Employee absenteeism basically means an employee’ unauthorized absence from work. Occasional absenteeism of employees is unavoidable, regular and excessive absenteeism from work disturbs the workflow and hence the overall performance of the company.
In this article
What are the Major Causes of Absenteeism?
There are 3 major causes that have been detected as the primary cause of absenteeism, these are-
- Health issues
The most common cause of absenteeism from work is health and medical reasons. Injuries, illnesses, accidents, etc. prevent employees from working.
- Organisational issues
Absenteeism might be triggered by organisational issues such as unjust treatment by the boss, unhealthy work environment, lack of facilities at the organisation, unsatisfactory reverts, etc.
- Personal issues
The absenteeism rate in youth is increasing also because of their personal issues. Female employees are more likely to miss work because of personal and family reasons. Other personal issues may include family welfare, unwillingness to work and deteriorating interest in one’s work.
What are the Best Practices for handling absenteeism?
- Creating Attendance policy
On the top of the list is creating attendance policy. It involves creating a policy that is very simple and concise laying down the instructions clearly. The main objective of an attendance policy is to inform all the employees about the disciplinary actions even if your company lacks a formal HR department. When drafting the attendance policy, you should consider regular attendance difficulties such as late arrival, scheduled and unscheduled attendance, etc. and lay it strategically.
- Enforcing attendance policy
Enforce the attendance policy regularly, it teaches you how to deal with the absence in the company. Ask your employees to update any leaves or changes in the shift in well advance.
- Keeping track of employee absence
you can monitor and track the leave pattern of your employees. Doing so can highlight the underlying issue and you may be able to identify and rectify it.
- Address the issue immediately
When the inevitable absenteeism does occur, it’s important for you as an employer to address it. It may involve some unpleasant conversation with your employee, but it is necessary for you to take this step. This will help you as an employer to understand the issue and for employee to state the reason of their absence. In return you can offer support and make accommodations as required.
- Reward good behaviour
Implementing bonuses and incentives or benefits such as an extra day off, for maintaining good attendance may help boost the morale among employees and motivate them for maintaining better attendance record. This will also help in cultivating a better workplace culture, improve team standards and eliminates the absenteeism.
- Offer flexible work option
You can also offer flexible work options such as work from home, telecommuting, flexible working hours, etc. to promote healthier work-life balance. This way, employees are less likely to miss work to accommodate personal vendetta.
How does absenteeism affect your business?
Absenteeism is when employees don’t come in to work without prior information. According to Workstatus, because of absenteeism, the workload falls upon other employees, which leads to-
- More stress and burnout for the remaining staff
- Dropping productivity levels
- Less work getting done in the same amount of time
As a result, projects may miss important deadlines. Customers could get frustrated by slower service or responses. All of this can directly impact:
- A company’s revenues
- Its reputation
Excessive absenteeism can even threaten a business’s survival. That’s why companies need strategies to monitor and reduce absenteeism.
Attendance Management
Attendance management, also called employee absence management, refers to an employee’s approach to manage and reduce employee absenteeism. A company’s HR department is in charge of determining the reasons behind employee’s absence and proactively implementing absenteeism-management strategies.
Attendance management system allows you to calculate and keep track of your employee’s working hours. There can be many reasons to perform attendance management, such as tracking employee’ productivity, keeping their attendance in check, keep up with the labour laws, etc.
According to Geeks for Geeks, attendance management is also important for payroll accuracy, allocating resources, leave management, employee accountability, performance evaluation, legal protection and cost control.
Attendance management is also necessary for smooth functioning of the company.
Key Takeaways
Employee absenteeism basically means an employee’ unauthorized absence from work. The 3 major causes of absenteeism in the workplace are health issues, organizational issues and personal issues. These issues can be managed by adopting practices such as attendance policies, forcing attendance policies, keeping track of employee absence, addressing the issue, rewarding good behaviour and offering flexible working hours. Attendance management is a tool used by companies to overcome the issue of absenteeism and also helps in smooth functioning of the company.
FAQs
- Q2. What are the Major Causes of Absenteeism?
The 3 major causes of absenteeism in the workplace are health issues, organizational issues and personal issues.
- Q3. What are the Best Practices for handling absenteeism?
Absenteeism can be managed by adopting practices such as attendance policies, forcing attendance policies, keeping track of employee absence, addressing the issue, rewarding good behaviour and offering flexible working hours.