leave Abuse

The simplest way to prevent absenteeism is to be aware of it through an attendance system. Employers can keep an eye on potential sick leave abuse in the following ways:

* Recognize the signs and intervene early
* Find out why the employee is abusing their leave; there may be a larger problem at play causing the absences such as office bullying or a scheduling conflict
* Learn to say no to unrealistic requests for leave
* Ensure employees are aware of sick leave policies as well as the resulting disciplinary action for abusing sick leave

Of course, another element of monitoring sick leave is encouraging employees to use it correctly as well. Employees who come to work despite their illness can spread contagion and cause widespread absences.

Balancing legitimate sick leave requests while preventing absenteeism can be a challenge for employers. This is why having an absence management system is vital. Such systems can track absences, identify attendance trends, and more. Contact the experts at Actec to learn how we can help your business eliminate absenteeism.

5 Hallmarks of a Fair and Effective Attendance Policy

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December 16th, 2019

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In a perfect world, employees would arrive on time, work diligently, and leave on schedule. However, a plethora of events can affect attendance—unexpected traffic, surprise illnesses, or sick children can wreak havoc on employee attendance. The worst-case scenario is rampant absenteeism with employees abusing their paid leave or shirking their attendance by arriving tardy, ducking out early, or taking excessive breaks.

Of course, the solution is to enact an attendance policy with clear guidelines, but several elements go into making an attendance policy palatable to everyone while eliminating absenteeism:

  1. Consider the company culture. If a manager is reworking or developing an attendance policy for the first time, it’s likely in response to ongoing problems with attendance. Not having a policy in place can make people lax about arriving on time or remembering to call in promptly for illnesses. There may be cultural factors at play affecting this behavior as well. For example, if most of the employees have young children, they have bus and school schedules to consider before leaving for work. Incorporating flextime may help resolve the issue or give employees options to ensure they arrive on time.
  2. Provide straightforward definitions. Employers should provide clear definitions for attendance infractions. For example, there should be separate categories for no-shows, absences, unscheduled absences, and sick days. The disciplinary procedures should align with the type of absence as taking a planned day off work has very different effects than an employee who didn’t show up at all without notification.
  3. Discipline that suits the scenario. Employers should look at the overall effect each type of attendance scenario enacts on their business. For example, someone running five minutes late does not have as large of a ripple as someone who arrives an hour late. The same is true of someone scheduling an absence to take care of preventative healthcare such as getting the flu shot and an employee who calls an hour after they were due into work to say he or she isn’t coming. A three-strike policy for each scenario up a progressive discipline chain can allow managers to keep track of trends as well as give employees enough leeway to keep the policy fair.
  4. Get employee input and signatures. Even if a policy is fair, no employee is going to take kindly to having new rules dropped on them without notice. Consulting with employees to gain their perspective can offer insights employers hadn’t considered. Once everyone reaches a consensus, having employees sign the policy can help keep them accountable.
  5. Follow the golden rule. Treating others how you want to be treated isn’t a new concept, but employers can lose sight of it while juggling the many demands of running a company. The easiest benchmark is to make sure the employer can comply with the policy without bending over backward to do so. If the employer isn’t willing or able to meet the rules of the policy, then it’s too strict for employees as well.

If your business is struggling with attendance issues, Actec can help. Contact us to learn how our absence management system can help your company.

How to Boost Employee Morale During Winter Months

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December 9th, 2019

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Shorter days with less sunlight can take their toll on employees. Freezing temperatures and winter weather can also make employees less than thrilled to get out of bed and make the frigid trek to the office. With low spirits, employers may start to notice an uptick in employees calling out of work. While legitimate causes for an absence here or there can crop up, employers should always be on the lookout for signs of absenteeism.

