Category: Absence Reporting

What Are Reasonable Accommodations for Disability Related Absences?

Posted on

August 30th, 2021

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shutterstock_306793247 - CopyWhen an employee is absent on a frequent basis, many employers take steps to remediate the issue. If the problem continues, the employee may face disciplinary action. However, when the absences are due to a disability, employers need to take a different approach. For example, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) considers clinical depression a disability. If an employee’s depression affects their ability to come into work, employers need to develop a plan to accommodate the employee without hurting office morale. This can prove even more nuanced when some or all of your workforce are remote.

Balancing Accommodations and Attendance

A common issue employers face: when an employee requests more time off after exhausting their family medical leave and/or short-term disability leave. Numerous court cases show it is reasonable for employers to expect their employees to attend work on a regular basis. However, it is less clear what qualifies as reasonable accommodations for the employee to return to work.
A recent court case shed some light on this issue. An employee with depression and anxiety requested flexible start times as well as a 10-minute break for every two hours of work. The employee suffered from panic attacks and requested the accommodations to help calm down after anxiety attacks. The Court of Appeals found these accommodations were not reasonable for numerous reasons:

  • The employee worked in a customer service position requiring them to answer phone calls; the court determined regular attendance was necessary to complete the main function of this job
  • The court determined flexible start times with planned breaks was not reasonable because the employee’s panic attacks were unpredictable
  • The court found it was not reasonable for the employee to request more time off beyond their exhausted FMLA and disability leave because the employee’s physician could not give a specific time the employee could return to work

Employers need to evaluate each employee’s request with care before making a decision about accommodations. In the example above, the court provided some guidelines for where to draw the line, but each case is different. To learn more about absence management, contact the experts at Actec.

What is a Sick Day for Remote Employees?

Posted on

August 3rd, 2021

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The pandemic altered every business regardless of industry or size. Companies assembled their plans for a remote workforce and found new ways to operate when states began issuing stay-at-home orders. Part of this challenge was determining how to handle leave requests and attendance.

Why Are Remote Employees Working While Ill?

Working from home blurred the line between work and personal time, particularly for employees that don’t have a dedicated office. It made it easy to work outside of usual hours and increased the perception of always being available. Even before the pandemic, many employees would come to work while ill or return to work before fully recovering. Some of this is because many employees fear judgment from their colleagues or employers if they call out sick. Others feel the pressure to always be available to their customers.

How COVID-19 Changed Sick Days

The pandemic has further complicated what it means to take a sick day. In a traditional office setting, employees should stay home when ill to prevent spreading illness. Now that they’re already in their home, many feel guilty for requesting a sick day. One survey found that almost half of employees believe other illnesses are insignificant compared to COVID-19. Two-thirds of the respondents believe their employer would frown upon any employee who takes a sick day for anything less severe than COVID-19.

The Cost of Presenteeism

Presenteeism, working while ill, comes with a hefty cost. Productivity decreases nearly threefold when employees work while ill or in pain. They’re also more likely to need to take a sick day if they work while ill, further tanking efficiency.

Many businesses have responded by offering more paid time off during the pandemic or implementing personal days. Other companies are tackling the issue with a shift in company culture. They’re training management to be empathetic when an employee requests sick leave. They’re hoping to shift the perception that the company leadership wants their employees to get better for their health rather than to get back to work quickly.

The pandemic made all aspects of running a business harder than before, and managing attendance is no exception. Contact the experts at Actec to learn how our absence tracking mobile app can simplify absence management during the pandemic.

4 Ways to Help Employees Struggling with Burnout

Posted on

July 6th, 2021

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The ongoing pandemic has drastically altered how many businesses operate. Some are 100% remote, while others are taking a hybrid approach as the outlook on COVID-19 improves. These changes have forced many employees to adapt quickly. Employees who work from home have to juggle their family’s needs with their work responsibilities. Others have had to take on more duties or learn new technology to meet deadlines in a remote work environment.

