What is Absence Management?

Employee absences are uncomfortable situations for companies of any size. But, as unfortunate (or seemingly harmless) as they may be, it is important to deal with them. The CDC once reported that employee absence costs 225.8 billion dollars per year. So, considering how expensive it can be, absence management is more than just keeping track of who's out and for how long. It’s a strategic approach that helps maintain a healthy balance between supporting employee well-being and maintaining a productive work environment.

This guide goes into greater detail about absence management, explaining its importance in HR, the different types of absences it addresses, and the strategies you can implement for a smooth-running workplace.

What Is Absence Management in HR?

Absence management refers to the set of policies, procedures, and programs an employer uses to track, monitor, and respond to employee absences. It's all about striking a delicate balance between offering support and understanding to employees who need time off for legitimate reasons and addressing excessive or unexplained absences that could slow down operations.

But How Does Absence Management Impact HR?

Absence management can maximize employee productivity by reducing unexpected absences that can mess up project timelines and team productivity. Secondly, it helps HR comply with legal regulations on employee leave, avoiding legal headaches and the need for costly replacements. In addition, it helps improve employee morale and engagement by showing that the company cares about their well-being, which can help drive turnover down.

We’ll go deeper into why HR professionals are finding absence management important in another section.

Types of Absences

Absence management policies tackle a wide range of situations that cause employees to miss work. Here, we'll take a look into the three main categories:

Planned Absences

These are pre-arranged leaves that employees formally request and get approved beforehand. They allow employees to take time off for various reasons without disrupting workflow.

Examples:

• Annual leave (vacation): This is the most common type of planned absence.
• Maternity or Paternity leave: These leaves provide time for new parents to take care of their child.
• Sick leave for medical appointments: Employees can use sick leave for scheduled doctor's visits, minor illnesses, or preventative care.
• Sabbaticals: Some companies offer extended leaves of absence for personal or professional development.

Unplanned Absences

These are unexpected absences that arise due to unforeseen circumstances. While absence management can't altogether remove them, it can downplay their impact.

Examples:

• Short-term illness: Colds, flu, or minor injuries can lead to unplanned absences. Good communication and return-to-work procedures are key here. And good health and wellness programs, just as important.
• Injury: Accidents or sudden injuries can call for time away from work. If the situation is serious, accommodations or disability leave might be called for.
• Family emergencies: Situations like a sick family member or a home repair can also cause unexpected absences.
• Bereavement leave: Companies should always accommodate some days off for bereavement leave.
• Travel disruptions: Unexpected weather events or travel issues can also prevent employees from reaching work on time.

Leave Without Pay (LWOP) or Unauthorized Absences

These absences take place when employees miss work without a previous notification or a legitimate reason. They can be disruptive and raise concerns about employee engagement.

Examples:

• Unexcused absences: Employees who miss work without providing a valid reason fall into this category.
• Excessive delays: Repeatedly arriving late can be a sign of underlying issues or a lack of respect for work time.

The Gray Area

It's important to keep in mind that some absences might fall into a gray area. An employee calling in sick on short notice might have a genuine reason, but without proper documentation (like a doctor's note), it could be treated as unplanned. Clear communication policies and fair procedures are a necessity for dealing with these situations responsibly. And clear policies can help reduce employee absenteeism, especially those that inevitably crop up because of misunderstandings.

The Importance of Absence Management

As we’ve come to understand, effective absence management isn't just about keeping track of who's out and when. It is influential in keeping the workplace healthy and well-organized. Here's why it holds significant importance for HR departments:

Maintaining Productivity

Unplanned absences, even for short periods, can disrupt project timelines and overall team output. When employees are unexpectedly out, their colleagues may need to take on additional workloads, leading to stress and potential burnout.

Actually, did you know that the cost of unplanned absenteeism is approximately $3,600 per year for each hourly employee and $2,660 per year for salaried employees?

A well-defined absence management system helps:

• Help teams plan ahead: Planned leaves and having clear procedures for unplanned absences will either allow teams to plan these absences or to know what to do when a situation arises.
• Help with workload assignments: Knowing who is out and for how long allows managers to delegate tasks quickly and make sure projects stay on track.
• Promote accountability: Clear policies and communication regarding leave expectations can help maintain a culture of accountability and discourage uncalled-for absences.

Legal and Compliance Considerations

HR departments have a duty to make sure that the organization complies with local and national regulations regarding employee leave entitlements. These may include:

• Sick leave: Regulations may dictate minimum paid sick leave allowances.
• Vacation time: Laws may mandate minimum paid vacation days. This is the standard in most countries, and international companies should consider it.
• Family and medical leave: Employees may have legal rights to take leave for family emergencies or serious medical conditions.

Failing to comply with these regulations can lead to legal repercussions and damage employee morale. An effective absence management system can:

• Track how leave is used: Monitor and record all types of leave taken by employees to stay in compliance with legal requirements (and to gather analytics that can help set the bar).
• Streamline leave request procedures: Make it easy for employees to request leave in line with company policies and legal guidelines.

