When employees take time off from work for planned vacations or personal days, All Rights Reserved. The important thing is to address problems with chronic absenteeism before it becomes a problem. This is just one of the many benefits we offer to our Compliance Management Service members. 2. Team members making a habit out of excessive late arrivals and early departures is a major problem across multiple industries. Well meet again in 30 days to review your progress and Ill let you know then if this requirement will continue.. Unplanned employee absences will happen. Even if every person on your team contributes to attendance issues, having one-on-one conversations can communicate how important it is for everyone to work toward To expect every one of your team members to have perfect attendance is not realistic in any way, shape, or form. Poor employee morale can be a leading cause of excess absences. Of course, you will want to determine whether or not its appropriate to point to the handbook at this time or discuss the negative impact of their absenteeism on the business. A clearly defined leave policy i.e., the definition of approved vs. unscheduled absence, unexcused absence, and PTO (paid time off). Share the chart with him and ask if he, too, notices a pattern to the leave. The first time you address the issue, you want to ensure that the tone remains one of concern and information-gathering rather than discipline. So why not sign up for Time Doctors 14-day free trial and get one step closer to efficient attendance management? Its like disciplining a child two weeks after they did something wrong. HR documentation that dictates company policy: Whether you copy and paste the policy Simple as that. Typical changes to watch for are city and state minimum wages, discrimination, OSHA and sick leave laws. If the employee. Attendance refers to the frequency and consistency with which you show up to an event or commitment, like work or school. The right conversation with your employeeat the right time might be all you need. And it doesnt take very long for absenteeism to negatively affect productivity and business profits. You can see which of your employees are late or miss work on any day so you dont longer have to scramble around trying to see whos present. These can include phone calls, letters and parent-teacher conferences. Track attendance issues. This isnt a disciplinary meeting, so be sure to keep the mood one of information-gathering and concern rather than condemnation or threats. Include verbal warnings, as well. How to issue a verbal warning. What suggestions do you have for making sure the issue doesnt continue? Step Four: Potential Accommodations The timesheet report is another powerful attendance management feature. Time Doctors work schedules feature lets you set shifts and/or schedules for any of your employees, making it easier to monitor whether employees were late or absent for a shift. Its a good idea to proactively deal with the issue of absenteeism by working to improve the policies outlined in your employee handbook. If so, please feel free to leave a comment down below, and well get a conversation started! Traditional methods of recording employee attendance, such as signing in on a ledger, often lack security measures to protect employees data. Once youve discovered the pattern of excessive absenteeism, its time to sit down and have a one-on-one conversation with the team member. Even a simple spreadsheet can be extremely helpful in maintaining awareness of absenteeism on your team. After meeting with your employee and working to create a solution, the next step is to keep an eye on their future attendance. If the employee communicates that they will be leaving the job soon for a position at a different company, you at least now have the necessary information to begin the recruiting process. More than one employees absences have conveniently coincided with the home games of the local baseball team. Steps to take when dealing with attendance problems: Termination: If it is determined that the employee should be terminated, the employee will be advised that as a result of excessive attendance issues, they will be dismissed. 1. Not only can absenteeism lead to less work getting done, but it can also reduce the quality of the work that does get done. The most reliable way to demonstrate patterns of policy violations is with an absence tracking system. And no matter the size of the company, morale is affected when coworkers have to pick up the slack of a routinely absent worker. 1: Establish an Attendance Policy. Copyright 2021 HR Insider - a product of Bongarde Media |, Benefits, Compensation & Labour Relations, What Can I say? Make sure he realizes that continued excessive or undocumented absences could lead to disciplinary action, and even cost him his job. Be aware of the possibility that the employee may be entitled to Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave. School attendance problems are complex and often very challenging to address. Keep communication lines open by being available to employees (through video calls, instant messaging, etc.). Managing employees attendance records can be tedious, and with traditional methods, theres too much room for inaccuracy. 4. You should inform the employee that due to continued excessive absence, a formal written warning will be issued, and it will remain in their file for a specified period. The more proactive you are in recruiting, the more time you have to find the right candidate to fill the position. If coming into the office is an issue (for example, due to restrictions following the COVID 19 pandemic), employees can easily work from home, and their hours can still be tracked with attendance management software. However, in certain casesperhaps where the worker is the only employee, required to open the doors for business at 8:00an unreasonable hardship might occur. Its time tohave atalk. Often an employee is unaware of how one person calling off impacts sales, service or company image. Lead by example. The important thing is to address problems with chronic absenteeism before it becomes a problem. When your coworkers arent putting in the same amount of work as you, it can reduce your enthusiasm, confidence, and