Employee Absenteeism

 

Employee Absenteeism can be a difficult issue to tackle when it comes to detailing and enforcing company policy. Managing your workforce is an essential part of running any business.

Employee Absenteeism has a direct effect on the company and its capacity to operate efficiently. Without bringing a burden on other staff members and colleagues.

It is easy to find your work cut out for you when trying to tackle these problems, which can be a legal minefield. This can lead to significant damage to your business with wasted time and resource

It is often a struggle to find solutions that works for you and the employee that provides the absolute minimum of disruption To both your daily work and other staff members.

There may be underlying factors that are giving rise to these incidences such as job dissatisfaction, home or family issues.

Even health issues that an employee does not want to reveal to their employer for fear of not being believed or embarrassed. 

Mental health issues are a growing concern, and employers have a duty of care to reasonably support their employees’ health, safety and well being by creating a supportive environment.

This makes it essential to deal with any cases of employee absenteeism and employee misconduct swiftly and efficiently.

What to look out for?

Put simply, the definition of employee absenteeism is the failure of a salaried or member of staff to attend the work they are employed to do.

This can lead to frustration for small and large businesses alike as projects are derailed, deadlines lost, and the ability to plan for the future severely hindered.

While there may be a full and legitimate reason for absenteeism, if it occurs over a protracted time, even with the required documents in place it will almost always need to be addressed directly.

This breaks down into two factors:

Innocent Absenteeism

This is absence caused by a legitimate issue such as maternity or paternity leave, compassionate leave, or continued illness. These will often be agreed in advance or come with a doctor’s note, confirming the specific cause, reason, and setting a timeframe for an employees’ return.

Culpable Absenteeism

On the other hand, long periods of absence with or without providing evidence or notification can produce problems.

This can be for any number of reasons, but failing to appear for work can leave the duties of absentee employees’ being passed on to other team members, and colleagues or result in them being paid for periods of time when they are not working.

If the individual is faking illness, taking advantage of continued, unapproved leave, or exaggerating circumstances this should be addressed as soon as possible, to reduce the impact of such absences.

How can I deal with it?

Addressing any HR issue needs to be done delicately and with the greatest of empathy. However, when dealing with an issue such as continuous absenteeism, it is vital to take proactive action to prevent it from progressing any further.

These lost days can often be the direct result of employees wanting additional time off which can, over time significantly impact company profits and productivity.

On other occasions, employees may even be working elsewhere while receiving sick pay from your business.

Setting up their own business that is in direct competition with yours.

Deploying your intellectual property and first-hand training.

At a minimum, proactive action should include;

Consulting a Professional

First and foremost, it is important to contact a HR professional to advise you on your options when it comes to addressing staff issues and the potential risk that can accompany it.

Once you have reviewed your problems with a HR representative and/or legal counsel, consulting a professional investigation team, can help confirm what evidence is required and the best method of obtaining it.

Gathering Evidence

The next step is to gather key evidence to support your claim. Allowing you and your company to put the best case forward when taking action against the individual or persons in question.

This is an essential part in facing down any follow-up legal challenges. Ci6 always ensures that the evidence that we gather is detailed, relevant, legally obtained and air-tight.

Taking Disciplinary Action

When you are ready to press ahead, you can engage with the individual and undertake any corrective action.  

This can range from a note and a verbal warning, to outright dismissal and any follow on legal or prosecutorial action.