Most of the time employees take leave to recover from sickness, manage their personal or health-related needs or take a break from work. When an employee falls into a pattern of taking leave on a regular basis, however, it could potentially impact their standing at their workplace.
Employee attendance problems generally manifest as:
- A pattern of before and/or after weekend absences
- Early departures or tardiness
- Long and/or frequent breaks
- Unauthorized or unplanned absences
- Excessive use of leave days, resulting in taking leave without pay
Employees who take more leaves of absence than permitted have a far larger impact on a company’s operations than they likely suspect. Excessive absences can cause a company to experience the following issues over time:
- A lack of employee availability for prospective customers
- Lost productivity among the workforce
- Missed deadlines and/or deliveries for the company
- Negatively impacts other employees’ deadlines, productivity and/or morale
While employee attendance issues do cause the aforementioned problems, employers can find ways to handle them. Let’s examine a few.
Inform Of Company Attendance Expectations
As mentioned, employee absences do negatively impact a business over time. Employers should approach suspected employees and inform them of the company’s expectations for attendance, avoiding a possibly confrontational tone.
Enforce The Rules
Employers should let employees know of the rules regarding attendance and taking leave. The idea is to remind the employee of the limitations they have regarding attendance, allowing them to potentially reduce the amount of leave they choose to take in the future.
Maintain Good Records
Many companies commend or provide incentives for employees who have good attendance records. Employers who have observed employees attempt to maintain their attendance following a period of absence should recognize them for making an effort to improve their attendance. Of course, to be able to do this the employer must maintain complete, accurate attendance records on all employees.
Counsel Employee
Sometimes, learning why an employee is taking a lot of leave time can help resolve their constant absences. An employer should meet with the employee privately to question and counsel them about their attendance issues.
Explain Affect Their Absence Has On Business
Many employees don’t understand the cost behind excessive absences. While consulting an employee, an employer should also inform them about how their excessive absences have negatively impacted the business.
Take Disciplinary Action
If an employee continues to take excessive leave after receiving a private consultation, an employer should take disciplinary action as soon as possible. Some forms of disciplinary action include written or verbal warnings, suspension and, rarely, termination.
Read more about attendance solutions at On-Time Web.
