Clear Path Blog

Recently we wrote about how Mondays have the highest absence occurrence and how it can be a sign of dissatisfaction and low engagement with one’s job.  Some studies are pointing to the reasons for absence as essentially boredom or employees who are feeling unfulfilled.  At the other end of the spectrum employers are seeing increase in absenteeism because employees are stressed and overwhelmed by workload or expectations.  These seemingly benign absences can lead to more long term issues such as lost productivity, claims and litigation.

An article written recently on MSNBC Careers highlights another potential risk associated with being bored on the job-employees turning to alcohol to cope.

A study of 102 office workers in the UK concluded that 25% were bored at work most of the time and that those individuals suffered from chronic boredom resulting in more stress, more absences and a desire to leave the position.  A third of respondents indicated they were more likely to drink after a boring day of work.  Alcohol and substance abuse as a coping mechanism has the potential of entering the workplace when it becomes a habit for an employee. This presents higher risk of employee absence, potential workplace violence issues and may lead the employee to take unnecessary risks such as vandalizing, stealing or sabotaging searching for stimulation to cure their boredom.  

A sense of belonging and self- worth goes a long way to encourage engagement with your employees.  Assessing the mental health needs of your workplace and creating a pro-attendance environment are one of the many strategies we discuss in our upcoming Employee Absence Does Not Make the Heart Grow Fonder learning session.

How are you creating a pro-attendance healthy work environment? Join us on Wednesday February 15^th at the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce where we will discuss strategies for managing employee absence.

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In Ontario employers are not required to provide unpaid or paid sick leave, or paid benefit plans for sickness to employees. However, employees who work for employers that regularly employ at least 50 employees or more are entitled to unpaid emergency leave in certain situations under the Employment Standards Act.

Some companies provide a designated number of sick days, while others have an accumulation process. As part of a sick pay program employers must decide whether or not employees are allowed to carry over their allotted sick days or accumulated hours of sick time from year to year.  Some of the concerns include:

• By having the opportunity to carry it over year to year it is more likely to be abused
• Some employees feel entitled to a certain amount of sick days per year and despite whether they are sick are not, may feel they need to “use them or lose them”.

Are you encouraging the “use it or lose it” philosophy by reminding employees that if they don’t use sick time by the end of the year it’s gone?  Employees may feel like they are losing out and feel the need to take the time off. These unplanned absences can result in lost productivity, lowered morale due to having to cover for the “sick employee”, and possibly starting a trend with other employees creating continual absence disruptions.

A possible alternative to combat the “use it or lose it” attitude could be to provide your employees with a set number of sick days, but if they don’t utilize them by the end of the year, they are rewarded with a year end bonus equal to the time off they didn’t use. As always be sure to promote that a healthy workplace is still top priority, and should someone be suffering from a contagious illness that could potentially affect others, staying home and using the sick time is the recommended and preferred option. You don’t want to encourage people coming in sick just to receive it back in the form of a bonus.

What does your workplace do? Is it working? Let us know your thoughts via Twitter using hash tag #absence or comment on the blog post via LinkedIn.

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Do you have employees suffering from the Monday blues? According to a study completed by consultant firm Mercer, 35% of all “sick” absences are taken on a Monday. Surprisingly Friday only accounted for 3% of sickness. Some might think that because it was so close to the weekend people might opt for a Friday as their “sick day” and take advantage of a three day weekend.

Other notable results from the survey concluded:

• January is the month with the highest level of sickness absence
• On January 3^rd and 4^th nearly 5% of the total employee population was “sick”
• Most common cause of absence was a musculoskeletal related issues (24% of all lost days)
• Common colds, flu and other viral infections accounted for 17% of all lost time
• Female workers took off 24% more work days than male workers and were twice as likely to suffer from stress-related illness, exhaustion and depression
• Muscle strains, fractures, and other physical injuries sustained by men account for at least double the absence rates among women

So why is Monday sickness so frequent? Often frequent Monday sickness and short term absences can be a symptom of low employee engagement and morale. If an employee is struggling at work, whether it is conflict in the workplace or even general boredom and dissatisfaction with their job, the stress and emotional side effects can lead to long term absence.  

