Absenteeism in the workplace is a real issue and it has become a major problem over the past few years. There are three different types of absences that can potentially impact your business: scheduled, unscheduled, and partial shift absences. Scheduled absences consist of vacation or personal time, such as PTO. Unscheduled absences include sick days, disability, and Worker’s Compensation leave. Lastly, partial shift absences are when a worker arrives late at work, takes longer breaks than allowed, or leaves early. There are different causes for absenteeism, some an employer can control such as bullying and/or harassment in the workplace or employee burnout and there are others that cannot be controlled by an employer such as bad weather, childcare, or even job hunting. Whatever the case may be, employers should be aware of how often their employees are absent from work without a valid reason. Being proactive about managing attendance and talking to those employees that miss work often is a good start, but having a perfect (or almost perfect) time and attendance policy is imperative. If you don’t already have one in place or are thinking about making your current time and attendance policy better, consider the following.

Read More