Boosting morale with the following tips can help keep the winter blues and absenteeism at bay:

  1. Make the office warm and inviting. Maniacal control of the thermostat may contribute to employee discomfort. No one wants to go to an office that is freezing when the weather is already cold. Small touches like offering hot beverage options such as cocoa or cider can make the office a more pleasant place to be for employees.
  2. Put employee health first. Shorter days mean less sunlight, which can trigger depressive effects in some individuals. Keeping breakroom baskets filled with vitamin-C heavy fruits and Vitamin D supplements can help keep this problem at bay.
  3. Offer work-from-home-Fridays. With wintry weather and chilly winds, giving employees some flexibility during the winter can go a long way toward improving their mood. While not every job is suitable for telecommuting, employers could also consider shutting down the office for a week or two during the holidays to allow employees to maximize their family time without using their leave.
  4. Hold office parties during work hours. Employees don’t typically enjoy mandatory fun if it encroaches on their free time. However, hosting parties with free food and beverages during typical work hours is a big morale boost. When employees relax and socialize, it can reinvigorate their drive.
  5. Host office workouts. Cold weather has a way of sapping motivation, causing many people to slack off in the exercise department. Working out together can strengthen employee bonds and improve the overall mood in the office. In addition to releasing endorphins, exercise helps boost the immune system. This can help keep employees healthy during the cold and flu season.

Finding ways to keep employees happy and productive during the gloomy winter months can help prevent absenteeism. If your employees are calling out more often than usual, you may have an attendance problem. Contact the experts at Actec to learn how our absence reporting program can help your business.

4 Hidden Sources of Germs Making Employees Sick

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November 25th, 2019

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With cold and flu season well underway, many employers are keeping a wary eye out for the telltale sniffles and sneezing that precede an office-wide breakout of illnesses. While workplaces can take several steps to reduce the likelihood of spreading germs, germs linger in several sneaky places. Without addressing these areas, employees can begin to fall ill and not understand why. The following are some of the biggest sources of germs that hide in plain sight:

  1. Kitchen faucets. Everyone knows that office bathrooms are breeding grounds for disease as multiple people touch the door handles, faucet knobs, and towel dispensers. As a result, employees take more precautions in this high-traffic area. However, they rarely give the same attention to kitchen faucets. If the office has a breakroom or a kitchen area with a sink, it can be a breeding ground for germs.
  2. Cellphones. People use their phones more than ever and it’s become a Petri dish employees carry with them everywhere they go. Hands and mouths are the most common human sources of germs and both interact with phones on a regular basis. If employees pass around phones to share ideas or socialize during lunch, they could be spreading illness without realizing it.
  3. Gym equipment. Many workplaces offer access to onsite gyms or gym memberships to their employees as part of a wellness program. While exercise improves the immune system, gyms house a lot of germs that aren’t often correctly dealt with in a timely manner. While gym-goers should wipe down equipment before and after use as a standard of etiquette, a wet towel isn’t enough to disinfect it.
  4. Money. Employees go out for lunch or have meetings with clients over coffee all the time. During these interactions, they’re going to exchange cash, coins, or cards with the wait staff. Even if the restaurant requires employees to wash hands, there is no accounting for where money has been or whose hands it passed through.

Identifying the hidden sources of germs allows employees to take steps to prevent falling ill or spreading disease throughout the workplace. Frequent hand washing, keeping hand sanitizer close by, and avoiding touching the mouth, nose, or face can all help reduce an office-wide flu pandemic. If your workplace is struggling with illness and frequent absences, the experts at Actec can help. Contact us to learn about how our absence management system can reduce absenteeism and improve other elements of employee attendance.

8 Subtle Signs of Bullying in the Workplace

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November 11th, 2019

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Absenteeism is a significant cause for concern among employers in all industries. If employees call out of work abruptly on a regular basis, it can cause considerable disruption to productivity and morale as well as hurt businesses’ bottom line. However, there are often underlying causes for absenteeism and one of the most common is bullying.

While bullying on the schoolyard is often easy to identify, adults don’t resort to pushing, name-calling, and other child-like methods of pushing people around. In the workplace, bullying looks quite different and employers need to keep an eye out for it if they suspect employee mistreatment is triggering unplanned absence.