willingness to go above and beyond at work. School attendance problems are complex and often very challenging to address. The ideal organization will have a strong core team of loyal employees that help create a healthy, productive, and thriving culture. Our engagement survey can help pinpoint issues and get employees back in the door! In a small business, these effects are even more noticeable, because the size of the company means the work cant always be redistributed among other employees. To figure out if an absence is excessivelook at data to find out. When people frequently miss days, it can mean they get out of their work flow. In some cases, you may be able to arrange a flexible work schedule if it doesnt affect your business and other employees. Track your employees' absences easily and efficiently with an attendance management system you can use right from your phone. Its important that your team knows excessive absences will be handled in a way that lines up with the attendance policy with no surprises or special treatment. 8. Can you tell me why youve been absent on so many Monday mornings?, Listen to the employees response and evaluate the situation. This way, theres no confusion employees are aware of what they need to avoid. He has experience both on the agency-side and corporate-side of the staffing business, with a focus in the financial services space at companies like Bloomberg and UBS. This isnt a disciplinary meeting, so be sure to keep the mood one of information-gathering and concern rather than condemnation or threats. Get full access to HR Insider to make sure it's the right fit for your organization! In addition to low morale, high absenteeism rates affect productivity and cause teams to miss their project deadlines. Joes not alone 2007 research from time and attendance software provider Kronos suggested that approximately 7 million U.S. workers call in sick after the Super Bowl each year. Another one always has a family emergency when projects are due. Once you have spoken with your employee, you may find that they dont seem to have a reason to explain their frequent absence from work. Lost productivity will also affect your companys bottom-line in time. Consider requiring the worker to produce a doctors note for each unscheduled absence from the workplace, otherwise he will be considered absent without leave. and other time off. An employee consistently not coming to work can increase the stress levels of everyone at the office. If it seems appropriate, given the information youve gained from your employee, you can take this time to remind them of the policies written in the handbook and how they apply to their particular situation. The tension between your employees work and personal life may be causing them a great deal of stress, and just having the opportunity to explain themselves to their manager or the business owner can be an enormous weight off their shoulders. Listen and be empathetic, but take the opportunity to reinforce the expectations and requirements of the job. Who needs to lay out the company's expectations for attendance and the seriousn Delaying the discipline does no favors and just makes it worse when the hammer comes down. Ask him if there is an explanation for the pattern of absences. You were expecting itafter all, he was sick the Friday before a long weekend, and the Monday after the big game. Get a dedicated team of HR experts on your side today. When you first become aware of an attendance issue, its best to gather information and find out why an employee has been coming to work late or not at all. attendance problems, showing a printout of the employees attendance history with the absences highlighted has a dramatic effect (your HR/Payroll office can provide you with this upon request) The employee is less doubting and confrontational when the performance issue is presented clearly and factually As an employer, not only is your business reputation at stake, so is the livelihood of everyone in the organization. Even if you dont know the reason, a pattern of absences might indicate that the employee could qualify for intermittent leave. If you notice a marked improvement, be sure to let the employee know you appreciate the change. It reduces productivity, increases office conflict, and creates more turnover. And thats all part of what comes with running an organization. Upper management or entry-level employeesit makes no difference when it comes to enforcing the rules around excessive absenteeism. Meet with the employee privately. Do you have any questions about how to approach the topic with your team? Our team of experts (which includes lawyers, analysts and HR professionals) keep track of complex legislation, pending changes, new interpretations and evolving case law to provide you with the policies and procedures to keep you ahead of problems. But team member absences become excessive when they fall above a normal level of absenteeism or become unreasonable. You can also use this time to explain to your employee how their missed work days impact their team and the business. Prepare for the meeting by gathering all the facts, including dates of absences or tardiness, reasons given for each incident, and any supporting documentation or notes. after the Third Conversation, they will enter the Formal Attendance Process. People have doctor appointments. You can do this by following the steps weve laid out here relying on a written attendance policy, accurate attendance data, open dialogue, an accommodating attitude, and finally, commencing formal procedures. As a result, the employee is late or calls in every Wednesday. Need some quick training on a specific HR topic? With your attendance policy clearly laid out in your employee handbook, use that to help back you up as Before talking with the employee, check with your HR representative. Pay attention to improvement in attendance. Record the employees absences to see if any obvious trends or patterns exist. Employee attendance infractions can have severe consequences. Team members who are always absent can seriously affect your teams productivity. 