The full cost of unplanned employee absence is equal to 36% of payroll. This is a huge expense for most businesses. To understand and recognize the trends in your specific workplace, monitor your employee’s absences by tracking detailed information on the causes and duration of the absence.  This is key before trying to introduce potential solutions.  Deal with long term absence issues as soon as possible to reduce the risk of these potentially leading to a mental health claim, lost productivity or lowered morale in the rest of your workforce.

Having this information along with a clear policy, and taking active steps such as corrective counselling, or medical management, when used in conjunction with “soft strategies” to encourage engagement and company loyalty has the potential to effectively reduce the high costs of employee absenteeism.

Are you currently struggling with Monday absences or absenteeism in general? Join us on Wednesday February 15^th at the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce where we will discuss strategies for managing employee absence. A quick fix is not always the solution. This session will outline how to track absences, define your attendance policy, strategies to effectively enforce it, how to implement active steps like corrective counselling and creating a pro-attendance environment while still remaining within legal obligations with the relevant legislation.

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Struggling with Employee Absenteeism?

Excessive employee absence can be challenging for a small employer to manage, navigating through various legal obligations can be daunting. These days most companies have to work harder with less, so the cost of absenteeism is particularly troublesome.  Employee absence affects productivity, team morale, and in the end can be a dangerous distraction for managers trying to focus on making their business profitable.

Reasons for Employee Absenteeism:

According to Statistics Canada, the average worker missed 10.2 days of work in 2007 (not including vacations and statutory holidays), which is up 40% since 1997. There are several factors that can cause employee absenteeism, including:

• Personal commitments such as taking care of children and/or elder parents
• Stress and increased workloads
• Frustrations with a supervisor or co-workers
• Increased sense of entitlement

The issue can be exacerbated when employees treat “sick days” as a benefit that supplements their allotted vacation time and should be used up.

Tips on correcting Employee Absenteeism issues:

An obvious deterrent would be to not pay employees for time away from the workplace (other than vacation and statutory holidays). Even for salaried employees, you can set the expectation that any time missed is to be made up within the next 30 days (and documented). This of course must be balanced with a need for employees not to bring contagious illnesses into your workspace.

An attendance tracking system is an absolute must, especially one that includes the reason for the absence. Tracking systems can be very useful in spotting absence patterns and can help identify problematic individuals as well as departments with above average absence levels (which may indicate the need for supervisor training or conflict management).

Some experts contend that “perfect attendance” awards may be a “quick fix” by rewarding desired behaviour. They can help, but they do not address the root causes of poor attendance. They can also be tricky for companies with 50 or more employees since the Employment Standards Act (ESA) states their workers are legally entitled to up to 10 “emergency days” and the company cannot be perceived as punishing anyone who utilizes them.

Issues hidden below the surface:

Employers struggling with attendance issues need to look past the “quick fix” and try to discover the root of the problem. Excessive absenteeism can highlight many things, including:

• Need to develop a company attendance policy and communicate it with workers
• Job dissatisfaction and an early indicator of someone’s intention to leave
• Need to review current workloads, work distribution, and supervisor skills (or lack thereof)
• Potential team conflicts that should be resolved
• Need for creating an “exit strategy” for problematic employees who may be a negative influence on their peers
• Changing personal commitments of employees (child care, elder care) that might benefit from flexible work arrangements (flex hours, compressed work weeks, a specific number of personal days, etc.)

By taking the time to examine each of these areas and addressing any identified issues, you have the opportunity to make real improvements in your workplace and increase your workers’ productivity. All of these tips focus on the same main principle: making your workplace a safe and positive environment, where the professional and personal needs of your employees are respected.  Doing this will lead to happier employees and a much healthier bottom line!

Next Steps:

If you would like to learn more about managing employee absenteeism, please book your complimentary one hour consultation with Anna Aceto-Guerin at (519) 624-0800 or via email at anna@clearpathemployer.com, or attend our Absenteeism learning session.

By: Karleigh Buist, Clear Path Employer Services (2011)