ABSENTEEISM CAN HAVE a devastating impact on a business whether small, medium or large. However, the effect of excessive absence wreaks more havoc on smaller companies than it does on larger companies.
Where a company does not have policies and procedures to effectively deal with and respond to workplace issues, longevity of the business is crippled.
What is excessive absence? How can an employer curb such behaviour? The Society for Human Resource Management attempted to quantify excessive absence. After perusing legal decisions, they compiled the response: “There’s no easy answer, but juries typically consider one sick day per month, or 12 days a year, as a threshold.”
One of the best ways to control absenteeism is to create an atmosphere where good attendance is valued and poor attendance is dealt with accordingly. This can be done through reward and discipline programmes, re-emphasising to employees the importance of attendance.
Excessive absence can be either wilful habitual evasion of work, involuntary or occasional absence due to valid causes, or reasons beyond one’s control, such as accidents or sickness. When the true reason of the absence has been discovered, the company can adequately chart a path to respond. In doing so, one should consult the collective agreement, if any, followed by any other policies in operation.
Most organisations will allow a certain number of uncertified sick or casual days per year per employee. Additionally, companies generally offer employees a maximum number of days or weeks for certified sick leave for which companies may pay the employee’s salary in full or part in conjunction with the National Insurance and Social Security Scheme (NIS).
If a case arises where the employee has an illness which takes them away from work on a regular basis, the company will need to evaluate the situation. Can the illness be triggered by the environment of the workplace? The best measure for dealing with such an instance is to allow the employee to visit a doctor selected by the employer, to conduct a medical assessment.
This assessment will seek to decipher if the individual may be deemed as unfit to recommence work as well as highlighting the probable cause of illness. The company should take guidance on the sickness benefit as well as the invalidity benefit from the NIS Guide To Benefits available at their office free of cost.
Human resource or personnel officers must exercise high levels of observation to assist with tracking patterns of behaviours and likely causes. If the employee is not ill but refuses to come in to work and tend to take Mondays or Fridays home, this is a recognisable pattern. When management allows employees to continue in their bad habits without communicating its detriment to the company, this decreases the morale of other employees and causes the development of a bad work culture.
In recent times, businesses have been complaining for the decreasing work ethic among the labour force – whether it is the refusal to deal with clients, the attitude and tone in which they communicate or their high absenteeism levels, Barbadians have seemingly moved away from the high calibre of work ethics possessed by previous generations.
So management has established that there is a problem. How do you fix it? Fixing the problem can be accomplished in a few steps.
After the problem is spotted, the employee should be informed of their attendance records and recommendations made. If the employee is legitimately ill, discuss the option of the NIS sickness benefit which is paid for a maximum of 12 months with the employee.
Do not rush to judgment: place the individual on a paid, investigatory leave (in accordance with disciplinary procedure, if available) if you need additional time to reach a conclusion.
If it is concluded that the absence is wilful, a disciplinary hearing should be convened. Here, management, the employee and their representative will discuss the evidence and management will take a decision. If the employee is warned and recommendations made, these recommendations should have a date of review to ensure that the employee is meeting his/her targets. If he/she is placed on punitive suspension (without pay), management should verify the policy or collective agreement sanctions this. However, a company has the right to plan, direct and amend work practices which are important for viability.
To curb the attitudes and behaviours of the remaining staff, a review of the organisation’s written policy, if any, with the help of legal counsel to ensure you retain the most discretion in managing this thorny issue, is imperative.
Review your organisation’s past practices (for example, all of the disciplinary actions and terminations related to unauthorised absence in the past two years) across departments, divisions and locations. Account for inconsistencies in prior decisions. Remember that you have the choice to change a policy or practice by notifying employees in advance and in writing.
Implementing schemes such as employee of the month or merit awards, which will encapsulate the attendance, may further assist in creating the type of culture necessary to propel business and personal growth.
It is important to nip any bad practices in the bud because today’s problems are tomorrow’s disasters.
Melony James is a labour management advisor/occupational safety and health coordinator.