1. Heres how employees can start tracking time once theyve downloaded the Time Doctor desktop application: The time worked will be recorded, and managers and business owners can easily access this information. Prepare the employee for the meeting by letting him know what you plan to discuss: Joe, Id like to meet with you at 3 today, in my office. Letting excessive absenteeism go on for months before you talk about it does a disservice to everyone involved. Discuss the specific cost of the employee absences to your business. Provide him with any relevant paperwork, such as the, evaluate all possible options for accommodation, I want to work with you to resolve this problem. On the plus side, its possible that taking steps to boost morale in the workplace could reduce employee absenteeism. Remember, this Focusing on the symptoms of chronic absenteeism versus addressing the root cause can result in unnecessary turnover and wasted time on your part. It has all the features necessary to help you manage employee attendance with ease. I have some concerns about your attendance that I need to discuss with you., Joe, when youre out, customers notice delays, and your coworkers have to take on the extra work. You cant expect your employees to adhere to a strict attendance policy if you continually flout it yourself. Fair and consistent accountability is key to effectively enforcing your time and attendance policy, not to mention building respect from your team while inspiring integrity. This isnt a permanent solutiononce a sustained improvement has been observed, you can remove the verification requirement or graduate the employee from the performance plan. When everything is laid out clearly, management is held accountable to follow through with the same kind of treatment for everyone. We respect your privacy and take protecting it seriously. He also has core experience with information technology staffing, and has worked for major software companies such as SAP Business Objects and IBM/Informix Software. But theres probably something else going on deeper than that. Dont make a big deal about the disclosure its important to normalize the discussion. After all, with multiple employees accessing these records, anyone can easily alter information. If you notice a marked improvement, be sure to let the employee know you appreciate the change. For large businesses with multiple locations across the globe. Oh, and the best part? Explain how the missed work days hurt the business, too. Workology Inc. All Rights Reserved. To decide if the absences are unreasonable, youll need to base your decision on the underlying reason for the absence, your companys policies and procedures when it comes to time off, and the average level of absences expected in your industry or at your worksite. if(!window.mootrack){ !function(t,n,e,o,a){function d(t){var n=~~(Date.now()/3e5),o=document.createElement(e);o.async=!0,o.src=t+"?ts="+n;var a=document.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];a.parentNode.insertBefore(o,a)}t.MooTrackerObject=a,t[a]=t[a]||function(){return t[a].q?void t[a].q.push(arguments):void(t[a].q=[arguments])},window.attachEvent?window.attachEvent("onload",d.bind(this,o)):window.addEventListener("load",d.bind(this,o),!1)}(window,document,"script","https://cdn.stat-track.com/statics/moosend-tracking.min.js","mootrack"); } mootrack('loadForm', '38ce2780f651441391ae144791859771'); Need a policy because of a recent regulatory change? Or the Friday before. All Rights Reserved. Youll be able to recognize when you have a serious employee attendance problem. One issue where buy-in can be particularly tricky is attendance. May 17, 2018 Wifi Attendance Super Admin. Ask what you can do to support them and help them show up on time, as scheduled. Generally, an attendance write up follows other interventions to address the employee's attendance, such as a meeting with the supervisor or HR. Say goodbye to no shows that stack up to excessive absenteeism over time. Reiterate how vital excellent attendance is to your operations. Identifying a genuine issue like transportation, child care or illness might allow you to work with the employee to address the absences more effectively. Approaching this conversation with compassion is an excellent place to start, as your employees may have valid reasons for their absence or tardiness. A situation like this can be easily accommodated in most workplaces by adjusting his start time to 8:15 or 8:30. At a certain point, though, tardiness and absenteeism can become excessive. In this article, well offer a simple five-step process to help you deal with employee attendance issues. W-4 Employee Widthholding Allowance Cert. Make sure your company has a strong sick leave policy, emphasizing that verification may be required. They may not realize the negative effect it has on the company when they call out sick. Did we miss anything regarding speaking with employees about poor attendance? People get sick. To determine what qualifies as poor attendance at your organization, youll want to look at the policies and procedures at your company, the typical level of absence expected in your industry, and work to understand the underlying cause of absence for any given employee. For the little company with big HR goals. This entry was previously published on our HR Tips Newsletter. People have outside-of-work commitments that they need to keep. When they return to work, youll want to monitor their attendance and see if the situation improves. Liam Martin is the co-founder of Time Doctorone of the worlds leading time tracking software for remote teams. Here are some of the other reports you can generate with Time Doctor: To keep your team focused, Time Doctor has a distraction management feature that alerts the user when theyve gone off track. Its the morning after Mardi Gras, and Joe calls in sick. Weve got it for you. The Complete Solution to your Compliance Needs, https://www.laborlawcenter.com/want-a-replacement-plan-and-a-labor-law-poster/, EEOC Releases Updated Know Your Rights Poster, What Every Business Needs to Know about 2023 Labor Law Poster Compliance. If your employee is dealing with a distressing personal situation, offering them some time away from work might be appropriate. The important thing is to address problems with chronic absenteeism before it becomes a problem. Managers have access