Leave Policies For Effective Absence Management

So, your IT manager is sick again, your senior developer’s wife is in labour, or your HR manager says heavy snowfall prevented him/her from reaching the office. 

All such things may happen, but daily business operations could be disrupted when it becomes prevalent, which can prove to be costly. Therefore, a proper absence management system must be in place to counter such situations and limit the adverse impact. 

Frequent discrepancies in leave management activities at the workplace can be highly problematic and frustrating, resulting in reduced day-to-day productivity. 

Not only the productivity of the employee who is on leave is affected but also deteriorates his/her relationship with the manager. Consequently, everyone’s morale goes down, especially those who are affected, filling the increased workload.              

Another drawback of mismanaged absences is increased expenses. Training another employee to work on a particular task which earlier the absentee project was handling would directly mean loss of time and money. 

And, finally frustrating among the team when one or two members have a habit of taking leave regularly. With no proper guidelines and communication, the absence would be a huge challenge. 

Be Clear with Absence And Leave Policies From Day One

A well-documented employee manual can go a long way in eliminating any animosity within the team. There must be a dedicated section for leave management in the employee handbook.

Ensure that the company is generous in giving details, and it is imperative to include every aspect concerning long-term illness, sick days, and family emergencies. 

The management’s expectations on leave and absence management must be clear and transparent, covering how the pay deductions would be handled. Outline the consequences of abusing leave policies.

Be Aware of Legal Requirements for Paid Leave 

The HR department in your organisation must be well-versed with any laws or regulation about leave entitlement. Larger enterprises with more than fifty employees within the company have a more specific set of leave compared to an organisation with a few employees. 

Research all the rules & regulations, and then create a leave package that is the right fit for your organisation. 

Determine whether your company can afford to offer sick leave and health insurance? Would it boost the morale of the team? 

Keep Records

Invest in an automated absence management system to keep track of the absences. 

When it comes to a time when you want to let an employee manage their leave because of increased missed workdays, such automated solutions turn out to be a blessing. Requesting leave online will ensure that there are errors because of manual entries. 

Plus, employees can access their leave balances and allowances, allowing them to better plan in advance and avoid last-minute leave applications.

Not only that, an automated absence management system could be resourceful to narrow down on hard-working employees and reward them to create a positive competitive environment in the organisation. 

Allow the Employees to Have Their Say – What Goes Into Leave Policies

The most crucial aspect of successful absent management is the involvement of the employees. Stay in touch with your employees through timely weekly/monthly meetings. 

While doing so, ensure that each new joiner read through the employee handbook and under-signs it to acknowledge their awareness regarding the policies. Also, involve them in the meetings and encourage them to put forward their feedback regarding the present employee leave management process.

The whole idea is that one employee’s absence isn’t a personal affair. It is of great importance to the company. So, it’s imperative that the company as well as the employees are on the same page and have sheer transparency between them regarding the expectations. Something that can be well-achieved through one-to-one or group sessions at regular time intervals.

Promote Health In Your Leave Policies

Promoting good health is the long-term strategy to reduce the number of average absences. There are numerous ways to show your employees you care for them, resulting in fewer sick days and a better sense of belonging among them. 

If employees do not feel a sense of belonging at the workspace, how can you expect them to work efficiently and meet the targets? 

Plan to promote good health, which includes team-building activities that are physical. Offer perks such as monthly health checkups and annual flu shots. Maybe you can put up a board and chart suggesting recipes as well as some handful tips to avoid long-term illness. 

If you as a company consider taking leave for a much-needed vacation and mental relaxation, then promote it. So that they are focused and excited when they return and are aware of the fact that you care about their leave and deserved holiday-time.

Do you have any suggestions concerning effective absence management, have your say in the below comment section. Our readers would love to learn from your first-hand experience. 

We advise you to consider integrating an automated leave management system for monitoring the performance of the employees. This, in turn, will create a healthier and supportive work environment.