For some companies, assuming the issue of work absences has become an ignored activity, to the point that their responsibility has completely fallen on the immediate supervisors; who are often the only people aware that a certain employee is absent.

Absences in the workplace, if not properly managed, can affect various employees and not just those who are absent. Obviously, there are exceptions that cannot be left aside; however, unexcused absences affect the productivity and processes of the company.

Therefore, it is essential to pay attention to the faults of employees, as they can be a sign of dissatisfaction with the work or disorder. In this post, we want to share some tips so you can correctly manage work absences in your company.

Here are 6 ways you can handle work absenteeism in your organization:

The absence policies of your company must be formally written, easy to understand and also, it is recommended that they be as clear as possible; that is, that they are not open to interpretations. These must be within the company manual and delivered to employees from their first day, while receiving the terms and conditions of employment. You really need absence management software.

It is never too late to implement an absence policy in your company; however, it is recommended that absenteeism actions on employees be applied from their first day of work or, from the first day they miss work. Checking the facts surrounding the absence and taking timely measures ensure that the rules are met and that the business processes continue. Likewise, it is important to highlight that in the case of absences related to illnesses or health emergencies, managers must offer and publicize the services available to support employees such as; insurance policies, health care services, etc.

 

Managing employee absences can be more difficult if you don't have strategies or solutions that allow you to manage them automatically, especially if you have a large number of employees in the organization. When you rely on a technological tool such as human resources software, all managers and supervisors are able to receive information on their computers for who is missing and for what reasons (illness, training, unauthorized absences, vacations, etc. ). These types of tools can act as an additional deterrent, since, like supervisors or human resources managers, employees are also able to look at their attendance record and absence calendar. At the same time they are aware that the human resources department is able to detect unauthorized absences or trends in their record for example, if the last five Mondays stand out absent.

Human resources issues are complex precisely because they are people and not perfectly configured machinery; and this is one of the reasons why absences often tend to get out of control. Some employees are forced to miss the office for reasons beyond their hands; one way to deal with this is by giving them the opportunity to choose much more flexible schedules that fit their needs when necessary. For example, if an employee must arrive a couple of hours later than usual to deal with a personal matter, allow him to remain in the office two more hours and thus be able to advance the pending work.

Although, in some cases the human resources managers are the people in charge of registering the absences of the staff, the immediate supervisors are the ones who are able to understand the circumstances surrounding the absence of a collaborator. Therefore, their active participation in the company's absence processes is essential to manage the situation and ensure the success of the company's policies.

Incentive programs are effective when applied with organization. If your company has not managed to handle absences with staff, integrating incentive programs with the attendance record could be a good option.