Employee Morale and Engagement

A well-managed absence program helps build a sense of confidence and speaks to the company's commitment to employee well-being. In fact, turnover is 7.8% annually in low-to-medium absenteeism settings and 10.6% in high absenteeism settings. We can infer the evident pattern—turnover and absenteeism rates are associated with each other.

Here's how it impacts morale and engagement:

• Supports work-life balance: Offering flexible leave options, health and wellness programs, and fair leave policies allows employees to manage personal needs without giving up on their careers or the other way around.
• Builds trust and respect: Showing confidence in employees to manage their leave responsibly promotes a sense of respect and builds stronger relationships between employees and management.
• Improves communication: Clear communication regarding absence policies and procedures ensures everyone is on the same page.

5 Absence Management Strategies

The ideal workplace is not a scenario without unexpected absences. Those will inevitably happen. An ideal workplace, instead, is one where unexpected absences don't affect productivity, and planned absences encourage employees to recharge and come back refreshed. This ideal environment is the result of a well-planned absence management strategy. Here are some key strategies to achieve this—strategies that can be followed independently or that can overlap:

• Develop Clear Absence Policies and Procedures

A well-defined policy outlines acceptable reasons for absence, notification procedures, and leave request processes. A company should always specify how much paid time off, sick leave and other types of leave employees accrue and how they can be used. Also, a company should clearly define how employees deal with their own absenteeism. A platform that can handle planned and unplanned leave is the best solution here.

• Communication Is Key

Make sure all employees have access to the absence management policy and understand its implications. Also, keep employees informed of any changes or updates to the policy. And encourage employees to talk to managers about absences. This helps give help and request help when needed.

• Return-to-Work Programs

Companies who're set on a return to work (not to be confused with the not-that-popular RTO, return to office) policy should, obviously, make returning to work easy. For extended absences, set up a process for employees to make their way back into the workplace. This might involve meetings to discuss workload adjustments or retraining.

Companies should also offer resources and support to help employees manage personal challenges impacting their work attendance. This could include Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) or flexible work arrangements. It could also involve allowing employees to plan their absences. Two very well-known systems that allow for this are Matrix Absence Management and Frontline Absence Management, which is prevalent in education.

• Tracking and Monitoring

A company should always have accurate records about their absences, and implement an absence management system to track and record absences. This data can be used then to identify trends and potential issues. Or to realize how correlated turnover and absences are in a group of workers, for example.

• Play Your Part and Promote Attendance

If you're fighting absenteeism, you might want to promote attendance. A starting point is to defend a healthy work-life balance. You can offer flexible work arrangements, remote work options, or shorter workweeks to help employees manage personal needs without compromising productivity. You can always recognize attendance with a bonus incentive for good metrics. These recognitions could backfire in certain jobs (e.g., in field sales, rewards should be for selling, not for showing up), but there could be a use case for it.

Tools and Software for Absence Management

Managing employee absences can feel like a constant juggling act. Spreadsheets get messy, communication gets confusing, and time gets thrown away. But modern absence management tools can transform this challenge into an automated and simple task. 86% of people who use management systems from tech vendors are very satisfied with that decision.

The absence management software makes everything easier and faster for HR and employees. For HR departments, automatic data entry keeps the information precise, and real-time notifications keep you in the loop. Plus, these tools generate reports that identify workforce trends. Employees, on their part, can check if their non-responding colleague is actually absent or very busy.

Consider TalentHR for Effortless Time-Off Management

TalentHR is a comprehensive all-in-one HR platform that provides HR software services for businesses of all sizes. It can be a game-changer for employee absence management because it covers the whole employee lifecycle, including their time off or absences. Companies can onboard employees and administer their profiles through TalentHR, and employees and HR departments can then use the tool to request their time off or check how unplanned absences are going. It's all navigable through a quick-to-set-up web app.

With its absence management tool, TalentHR can:

• Manage the absence requests
• Allow employees to send their own requests with one click
• See who’s out with automatic calendar updates
• Customize leave limits
• Most importantly—track employee absences

Register now for free. It takes only a few seconds to get started—really.

Absence Management Related FAQs

Absence management vs. Attendance management. What's the difference?

Attendance management tracks when employees are present, while absence management focuses on why and when employees are out. It also involves the steps for requesting leave and tracking different types of absences.

What metrics should I track?

Track key metrics like absenteeism rate (total absences as a percentage of scheduled workdays), unplanned absences, sick leave usage, and leave balances (The amount of time off an employee has available to use). These are only some of the metrics a company can log into their systems to understand where to improve on or which benefits to offer.

How can small businesses implement effective absence management?

Even small businesses can benefit! Look for free or affordable absence management tools with features like leave request tracking and basic reporting.