Tips for keeping track of employee absences

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Employee absences are unavoidable, and most of the time your staff have a perfectly valid reason for not coming in. However, a high rate of absences over a period of time can be detrimental to your business. That’s why it’s important to know how often, and why, your team members are absent. 

With that in mind, here are some tips on how to keep track of employee absences. 

Use a HR Software system

By far the easiest way to monitor employee absences is with cloud HR software. Specially made HR software will let you see who is out of the office, as well as their reason why, at a glance. It will also let your employees request leave and upload any necessary supporting documentation for absences/requests.  

Return to work interviews

If a member of staff has been absent for a while, or frequently takes unexpected leave, then conducting back to work interviews will give you an insight as to why he/she wasn’t able to come to work. It’s also a good way to find out if your employee needs any additional support, in the case that they have a personal problem and/or issue within the company. 

Back to work interviews will also let you discuss things with your employee face-to-face and in private, should they need to discuss a sensitive matter with you. 

Bradford Factor

The Bradford factor is the theory that regular short and unexpected absences have more of a negative effect on a business than longer, planned periods of absence. Therefore, if your staff frequently take time off without prior warning, it’s time to consider what cost this may have for your company. Using your HR software, you can consolidate the information on absenteeism and decide whether or not it needs to be actioned. Remember, there may be an underlying reason why your staffs are taking unscheduled days off and it will need addressing. 

Be wary of discrimination when managing absence

It can sometimes be easy to jump to conclusions about why people have taken unexpected time off. This is especially true on Mondays or Fridays, where suspicions arise about whether or not a team member is trying to extend their weekend! But you should be wary of discrimination when it comes to managing absences. 

If you’re in doubt about why someone hasn’t come into the office, approach the situation delicately. Perhaps he/she is having a personal issue that is tough for them to talk about, and a scheduled back to work interview could be the perfect way to discover their reasoning, rather than confronting them unexpectedly. 

Summary 

As we’ve seen, there are many reasons why an employee may be absent, and it’s important to monitor these absences and consider if they’re having a negative effect on your business. 

By using a state-of-the-art HR software package to track employee absences, you can see how often your staffs are out of the office, as well as their reasons. And as a result, you can implement any necessary changes that may deter your members of staff taking unscheduled days off in the future.