Absence Management Policy

What is Absence Management Policy?

Absence Management Policy is used to decrease the number of absences availed by employees by making the policies and rules regarding absenteeism. If these policies are not formed, then staff absence can lead to increased losses and inefficiency within the organization. For instance, cutting out two days' salary for availing one absence without informing.

These kinds of policies help reduce the workload on other employees who work on behalf of absent employees and increase the workplace's productivity.

To get the absent management policies to work efficiently, the organization must convey these policies to the employees in a clear manner. The workforce must know what the organization is expecting from them regarding time and attendance.

The provision of reasonable off time, sick leaves, parental leaves, time in lieu, caregiver leaves, work from a remote place while sick; and networking opportunities with colleagues while on any type of leave(s), this all paves a way for the employees' better and feasible working conditions giving a breathing space, but at the same time not compromising on the organizational productivity, is a vital part of any absent management policy. The employees can be better offered financial or non-financial, intrinsic (non-tangible rewards like new training opportunities, memberships of certain pivotal teams, etc.) or extrinsic rewards (tangibles such as financials, outdoor tours, and promotions, etc.) in case of good attendance records, can be a better HR Policy for employee absence management, as the other side of the coin.

What is Absence Management within HR?

Absence Management within Human Resource means your workers (human resources or human capital - employees) know what is expected out of the productivity levels - when on duty; and when they are returning to work. Together with this, your HR personnel knows about the meanings of the said and they do remind employees about same and that should be too time and again for two reasons:

1. Reduce employee absences
2. Performance management.

What is Absence Management Procedure?

Absence Management Procedure is the in-practice regulations in managing the attendance of your employees working under your HR domain control – you might be an HR representative or working in the company's strategic position, your vision is to get quantitative work done qualitatively as well as in timely. The regulations for attendance of employees in the office, field office, or factory or work from home online or the workplace, is the key to performance. Hence it must be clear to you, your HR dominion workers, and your employees as a whole that being absent from work means workload shifts onto others to carry on the unavoidable regular tasks at the job place.

These regulative policies also encompass the return to work interviews of your employees so that you know is the employer the very reasons behind such absences, and if that occurs on repetitive behaviors that need rectification in the shape of efficiency and disciplinary action as per rules in exercise of such powers.

What are Absence Management Methods compatible for you?

The Absence Management Methods are those compatible with you what you deem necessary considering the reasons which might hinder your employees to attend the office. Those bottlenecks may be as mentioned below:

• Sick leave because of ailment
• Short term leave due to personal works
• Availing paid time off
• Transacting sick pay
• Cut off working hours not to exceed as required
• Caregiving or Parental Leave
• Maternal or Paternal leave, as the case may be
• Unauthorized short term or long term absence at will
• Late arrival on duty regularly
• Sickness, injured, an ailment of (long term) chronic nature

As an HR expert, either working on manual or on HR Software - containing absence management system domain tabs inside – to record absences and the presence of your workers at the workplace, you should consider the aforementioned reasons and devise your organizational absence management policies our methods accordingly.

In some cases, your employees might require only a little training on part of the motivational factors, reduce employee intimidating factors, and highlight employee benefits of being at work, by making available conducive working environments converting the scenario of a problem into a win-win situation.

And, in other cases, serious actions relating to employees’ efficiency and discipline might require you to consider and implement, though the HR people do never want so that is to fire a worker -

or sometimes even their team members - except for a heinous or serious problem reported and proved guilty of.

What are the best methods to design an Absence Management Policy?

The best methods to design an absence management policy are those that think through as per following stated:

• Take a serious note of consideration for calling in sick people via allocation of adequate time off to them
• Look into the seriousness of the ailment of employees to have a healthy workforce, hence a wealthy working environment
• Discourage unnecessary absents by looking into the very reason behind those
• Do not only focus on employees should be present at the workplace, rather see into the productivity by offering work from home sometimes - if feasible for the jobs to carry on – easing employees to attend to their issues, family emergencies or gatherings, a medical visit to a doctor; etc. In other words: Offer flexi-time, if your work plan and working ways allow so
• While focusing on absence management policy, it is a better option if you devise an attendance benefit policy as well, which should include motivational benefits for your employees like:
  • Most attending an official certificate
  • Attendance financial benefit
  • Letter for the employee of the month
  • Savings
  • Training opportunities
  • Whatever you deem feasible for your organization and employees for mutual benefit

But, this might encourage sick employees to attend office anyways, which might endanger the health environment at large, make sure you have given enough space days off to your employees within your policies whereby workers can cater to their daily life needs and situations.

• HR Manager should be trained on such policy-making for consideration of such needs of workers being humans to reduce employee absenteeism
• Your strategic level employees, as well as HR domain personnel, should be not afraid of openly discussing such policies designing along with the workers - when the workers are the advisories or at the suggesting end they devise and they implement themselves, hence no coercive action requires but rarely due to discipline and fraudulent cases if any
• Make a clear and open communication and company-wide circulation of such policies for knowledge of employees and application commitments
• Regularly monitor absence management policies and get along with the sister concern organizations and competitors' operational experiences and efficiencies feedback (OEEFs) to learn from and implement at own facility for preventive measures drive.
• HR Software use for absence management: External and internal checks on absence management via utilization of HR software could help the controls: like Bradford Factor might be used to record short term frequent absences at the workplace.

What does Research say about Absence Management and its Policy-Making?

Research, on absence management and its policy-making, says that employers must have clarity towards:

1. Objectives of absent management programs and a level defined for employees' absents acceptance: by the HR Department
2. Roots for absenteeism and its linkage with job conditions and job description: the responsibility of the HR Department with the Health & Safety department
3. Work management during the absence of employees: Team leads; mid and low-level managers responsible for this
4. Medical routine checkup of employees: to be carried out by the HR department with the Medical department
5. Medical checkup along with other tests, if necessary: to be done by HR department with Psychologists or Medical doctors in the organizational own health departments
6. Monitoring of yearly leaves: by HR and Finance departments in coordination
7. Reward management for good attendance records per year, quarterly, etc. whatever feasible: CEOs, HR; Finance department responsible
8. Employees' viewpoint seeking and training on how to overcome employee absenteeism: Human Resource and Safety/Health Departments together to do this task
9. Employees interviews who are back on work after a long leave: HR, Team leaders’ managers
10. Safety and work conditions improvements: by the Technical, Safety, Health, and Investment department

Related: Absenteeism Policy