Unsurprisingly, these factors have resulted in skyrocketing rates of stress, depression, and anxiety among employees. Businesses can use the following strategies to help employees struggling with burnout:

  1. Provide value-based rewards. Performance-based rewards have their place, but their primary goal is to encourage employees to work harder. By nature, they’re more likely to worsen burnout than to alleviate it. Employees need to know they have value as a person beyond their work productivity. To put it another way, they need to feel like they are more than a cog in the business machine. Some value-based rewards include gift cards, bonus paid leave, or closing the office early without requiring a performance benchmark.
  2. Avoid knee-jerk penalties. Many companies have systems in place that trigger punitive action automatically, such as an attendance policy. For example, the first tardy arrival may result in a verbal warning, the second a written warning, and so on. However, this practice doesn’t consider the why when it comes to employee attendance. Instead, companies should take a holistic view of the employee’s past attendance record. If that individual is usually punctual, the company should investigate to gain context for the situation. Burned-out employees may not feel comfortable bringing up the issue, and automatic penalties will only worsen the issue.
  3. Take mental health seriously. It’s much harder to remain abreast of employees’ mental health in a remote environment. Managers have less face time with their teams, and tone doesn’t convey over text. Companies can take several steps to show they care about their employees’ mental health while respecting their privacy. For example, managers can send anonymous surveys to gauge employee wellbeing. Using a simple rating system of 1-10 can provide easy-to-track data to identify trends. Companies can also hold meetings to teach employees how to cope with stress, handle problems at home, and manage work challenges.
  4. Reevaluate company culture. If an organization consistently emphasizes output over the individual, it’s creating an environment ripe for burnout. Some elements of company culture are carved in stone, but many are easy to change. Some examples include setting longer deadlines, improving or changing communication styles, or reducing workloads by hiring more staff.

Employee burnout goes beyond their workload. Emotional and mental fatigue take their toll as well. Failing to address stress within the workplace will lead to increased turnover, reduced productivity, and rampant absenteeism. To learn more about reducing absenteeism in the workplace, contact the experts at Actec.

Integrated Absence Strategies to Control Costs and Reduce Risk

Posted on

June 21st, 2021

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Large corporations commonly realize tangible operational improvements utilizing a cohesive absence management strategy. A few of the notable benefits include cost reduction, improved employee communication, and increased productivity. But large corporations aren’t the only organizations that silo their absence management, disability programs, and other human resource tasks. Whether you’re an organization of 100 employees or 10,000, separating HR functions can lead to:

 

  • Duplicate forms required to satisfy regulatory requirements (more work)
  • Inefficiencies in returning employees to work after their leave expired (wasted labor)
  • HR staff struggling to track all the different types of leave (wasted time, increased risk)

These inefficiencies also lead to drop in their revenue. Numerous organizations have merged their absence reporting and absence management with disability management in order to coordinate claims tracking, integrate lost time data, and implement best practices across all HR operations. The result:

  • A reduction in overall costs
  • An understanding of employee leave and absence drivers
  • A company-wide increase in productivity

Another step in this integration process was to establish a centralized reporting center. The call center offers employees a phone number that will connect them with a representative capable of tracking all absence types and answering any absence-related questions. You don’t have to be a large corporation to leverage an integrated absence management program. Contact the experts at Actec to learn what an integrated call center can do for your business.

4 Reasons Why Your Employees Are Sick Despite Safety Precautions

Posted on

June 8th, 2021

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absence reportingMost companies implemented health and safety measures as COVID restrictions began to ease, and work could resume in person. However, many organizations are struggling to keep their employees healthy despite these precautions. The reasons driving these illnesses are surprising but simple to fix. The following are some common areas where contagion easily spreads amongst employees:

  1. Clocking in and out for the day. Physical or in-person time clocks require employees to use a communal system. With so many hands punching, swiping, or scanning, germs can easily spread. Such systems also result in queues while employees wait their turn.
  2. Paper schedules. Companies with shift workers or part-time employees may try to save time by posting the weekly schedule in a common area, such as a breakroom. However, this forces employees to congregate or come to work when off the clock to find out their schedule for the week. Scheduling apps eliminate this contact point while keeping employees up to date on their shifts.
  3. In-person meetings. Whether it’s a walking meeting or a planned conference, gathering in person increases the risk of sharing germs across entire teams or departments. While some meetings do require face-to-face interactions, companies should hold virtual meetings whenever possible.
  4. In-person scheduling requests. Organizations that don’t have an electronic system in place for leave requests have an increased risk of spreading contagion between staff members. In-person and paper-based systems pose a threat, as staff members must congregate in close quarters as well as handle leave request documents. Digital leave requests eliminate the person-to-person interaction and are much easier to track.

