How-to Deal With Poor Staff Attendance
Published: 03/01/2022
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When you hire an employee, whether as an MD or a founder, you naturally expect them to perform their duties in exchange for remuneration. However, at times the workers you employ may attempt to exploit the system by receiving the same pay for diminished performance. Poor staff attendance is a costly issue to face. In this article, we will address it.
Employee absenteeism refers to the frequent and habitual absence of a worker. This can include unscheduled absences, repeated sick days, and blatant no-shows. However, it can also manifest as continual tardiness and early finishes. Overall, it constitutes malpractice that is particularly damaging to any business.
What makes attendance issues so enormously damaging is that they typically only get recognised when they have had a significant negative impact. In other words, if you have identified a case of absenteeism, it is already too late.
Workplace attendance issues only become apparent when they form a pattern, which naturally requires months, if not years, to emerge. From the moment they begin until you address them, these poor practices drain your budget and lead to significant financial losses. That said, the wisest course of action is to ensure that the abuse of the attendance system does not occur in the first place. The good news is that preventing such issues is much easier than identifying them in their early stages.
It’s important to be aware of the red flags indicating that your staff is engaging in business-damaging attendance practices. Certain signs suggest that a worker may need to be investigated; we will cover three of the main ones. Keep in mind that these signs do not necessarily guarantee your employee is guilty of absenteeism; sometimes, they are merely simple missteps or one-offs.
Everyone gets ill now and then, and that’s understandable. That’s why sick pay exists. However, the loophole here is that, unlike holiday entitlement, sick days are not capped. Additionally, unless they last longer than 7 days, employees do not need to provide a doctor’s note to receive statutory sick pay. In other words, if a staff member calls in sick and stays home for fewer than 7 days, they will still receive pay, and this time will not be deducted from their holiday entitlement.
There is no legal guideline regarding the number of sick days a worker can take, as this is typically outlined in the employment contract signed by both parties. However, even if a specific number has been agreed upon, it doesn’t mean it cannot be misused. It is advisable to analyse how frequently employees call in sick to identify any patterns.
Unless you are informed of any underlying condition the worker has, taking 1-5 sick days each month should raise some red flags. However, do not rush to call the employee out immediately. Instead, enforce the self-certification policy. Upon their return, request that they confirm their illness via email, a form, or any other method that ensures it is documented.
Buddy punching refers to the act of tampering with another employee's timesheets to conceal their lateness or absence. This behaviour is most common in workplaces that employ hourly wage systems rather than fixed salaries, necessitating that workers clock in and out. It poses as great a financial risk to your business as it does to the company culture.
Not only do you end up paying for a staff member who isn't working, but it also puts a strain on the employees who are present. The team is forced to operate at reduced capacity, which is likely to adversely affect overall performance. This may breed resentment internally, resulting in good workers leaving as they feel they are not being treated fairly.
It can also go another way, where the entire team is complicit in the malpractice and actively engages in it, covering for one another. In this situation, it may be particularly difficult to detect and could only become apparent if you make unannounced visits to the worksite.
Absences with short or no notice are common issues. The latter may easily lead to termination if they occur repeatedly. The main concern here is the burden it places on the team, who will be forced to work extra to cover for the absentee.
Similarly to buddy punching, it can foster resentment within the team and drive employees away once they become fed up with picking up the slack. Unless addressed at the earliest opportunity, it can also convey a message to the rest of the team that such behaviour will be tolerated and thus encourage more employees to start acting in this manner.
It’s worth noting that this is the case when a pattern indicates there is an underlying cause for this behaviour that your employee is hesitant to reveal to you. It can be anything from difficulties in finding childcare on particular days to having to run errands that cannot be cancelled—such as attending medical appointments.
Most of the time, the problems stemming from these sources can be solved by introducing flexibility. Haphazard no-shows or unscheduled absences, on the other hand, point to malicious misconduct.
As mentioned earlier, the most effective way to combat absenteeism is through prevention. However, this is a rather broad term that provides little clarity regarding the exact steps that should be taken. Below, we will outline specific measures that could be implemented to enhance staff attendance.
The key problem with traditional timesheets is how easily they can be tampered with—ranging from accidents like spillages, rips, or losses to malicious intent, such as editing previously recorded time entries, and more. This makes paper timesheets unreliable and thus ideal for facilitating absenteeism practices.
