Staff absences can have a dramatic impact on business performance, particularly if employees are spending a considerable amount of time away from work. By managing absences proactively, however, you can identify the underlying cause, provide employees with the support they need and reduce future absence rates. To learn more, take a look at these four ways to streamline your absence management practices now:
1. Record Every Absence
If a reliable employee calls in sick every once in a while, it might not seem like it's worth making a note of their absence. However, recording every absence will ensure that you have an accurate history of the employee's sick leave, and it will enable you to identify any potential patterns in their sickness record. Furthermore, recording every absence will ensure that all staff are treated fairly and subject to the same procedures.
2. Use HR Software
Monitoring absences manually can be time-consuming and complicated, and it increases the risk of human errors negatively impacting your records. When you use document management software and absence management software, however, you can streamline the process, improve accuracy, and access real-time data. Myhrtoolkit offers a complete absence management software package that allows you to track absences, upload relevant documentation, calculate sick pay, identify problematic patterns and much more. With built-in functionality to simplify your business's absence management, you can spend less time dealing with absenteeism and boost performance in the process.
3. Conduct Return-to-Work Meetings
When a member of your team has taken time off work due to illness or injury, be sure to conduct confidential return-to-work meetings with them. This will give the employee a chance to share any concerns with you or to request any adjustment that they might need. If there is an on-going issue contributing to their absences, a return-to-work meeting is likely to be where they will disclose it to you. Then, you'll be able to take action to optimise the workplace accordingly and help staff to reduce their absence rates.
4. Offer Phased Returns
If an employee has been on sick leave for an extended period of time, offering a 'phased return' can be an effective way of facilitating their return. A full-time worker might return on a part-time basis and gradually increase their hours, for example. Alternatively, an employee might return on 'light duties' and incrementally take on more of their usual workload. Being flexible and enabling workers to return in this way after a long period of absence can facilitate a faster return and encourage employees to be proactive about coming back to the workplace.
Managing Staff Absences
No business can eliminate staff absences completely but minimising your absence rate can help to improve operational performance and productivity. However, employees have rights when it comes to sickness leave, so it's important to implement absence management procedures which comply with relevant regulations. By understanding your responsibilities as an employer and using absence management software to verify compliance, you can satisfy your obligations as an employer, provide support to employees, and keep your absence rates as low as possible.
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