The following are some behaviors and patterns that may indicate a company has an office bully:

  1. Intimidation. It’s management’s job to keep employees on task and on schedule, but there is a difference between encouragement and using overt or veiled threats to accomplish the job.
  2. Ignoring. This can manifest as failing to greet certain individuals while interacting with everyone around them or as purposefully “forgetting” to invite them to relevant meetings.
  3. Undermining work. This often occurs when management or a fellow employee prevent another individual from progressing on a project or impeding his or her ability to succeed. This can also manifest as giving away promised projects to other team members.
  4. Taking away responsibilities. When employees are overwhelmed with too much work, it’s not uncommon to redistribute some of their less important tasks. However, forcibly removing primary work from an employee without cause is often a form of bullying.
  5. Impossible or shifting deadlines. This is the reverse of the above. Oppressive managers or supervisors set the employee up to fail by assigning too many tasks on an unreasonable timetable or change priorities without notice.
  6. Extreme criticism. Impossible to please team leaders, supervisors, or managers are often workplace bullies. They fail to recognize a job well done in favor of pointing out flaws, real or perceived.
  7. Taking credit. This is usually seen in superiors that take complete credit for their subordinates’ ideas or work without offering any recognition.
  8. Over the top flattery. While this may seem pleasant at first, it’s often a tactic to soften employees to manipulation. A boss who is always crowing an individual’s praises may be preparing to ask for excessive and unreasonable requests of that employee.

Bullying behavior is rarely overt so employers need to be vigilant and implement policies to allow for confidential reporting as well as establish clear guidelines for conduct in the workplace. If you’re concerned about absenteeism, implementing an absence reporting program can help identify trends. Contact the experts at Actec to learn how we can reduce absenteeism in your workplace.

5 Tips for Keeping Flu Out of the Workplace

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October 28th, 2019

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With fall well underway, employers should take steps to keep the flu and other illnesses as far from the office as possible. While it may be impossible to block it entirely, taking steps to contain germs can help prevent a staff-wide outbreak of diseases. When employees fall ill, it disrupts productivity and can tank workplace morale as projects fall behind and staff members continue to get sick. The following steps can help employers keep their workforce healthy during cold and flu season:

  1. According to the CDC, one of the simplest ways to prevent the spread of the flu is to encourage employees to receive the vaccine. Clinics and pharmacies often offer them free of charge or for a very small fee if employees can’t make it to their doctor’s office during normal business hours. Some employers even host vaccine clinics at their own office to make it as simple as possible for employees to receive flu vaccinations.
  2. Employers should look over their leave policy to ensure it encourages employees to stay home when ill. Employees who fear disciplinary action if they call out when ill are likely to come into work when they’re still contagious and infect other employees. Sick leave policies should make note that employees should wait until their fever is gone for a full 24 hours without the aid of medicine before returning to work.
  3. Employers should instruct sick employees to return home, including those who become symptomatic partway through the day. Keeping sick employees away from an otherwise healthy staff can prevent a workplace flu pandemic.
  4. Provide resources to allow staff to engage in preventative action. Keeping the office well stocked in tissues, trashcans, hand soap, and hand sanitizer can reduce the spread of germs. Providing handouts or flyers with reminders and tips on respiratory etiquette and good hygiene can help as well.
  5. Provide resources and education materials about employees who are at higher risk for severe health complications if they contract the flu. For example, pregnant women, individuals with asthma or other chronic lung conditions, diabetics, and so on can experience serious difficulties if they catch the flu. Employers should encourage vaccination, particularly for these high-risk individuals, as well as instructing them to seek early medical attention if they start to show signs of the flu.

Taking the above steps to keep the office free of germs and disease can help prevent or, at the very least, reduce the number of flu cases in the workplace. Keeping employees healthy is vital to maintaining good attendance and keeping productivity on track. Contact the experts at Actec to learn more ways to reduce employee absences.