It doesn’t mean you should entirely drop timesheets – they’re still the best solution available. All you need to do is adopt them in a digital format. Not only will they be more secure and accessible, but they'll likely save you time on corrections. For example, if you use Timesheet Portal, you will be able to disapprove the timesheets that weren’t filled in correctly, informing the employee who completed them that corrections are necessary.
Additionally, you can customise your digital timesheets to fit the specific needs of your business, such as paying different rates based on the shift time, tasks completed, or the location.
Another advantage of digital time-tracking software is its accessibility. Most solutions are available as mobile apps, enabling your staff to log their time easily even when they are away from their desktops. Some will even come equipped with a GPS tracker to verify that workers have indeed arrived at and left the site as indicated on their timesheets.
Digital timesheets can also be exported to your payroll system, making the calculation of employee wages quicker and less prone to errors. If the solutions are integrated, your customised timesheet fields, such as the overtime rate, will also be calculated accordingly.
A foolproof prevention measure is to introduce every new hire to your attendance policy. Every business should have one, so if you don’t, start putting one together as soon as you finish this article. If you have one in place, you should revise it to ensure it’s straightforward.
It should be brief yet very clear, outlining what is acceptable and the consequences of non-compliance. A good policy should inform your employees in no uncertain terms what your expectations are and what the consequences are for failing to meet them. This is where you should introduce a warning system, should you decide to implement one.
However, not even the best policy in the world will be effective if you do not comply with it as well. This means that there should not be double standards or exclusions from the rules you have established. For example, if your highest-performing employee violates the policy for the second time, which may necessitate temporary suspension, you must enforce their punishment, even if it means temporarily impacting business performance.
If you don’t, this will send a message to the rest of your staff that the policy is not strict and only applies in certain situations. This can lead to a multitude of problems. Therefore, once you write a policy, ensure that you adhere to it.
You need to let your staff know that their absence doesn’t go unnoticed. Instead of confronting them in a blaming manner, begin by noting facts casually. For instance, mention how you’ve observed they are getting sick quite a bit lately or that they are typically late on Tuesdays. Making them aware that their absence does not escape your notice may be sufficient for the employee to amend their behaviour.
If it doesn’t, consider adopting a more stern approach by introducing countermeasures. For example, notify them that if they are late on Tuesday again, they will need to account for that time by working later on Wednesday. If they continue to take sick days, ask them to do so by filling in a form 3-5 hours before the shift, and vice versa.
Finally, begin asking questions. Is there a particular reason they are late on Tuesdays? Shouldn’t they see a doctor if they are feeling unwell this frequently? Again, ensure that the manner in which you pose the questions does not seem accusatory but rather comes from a place of genuine concern. This leads us to the next section.
Although there are numerous preventative measures, it’s important to remember that, ultimately, you are working with living individuals. Absenteeism often has deeper underlying causes than mere irresponsibility. To effectively address this issue, you must identify these causes and collaborate with your staff to find a lasting solution.
By employing the ‘care personally, challenge directly’ approach, not only will you identify the root causes of tardiness or poor attendance, but you will also build a stronger rapport with your employees. Becoming someone they trust means that in the future, they will be more inclined to share their concerns with you to determine what can be done about it, rather than resorting to harmful practices. This is a much longer path, but it’s the one that addresses the problem entirely.
Staff attendance is a key factor in optimising business performance. Frequent unexpected absences or habitual lateness by workers place a strain on the team, lowering morale and reducing workforce capacity. Furthermore, depending on your company’s arrangements, you risk paying an employee for hours not worked. Over the long term, this could result in significant financial losses.
The issue with malicious absenteeism is that it exhibits patterns, which only arise when a particular behaviour is repeated. In other words, by the time you notice that something is amiss, you have already experienced losses. The safest course of action and most effective solution is to prevent this from occurring.
While there are several great preventative measures, such as swapping traditional timesheets for their digital counterparts or imposing strict rules, the best way to tackle the problem is to identify where it originates and then attempt to resolve it in collaboration with the offender. It’s quite rare for attendance-related issues to stem from tardiness or a lack of responsibility; therefore, by fostering trust and flexibility, you can meet your employees halfway. Not only will this prevent financial loss, but it will also enhance your relationship with the staff.
Are you ready to implement some preventive measures?Let us know.