Startups have really changed the office culture. Most importantly, it has managed to loosen the tight nine-to-five routine that we dislike the most.
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In fact, a lot of corporates started trusting their employees with managing their own schedules. They can choose their own work hours and decide for themselves when to show up to the office as long as they get their work done.
However, there is always a downside to every outlook. Many employees tend to become tardy and stay absent and eventually make this a regular occurrence. These employee attendance issues result in lost productivity and also affect other employees.
So, What Is Employee Absenteeism Exactly?
Absenteeism is the employee attendance issue, whereby there is a frequent lack of attendance at work without any valid reason. Now, occasional no-show or no-call instances doesn’t count.
A recent survey showed that employee absenteeism has been on the rise. About 40 percent of employees called in sick even though they were well enough to go to work, up from 35 percent in 2016.
Many business leaders ignore their employees’ behavior because they don’t want to hamper their relationship with them. But whatever the reason, if there is excessive absenteeism, it’s important to talk this through.
3 Reasons Why You Should Confront Employees With Attendance Issues
Affects Your Other Employees
That’s right. When an employee is absent, other team members have to take up for the missing work. Thus, they need to continually do more work than they need to, which results in more stress.
Delays in Completion of Project
When employees are missing most of the time, it affects the entire project. Deadlines are missed, and in certain cases, you might also lose an important contract. It might have a bad impact on your company’s reputation.
Breeds Resentment Among Employees
Eventually, when other team member starts to notice that the missing employee is not facing any trouble, it creates a sense of bitterness. They feel that they are working harder than they need to and not even getting compensated for that. It could lower employees’ morale.
In short, employee attendance issues can act as a roadblock to a company’s success. That’s why it is essential to tackle employee attendance problems.
But worry not, we are going to discuss the sure-shot eight steps that will help you deal with your employees’ attendance issue effectively.
How to Handle Employee Attendance Issues?
1. Craft a Clear Policy
The very first to handling employee attendance issues is by creating an official attendance policy.
It doesn’t matter whether you have ten or fifty employees or you have an official HR department. An employee attendance policy spells out not only the number of leaves an employee can take but also the consequences of needless absenteeism.
It makes expectations for work behavior and disciplinary action clear to all team members. Create a detailed policy — consider different situations like scheduled and unscheduled absences and tardiness and accordingly, draft a disciplinary measure for every possible situation. It will ensure that employees do not take absenteeism casually.
But make sure that the policy is not biased and is fair to both the employee and employer.
2. Keep Track of Employees Leaves
Without keeping track of employees’ attendance records, you can’t deal with their absenteeism.
There are many ways to track employees’ absenteeism. It may depend upon what works best for your company. For instance, you can use a time tracking tool that records the hours worked by the staff. Or, another way is to integrate your timekeeping system with employee performance management software.
If you want, you can also keep a separate spreadsheet for employees’ attendance entry. This is only useful when you have a small team, though.
Gathering this information is important because it gives you evidence in support of your decision when you try to confront your employees with the issues.
3. Discuss No-Shows and Unscheduled Absences Immediately
The first time they don’t show up for a shift, don’t wait for them to repeat it again. Directly address the situation without letting much time to pass.
Open up discussion and talk to them about their behavior. Tell them you have noticed their absenteeism and ask them why it happened and what’s expected of them. You should also let them know if their behavior has caused any need for disciplinary action.
In some extreme cases, you can use the trick to hold a formal return-to-work interview when they have been absent for a long time.
Such disciplinary actions show that employees’ behavior is being taken seriously, and there is no room for any wiggle.
4. Find the Cause of Absenteeism and Treat It
The human resource team must have a thorough understanding of the individual circumstance.
Khyati Sagar is a seasoned HR and payroll expert with over a decade of experience in the field. She has worked with businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large corporations, helping them optimize their HR and payroll processes. As a passionate advocate for technology-driven solutions, she is always on the lookout for the latest advancements in HR and payroll software. When she’s not working, you can find her hiking or playing basketball with her friends and family.
