Innovative Strategies for Reducing Absenteeism

Employee absenteeism is a big drain on your company's bottom line.  The CDC reports that absenteeism costs the U.S. employers about $225.8 billion annually or about $1,685 per employee.  Employers must hire replacements for employees who are absent or terminated.  Employee absenteeism also negatively affects morale and productivity. Your conscientious employees often feel burdened by the extra work they have to do when someone is absent.  High employee absenteeism is often a sign of a low performing manager. It can also be a sign that the work environment needs some changes. Large amounts of time and money can be saved by understanding the root causes of absenteeism in your company. 

What is the annual cost of unexcused absenteeism? 

Estimated Cost of Absenteeism = Total # unexcused absence days per year X Average employee compensation cost per day + replacement or overtime costs for the unexcused absences.

 Absenteeism Rate = Number of unexcused absence days ÷ (Total employees x Total Work days) x 100%

 

Common Reasons for Absenteeism

 

Illness (I1)	Injury (I2)
Disengagement (D1)	Low Workplace Morale (LWM)
Child Care Issues (CCI)	Stress / Burnout (SB)
Lack of Flexibility (LOF)	Depression (D2)
Job Hunting (JH)	Manager Conflicts  (MC)
Bullying (B)	Harassment (H)
Elder Care Issues (ECI)	Anxiety (A)

Root Cause Analysis of Absenteeism

Some problems just keep showing up month after month and absenteeism is one of them.  In a root cause analysis we need to ask the right questions first.  The first question should not be: What is the solution? It should be: Why does this keep happening?  We need to identify the germ before we can solve the disease.  If we don’t know what the origins of the problem are, how can we stop it from recurring in the future?

We suggest using a simple attendance spreadsheet to get to the root causes of absenteeism in your workforce.  This tracking is very simple to implement.  It tracks each employee’s unexcused absences and the reason for the occurrence as provided by the employee. Once the frequencies are determined for each identified cause, the HR Manager can deploy innovative solutions to the root causes.

 

Employee Name	January, 2021	February, 2021	March, 2021
John Y.	I1, D2		LOF
Sarah M.		CCI, CCI	CCI
Joni W.		MC, D	MC, A
Sam J.	I2

Illness (I1)	Injury (I2)
Disengagement (D1)	Low Workplace Morale (LWM)
Child Care Issues (CCI)	Stress / Burnout (SB)
Lack of Flexibility (LOF)	Depression (D2)
Job Hunting (JH)	Manager Conflicts  (MC)
Bullying (B)	Harassment (H)
Elder Care Issues (ECI)	Anxiety (A)

 

Attendance Policy Template

Objective

The purpose of this policy is to set forth [Company Name]'s policy and procedures for handling employee absences and tardiness to promote the efficient operation of the company and minimize unscheduled absences. 

Policy

Punctual and regular attendance is an essential responsibility of each employee at [Company Name]. Employees are expected to report to work as scheduled, on time and prepared to start working. Employees also are expected to remain at work for their entire work schedule. Late arrival, early departure or other absences from scheduled hours are disruptive and must be avoided.  This policy does not apply to absences covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or leave provided as a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). These exceptions are described in separate policies.

Absence

"Absence" is defined as the failure of an employee to report for work when he or she is scheduled to work. The two types of absences are defined below:

• Excused absence occurs when all the following conditions are met:

·         The employee provides to his or her supervisor sufficient notice at least 48 hours in advance of the absence.

·         The absence request is approved in advance by the employee's supervisor.

·         The employee has sufficient accrued paid time off (PTO) to cover the absence.

• Unexcused absence occurs when any of the above conditions are not met. If it is necessary for an employee to be absent or late for work because of an illness or an emergency, the employee must notify his or her supervisor no later than the employee's scheduled starting time on that same day. If the employee is unable to call, he or she must have someone make the call.

An unexcused absence counts as one occurrence for the purposes of discipline under this policy. Employees with three or more consecutive days of excused absences because of illness or injury must give [Company Name] proof of physician's care and a fitness for duty release prior to returning to work. Employees must take earned PTO for every absence unless otherwise allowed by company policy (e.g., leave of absence, bereavement, jury duty).

Tardiness and Early Departures

Employees are expected to report to work and return from scheduled breaks on time. If employees cannot report to work as scheduled, they must notify their supervisor no later than their regular starting time. This notification does not excuse the tardiness but simply notifies the supervisor that a schedule change may be necessary. Employees who must leave work before the end of their scheduled shift must notify a supervisor immediately.  Tardiness and early departures are each one-half an occurrence for the purpose of discipline under this policy.

Disciplinary Action

Excessive absenteeism is defined as two or more occurrences of unexcused absence in a 30-day period and will result in disciplinary action. Eight occurrences of unexcused absence in a 12-month period are considered grounds for termination.

Job Abandonment

Any employee who fails to report to work for a period of three days or more without notifying his or her supervisor will be considered to have abandoned the job and voluntarily terminated the employment relationship. 

When managers reduce absenteeism problems teams and individual employees thrive. But when they don’t, organizations and people suffer. If your managers are not analyzing absenteeism, they are likely to be a low performing manager.  You can assess the competencies of your current managers by using an assessment tool like the CheckPoint 360 Survey.  This assessment identifies managers who can drive results and profits by solving problems.  Contact us to learn more.