Work Place Absenteeism

For every organisation, small, medium or large, regardless of industry, there is always one continuing problem that employers will face: absenteeism. Absenteeism is a massive issue that can cause huge problems to any business regardless of size. Absenteeism has more than one effect on the business; there is an operational issue, as well as a cost issue. Although there is no legal obligation for an employer to pay an employee for any period of absenteeism, there can often be a hidden financial implication, due to delays, unsatisfied customers, production falling behind schedule, demotivated and overworked staff due to short numbers etc. Accordingly, absenteeism quite often represents the silent killer for an organisation and if it is let go unchecked and unmonitored then it can be extremely detrimental to a business. With Minister Joan Burton seeking to introduce new rules whereby employers will have to account for the first 30 days of an employee’s sick leave there has never been a bigger incentive for employers to rein in this particular problem in order to get ahead of this future loss. Absenteeism may occur in different forms and for different reasons and firstly it is important for employers to note that some periods of absenteeism can be very genuine. Not every employee is looking for a day off and it is only fair and reasonable to accept the notion that employees can take days off work sick where they are unwell. However, it is very important for a business to recognise different types of absenteeism and to take the corrective action where appropriate. Short-Term Absences The first type of absence, and possibly the most common and harmful to a business, is sporadic absence, commonly referred to as “duvet days”. This is where an employee will have a number of days absence, usually a day or two at a time, built up over a long period of time. By and large results show that where an employee is absent for the odd day then it is more likely that this absence is not genuine. As a general rule of thumb the longer the absence the more genuine it will be. Thus, when monitored correctly, patterns can emerge with regard to duvet days and an employer may be able to identify patterns of absence in respect of particular employees. The most common examples of patterned absence fall around weekends where an employee takes a Friday or a Monday off work. In order to effectively address such absenteeism, employers should implement an effective system of monitoring and tracking employee absences and identify any patterns therein. If a suspicious pattern has been identified then the employer should meet with the employee and depending on the responses given they may be able to progress the matter through internal disciplinary procedures. In order to discipline an employee for short term absences the employer must be in a position to show that the employee had a continuing pattern of short term absences over a protracted period of time.  If after informal warnings have been issued and the employee shows no sign of improvement then the disciplinary procedures could and should be invoked. The employer should be careful though as they should try making themselves aware of the true medical position of the employee before taking disciplinary action. If disciplinary procedures have been invoked then the employer should hear the employee’s side of the story while at the same time stressing the negative impact that such absenteeism has on the place of work through lost productivity and morale and increased disruption to smooth running of the business. The employer should also set clear instructions on what improvements are expected going forward and the employee should be given a reasonable time to improve. If the issue persists then the employee should be invited to a further disciplinary hearing and given a further warning. At each stage the employee ought to be made aware that persistent absenteeism may ultimately lead to dismissal. This is an entirely acceptable approach as recognised by the EAT in ENC Dairy Products Limited –v- Connolly (UD 50/1988) where the dismissal of an employee for persistent one day absences was deemed fair as he had received a series of warnings through fair disciplinary procedures prior to the ultimate sanction of dismissal. Long-Term Absences The next type of absence is long term absence. Long-terms absences normally occur when the employee is suffering from a significant medical condition with the net effect of that employee being entirely unfit to take up their working duties. An employee can be out for weeks or possibly months and, in exceptional circumstances, years due to certain types of illness. A prevalent trend amongst employers is to simply allow such employees to take their extended sick leave without keeping in contact with them. The issue here is that the employee may stop sending sick certs, the employee and employer may lose contact and a long time down the line the employer realises that they still have an employee on their books without any idea as to when they will be back, if they will be back at all. A common error made by employers in these circumstances is simply to terminate the employee’s contract without first taking the appropriate measures. An employer may justifiably terminate an employee’s position in cases of long term absenteeism on the grounds of medical incapability but as with every other type of dismissal scenario the employer is expected to have taken reasonable steps before effecting that dismissal. Prior to dismissing the employee, the employer ought to have obtained relevant and appropriate medical guidance on the employee condition and the long-term implications of that condition. If it is the case that medical guidance received suggests that the employee will be unfit for work indefinitely or for the foreseeable future then the employer may be able to justify dismissing that employee on medical incapability grounds, particularly where there is a pressing need to have that role filled. Prior to taking the decision to dismiss, however, the employee should first be given the opportunity to meet with the employer to discuss any medical reports received. Managing Absenteeism Absence needs to be monitored and tackled on on-going bases and there are some simple but yet effective measures that be implemented which can greatly reduce absenteeism.

1. Firstly, the employer or an appropriate manager should always conduct a thorough return to work meeting with the employee each time they have a period of absence, regardless of the duration of that absence. The meeting should be documented and essentially the employee should be quizzed on the nature of their absence and on their fitness to return. Although this is just a simple meeting, surveys show that this can be used as an effective deterrent if the employee knows that they are going to have to face this each time they return from a period of absence.
2. Regular appraisals can also be another good method of addressing and tackling the issue of absenteeism. Appraisals can allow an employer to recap the employee’s absences in the appraisal period and this may allow the employer to highlight any potential patterns that have emerged. The very notion that an employer is monitoring each instance of absenteeism can be a deterrent in itself and if incentives, such as pay increases, are tied to the appraisal system then the employer may see a significant reduction in absenteeism.
3. As mentioned above, disciplinary action may be taken where an employee has had a significant number of sick days. An important point to make is that an employer may justify dismissing an employee for persistent absenteeism, provided the appropriate level of warnings have been issued and medical advice has been obtained, even where the employee has produced medical certificates justifying each incident of absenteeism.
4. A hugely important manner of tackling work place absenteeism would be ensuring that the employer has appropriate rules and procedures in place. For example, the employer should clearly outline that absenteeism may be dealt with through disciplinary procedures and also that employees will be subjected to return to work meetings. On top of that it is important to note that employees are not legally obliged to provide medical certificates so the employer should clearly outline this requirement in the employee’s contract or in the employee handbook. In addition, the employer should clearly outline that the employee may be requested to attend a company GP for medical assessment. Again there is no legal obligation on the employee to attend but if it is clearly set out in their terms and conditions then employer may deem the employee to be in breach of contract if they do refuse to attend.
5. Another proven method of tackling absenteeism is to put in place some form of reward scheme for those employees with excellent attendance levels. This can be done easily and with very few cost implications to the business and examples may include additional time off (finishing early on a Friday perhaps) or a small gift voucher.

Conclusion Tackling absenteeism is key in driving down the levels of absenteeism and cost of absenteeism. It may take some time to get trackers, logs and back to work interviews in place but once successfully implemented can have large cost saving measures for the business. Remember the results may not be seen overnight but results both financially and in absence levels will continue to come in line with acceptable levels with the company.