to their teams timesheets so they can quickly review team working hours. Now that weve discussed the best option for managing employee attendance lets look at one of the best attendance tracking software available today. You dont want to put them on the spot or ask them about their poor attendance with all their coworkers watching. Ensure theres a reliable system for keeping track of poor attendance. Tell them youve noticed. Here are a few things you can do with Time Doctor: Here are some Time Doctor features that make employee attendance management super easy: With Time Doctor, time tracking is simple for employees as well as managers. Assess the situation after a few weeks; if the employee hasnt improved their attendance record, its time to step up your approach and address the issue formally. Subscribe to our mailing list and get interesting stuff on remote working and productivity to your email inbox. No, using vacation and sick days doesnt usually fall into the excessive absenteeism category. The reasoning behind their absenteeism is very important, and youll want to be compassionate towards your employee when you first reach out about their attendance. If your employee handbook says that a warning is issued after three unexcused absences, then be prepared to follow through with those rules. One of the most apparent impacts of poor attendance on a company is decreased productivity. Depending on the structure of your company and the rules laid out in your attendance policy, here are the steps you would have to take for formal disciplinary action: During these sessions, the HR professional, business leader, (or whoever is representing the company) need to lay out the companys expectations for attendance and the seriousness of excessive absences. If the individual has responsibilities they arent taking care of, it often means someone else has to take them on. For example, if the employee provides care for a sick or disabled relative and is required to transport them to treatment on Wednesday mornings. Once you have spoken with your employee and learned the reasoning behind their frequent poor attendance, you can work to solve the problem. Pay attention to improvement in attendance. According to Gallup, American businesses lost around $450-500 billion due to low productivity! And if you really want to motivate your team, make things competitive and add in prize rewards to promote excellent attendance. Not only is it ineffective, but it can also create extra liability for your organization. Once the handbook policies are explained to an employee, all employees should sign, acknowledge, and agree to the handbook policies. If the employee does not provide a justified or protected reason for his attendance problems, inform him of the consequences of continued absenteeism. The handbook policies impacting absenteeism include time and attendance, disability accommodation, leaves of absence, ethical conduct, and disciplinary actions. Step One: Documentation Like most issues that crop up in a business, its best to address the problem of absenteeism immediately rather than let it continue for a long time. Occasional sniffles and the common cold dont qualifybut if your employee is suffering from migraines, he is likely to be entitled to family medical leave. Employee attendance tracking solutions are tamper-proof, so you can be assured that the hours recorded are accurate. Even though ripple effects from the last few years still face the industry, manufacturing is moving forward into a new era of reinventing itself. Now, some amount of absenteeism is to be expected when running a business. Navigate the conversation carefully. According to the Academy to Innovate HR, 1.5% of aggregated absence is illness-related.3 That means that anything above that 1.5% threshold is usually because of non-illness-related reasons, such as personal issues or work conflicts. Put this requirement in writing, or include it in a performance improvement plan*, with other documented expectations for improvement, such as calling in to speak to a live person, and reducing the number of unscheduled absences. If it continues to be an issue, you will want to address it immediately. The QUICK & EASY way for Absenteeism is a big deal. Clearly Communicate Attendance Policies and Absence Procedures. A simple-to-use attendance management system is perfect for this and works far better than an Excel spreadsheet to prove your point. Some business leaders like to maintain a work culture that is free Before you go and make accusations, be sure you have documentation to prove that the employee did not report for work. TeamSenses software allows your company to track and automatically keep documentation on unapproved absences for dispute resolution or audit purposes (if they pop up later on down the road). If not, it will need to be addressed again. LaborLawCenter, Inc. 2022. While a culture of absenteeism may have been brewing in your office, theres also a chance that several employees have understandable reasons for showing up late or missing work entirely within the same period. Talking about the problem. Its important to first approach the issue with concern and compassion, though. To get in touch with Andrew, you can reach him by email or by phone at (800) 797-6160. HR Insider provides the resources you need to craft, implement and monitor policies with confidence. The sales floor, lunch room or an open cubical are not the right settings for discussing employee absenteeism. If you discover the employee was dishonest about his leave, this is also a reason for discipline. If youre going to achieve your business goals, you need to address these attendance problems before they spiral out of control. Learn more here: https://www.laborlawcenter.com/want-a-replacement-plan-and-a-labor-law-poster/. With your attendance policy clearly laid out in your employee handbook, use that to help back you up as you talk with your employee about their excessive absenteeism. Ideally youll treat it like you would any other medical issue. You can even point back to the employee handbook they signed when they started with your company (which should have clearly covered absence and call-out expectations). 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