How to Reduce Absenteeism in the Workplace

by Spectrum Wellness

Do you know that stress is one of the key factors of absenteeism in Ireland? So much in fact that 42% of Irish workers believe that work-related stress is now common in the workplace. The impact of this is that as much as 60% of working hours are lost through absenteeism, however, fewer than 30% of organisations have procedure to deal with it.

Are you concerned over the number of employee sick days this year in your organisation? Have you discussed and agreed on a plan of action to address this issue in your workplace? If not, then the below is just for you, take a look at our top tips where we address absenteeism in three areas – prevention, management and finally treatment;

1 Prevention
Your wellness program should be designed to increase productivity, help recruitment and retain employees, and provide a low-cost source for building morale. Here are some important areas of wellness that your program should cover:

• Health screenings, optical screenings and dental screenings will help your organisation’s bottom line to reduce lost productivity and sick days.
• While screenings are important to measure the overall health of your employees, so too are preventative education and injury programs. This would include physical screenings like the musculoskeletal evaluation which involves testing of major joints, spine, neck, and back as well as knee and ankle joints

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Most wellness programs focus on smoking cessation, weight loss and exercise, and duly so as it’s been proven that employees with health risks (e.g., obesity, cigarette smoking, and high blood pressure) tend to be less productive than those who are in better health.

2 Absenteeism Management
Absence can be a very difficult and a tricky problem to start to tackle. Firstly formalise your organisation’s expectations for attendance by pulling together an attendance policy.  Include in the policy the definition for being late and what defines extreme lateness or absenteeism. Share this attendance policy with employees as part of the new employee orientation process, including the wider organisation and discuss what your expectations are for attendance. These need to be within the company handbook and the Ts&Cs of employment which should be available to read any time.

It’s also recommended that staff ring in and speak to their manager or director when they are taking a day off sick and that they are aware that they have to attend a return or back to work interview for each absence or period of absence. This will encourage many staff to have second thoughts about taking habitual absences knowing that they are going to have to sit in front of HR or management the next day, to justify or explain the day they have just taken off.

Some organisations reward good attendance by giving employees a bonus for having no absences in a 12 month period. And, when attendance is combined into the annual performance appraisal process, employees can also see financial rewards. Another approach is to provide sufficient paid time off so employees have the option of planning for absences by using a prearranged bank of hours.

3 Treatment of Absenteeism
This is usually the strongest part of any organisations process for addressing this issue but unfortunately at this point the ‘sick day’ has already occurred. Absenteeism can be caused by any number of things – personal problems, employee performance issues, lack of clear expectations or a dysfunctional work environment. Ongoing personal problems can affect an employees’ attendance, which is why many employers offer programs to support employees. These programs are called Employee Assistance Program or EAP, and provide services that provide guidance for employees through personal, family, financial or work related issues that is affecting attendance and employee performance.

However, not all excessive absenteeism is caused by personal problems.  Occasionally, it can be related to poor management or a managers’ inability to create a fit and productive working atmosphere. Management issues can be things like:

• Poor management communication
• No attendance expectations set
• No employee performance management
• Poor supervisor – employee relationship

Research supports the fact that one reason employees leave organisations is as result of their supervisor.  Therefore it’s extremely important for those managing employees, to have the proper training and support, to ensure they are dealing with employees appropriately and professionally.

This approach of looking at all elements of the health and wellbeing of your employees including the preventative, management and treatment is more likely to have a positive effect on your absenteeism rates and also your operational costs