{"id":2632,"date":"2019-05-19T16:41:19","date_gmt":"2019-05-19T16:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hr4free.web-romandie.ch\/?p=2632"},"modified":"2019-07-23T13:32:21","modified_gmt":"2019-07-23T13:32:21","slug":"how-to-manage-your-employees-absences-and-late-arrivals-sample-policies-procedures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hr4free.com\/en\/HR-Department-Toolkit\/Absenteeism-Rate-Management","title":{"rendered":"Managing Your Employees’ Absences and Late Arrivals – Sample Policies \/ Procedures"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It is well-known that absenteeism is costly, to the extent that\u00a0it is often that a 1-to-1 ratio between the company’s absenteeism rate and its cost in percents of the total payroll\u00a0<\/strong>is often assumed<\/strong>. This is due to the fact that the replacement and management of absent employees needs to be financed and that this situation causes additional costs in terms of\u00a0overtime work\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0disorganization<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This calculation however only partially accounts for the total indirect costs incurred by the company<\/strong>, which include the\u00a0damage to the company’s image<\/em>,\u00a0a\u00a0lower quality<\/em>\u00a0of its services and even possibly a\u00a0drop in the level of motivation<\/em>\u00a0of the more diligent employees.<\/p>\n

Being able to deal with the company\u2019s absenteeism rate thus represents a critical issue to the company’s management<\/strong>, for when it reaches a certain level, it will impact the health of the organization itself. Moreover, it is most likely that new employees who join a “diseased” organization will themselves be “contaminated”.<\/p>\n

“Our aim, as an employer, is to ensure that our employees enjoy their work because they are well-trained, listened to, respected, given responsibility to and evaluated with fairness.” \u00a0<\/em>The management of absences and late arrivals thus fully belongs to\u00a0the company’s employer branding strategy (article)<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

TOOLS<\/b><\/h5>\n

First of all, the company should determine a “threshold rate”, i.e. the maximum absenteeism rate acceptable<\/strong>, which represents an ideal that should be strived for.\u00a0In Switzerland, this rate is comprised, in average, between 2 and 5% of worked hours<\/u>, depending on the industry.<\/p>\n

It would then be in the company\u2019s best interest to design a systematic follow-up process for all cases of absenteeism<\/strong>, while differentiating the possible situations they may reflect. The most straightforward way of structuring this process is to refer to the\u00a0tranches<\/em>\u00a0of the company’s\u00a0insurance policy<\/em>\u00a0and design a standardized response in each situation.<\/p>\n

PRACTICE<\/b><\/h5>\n

First-level intervention \u2013 preventive interviews:<\/b>\u00a0this measure can be taken by the direct superior when a significant modification in the employee’s behavior and\/or performance (late arrivals, output\u2026) is observed. A\u00a0preventive procedure<\/u>\u00a0is then undertaken, the contents of which are the following:<\/p>\n

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  1. A\u00a0<\/strong>1st<\/sup>\u00a0assessment interview<\/b>\u00a0<\/em>is conducted in order to jointly explore the situation with the employee in question. It is possible to resort to the\u00a0DESC technique<\/em>\u00a0and to apply the\u00a0methodology of the assessessment interview (guidelines)<\/a><\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  2. Evaluation phase\u00a0<\/b><\/em>(2 to 3 months)<\/li>\n
  3. Two scenarios<\/b><\/em>\u00a0may arise at this point:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n\n\n
    The situation improves<\/b><\/td>\nThe situation does not improve<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    \u00a0A\u00a0<\/b>final interview<\/em>\u00a0is arranged. The process is closed and conclusions are made.<\/td>\nA\u00a02nd assessment interview<\/em>\u00a0is conducted in order to clarify the situation, and a new\u00a0assessment phase<\/em>\u00a0is set up:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    NB: do not forget to congratulate the employee for the change observed!<\/b><\/td>\n\n