No HR software solution will ever solve the problem of employee absenteeism. But the right HR software will help identify repeat offenders, help track absenteeism patterns, and help keep track of earned hours allocated/used.

The makers of an HR software package that does all of the above and more has surveyed over 300 of their users and found that on average those organisations have cut unauthorised absences by up to 75% saving themselves an estimated £1.5M in 6 months!

A key concern

When you look at the amount of money these organisations have saved it’s easy to understand that unauthorised staff absences are a key concern for many organizations. Even just a few incidences by one employee can drastically reduce your organisation’s productivity and morale and increase operating costs.

No matter what role an employee plays, every employee is crucial to a company’s success. If this wasn’t the case, that employee would already have been let go on the grounds of redundancy.

When an employee is absent, regardless of the reason, co-workers may have to handle that employee’s work in addition to their own work. Sometimes that means paying overtime to those employees who are present; something that increases a company’s costs.

Assigning extra work to employees who do show up may cause stress and feelings of resentment towards the absent employee, especially if that employee is habitually absent. When employees take on additional work it increases the chances of making harmful and/or costly mistakes; another serious problem for organisations.

While every organisation probably has its own definition of unauthorised employee absenteeism, in general the category covers any short-term unauthorised leave from work. Included in this category are employees who simply fail to show up on their scheduled work days. They slept in or were dealing with personal problems or had car trouble, etc. The category can also include employees who go against company policy and pull sickies even after being asked to provide notes from their doctors first.

If you’re lucky you’ll only have a few employees guilty of unauthorised employee absenteeism. But they’ll likely be repeat offenders. That’s why you can’t turn a blind eye to this problem.

Don’t send the wrong message

If this situation doesn’t come under control it sends a message to other employees that management finds such behaviour acceptable. That’s definitely not the message you want to send!

What can you do about unauthorised employee absenteeism? Most importantly, you need a clearly written policy that deals with this issue. Make sure it’s comprehensive and easy for employees to comprehend. Once in force, make sure you (or your managers) swiftly and consistently discipline every employee who doesn’t adhere to it.

You should also train management as to what constitutes unauthorised employee absenteeism and on ways to properly enforce your company policy. It’s also a good idea to continuously (but tactfully) remind employees that the policy exists. Be sure to set a good example, too! Then if you’ve not done so already, consider installing HR software.

How HR Software can help

HR software makes it easier to identify patterns of abuse. You might find a certain employee is regularly absent on Monday, another on Friday, and another right before major holidays. Not surprisingly, a significant number of unauthorised absences occur around the time of the World Cup!

Regardless of what patterns you find, HR software with the ability to track employee absenteeism provides you with a reliable record of proof should you ever need to dismiss an employee for this reason. As an employer it’s your responsibility to ensure that employee termination proceedings are handled in accordance with Employment law.

When you consider that a lost employee lawsuit could bankrupt the organisation you’ve worked so hard to build, HR software seems well worth the investment!

Learn more at Hr Software Reviews and Madebymurphy.com

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