Managing Absenteeism In the Workplace

What does the productivity of your company look like? You need to look at the productivity levels and figure out what is happening. If there has been a decrease in productivity then you need to check out your sick leave levels and to see if you have a lot of staff members that are taking sick leave. When cold and flu season arises, it is common to see people take a lot of sick leave. It is when there are no visible signs of illness and other concerns in the workplace that you need to be concerned about what is happening. You need to start managing absenteeism in the workplace before it does cost you a lot of money that you really cannot afford to be losing.

The problem with high amounts of absenteeism is not only the employees that are not coming to work but the employees that are always having to pick up the slack from their co-workers. You need to look into finding ways to help them out so that they are not becoming overwhelmed, stressed out, and burdened by all the extra work that is being forced upon them. Not only are these individuals stuck trying to deal with all the extra work but they are also going to become frustrated with their co-workers that are always calling in sick. Having employee morale issues can be completely demoralizing and can cause you to have production problems but make the overall company harder for people to come to each day. Some people may start using their sick leave just so they don't have to come into the office because they don't want to deal with the hostile environment.

To properly manage sick leave issues you need to look over the sick records of your employees. Notice how many sick leave days they are taking off and to also find out what you need to do about cracking down on employees that are abusing sick leave. You need to make sure you are not punishing employees that are using sick leave appropriately.

Your goal needs to be to encourage your employees to use sick leave when they are actually sick. You want them to use it wisely and sparingly and to use it when they need it not just because they partied over the weekend and want an extra day to rest off their hang over.

It is the unexplained absences and the ones that are often that hurt the morale and productivity for the company. Explain to your employees that you are fine with them taking off time when they are actually sick but not for self-inflicted reasons or to hit the ski slopes. You need to recognize their sickness patterns so you can tell when they are actually sick and when they are lying. Record it so you can use it when you talk to them in a performance evaluation and address issues that are concerning to the company.

One way to know that you have a problem is by noticing that certain employees are taking off time. If a department tends to have a high amount of absences, it is likely that you have people that are not managing the department well or that you have a department where things are not working properly. Employees could be hostile toward one another and this is why people are choosing not to come into work.

Take a lesson from other top companies and consider rewarding your employees that do not take off any time. They can have the option to cash out the sick leave at the end of the year, which is a big financial reward for them.