The pandemic has put a spotlight on how companies conduct business and what steps they take to keep their employees and customers healthy. Switching to a digital system can help eliminate many of the above problems, which helps to reduce absences and improve productivity. Contact the experts at Actec to learn more about reducing absenteeism and managing leave requests with our absence tracking mobile app.

Successful Strategies to Reduce Absenteeism in the Workplace

Posted on

May 25th, 2021

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Absenteeism is an issue that affects every industry. While providing clear attendance and leave policies can help, they’re not always enough to prevent absenteeism. Burnout, disengagement, and other stressors can lead to frequent absences. Companies can implement the following strategies to reduce employee absenteeism:

  1. Focus on wellness. Wellness programs can help companies tackle stress in the workplace. Some ideas include lunchtime yoga, lifestyle coaching for stress management, designated break rooms/frequent mini-breaks, and providing healthy lunch or snacks.
  2. Improve morale. It’s not enough to identify negative factors that cause disengagement. Companies must focus their efforts on getting employees to engage with one and other to rebuild morale. They can achieve this through inter-department competitions with fun prizes, team-building exercises, and other social activities.
  3. Be flexible. Employees’ home lives don’t always allow for traditional nine to five work schedules. They may need to take their children to school in the morning, attend night classes for professional development, or facilitate care for an infirm relative. Having the option to shift their schedules to the left or the right can eliminate conflicts between their personal lives and work. Offering a certain number of remote days per week can also help reduce employees’ stress.
  4. Reevaluate existing leave policies. Companies can claim they’re committed to employee wellness, but their existing leave policies may prove otherwise. While the financial feasibility will vary from company to company, employers should offer enough paid leave to avoid employee disengagement and burnout. Ideally, employees should have separate sick days and vacation days or a large enough pool of paid time off to account for both.

Companies can’t afford to overlook absenteeism, as it’s a chronic problem with far-reaching effects. Identifying absence trends is infinitely easier when all attendance data funnels to a centralized location. Contact the experts at Actec to learn more about reducing absenteeism with our absence tracking mobile app.

How to Identify Employee Burnout Before It Does Damage

Posted on

May 4th, 2021

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If employees are suffering from burnout, they’re more likely to make mistakes, experience drops in productivity, or start to have attendance problems (i.e. arriving late, leaving early, or calling out of work). Even if only one or two employees are struggling with burnout, managers are likely to notice the effects are office-wide. Once one employee stops pulling his or her weight, other employees have to pick up the slack. This puts added stress on the rest of the staff and can cause a chain reaction of burned out employees. Even if burned out employees don’t affect their coworkers, they are prone to making costly errors that can cause delays.

Thankfully, employee burnout is easy to spot. If managers and employers pay attention to their employees, they can recognize key indicators of burnout and take steps to rectify it before it begins hurting productivity and company morale through employee absenteeism and presenteeism.

  1. Heightened cynicism. Once productive employees may begin to balk at requests. A sudden shift to pessimism indicates the employee is disillusioned with or frustrated by his or her work. On that note, if an employee who is known for being a go-getter becomes negative and doubtful of certain objectives or goals, he or she may be experiencing burnout.
  2. Mistakes increase in frequency and severity. Seeing more typos when employees are under tight deadlines isn’t surprising. However, when an employee who often performs perfect work begins to make preposterous mistakes, something is wrong. The employee may feel underappreciated or overworked. Employers need to take the time to determine if the mistakes are the result of the employee growing careless or if he or she is suffering from burnout.
  3. Sudden disinterest with work. If a certain employee who always has ideas or contributes to the conversation goes silent at every meeting, he or she may be suffering from burnout. If the employee is overburdened with work, he or she isn’t going to engage any further until the problem is rectified.
  4. Attendance problems emerge. Some employees struggle with attendance, but when a previously punctual employee starts coming in late, leaving early, or not showing up at all, something is not right. Absent employees can derail projects, hurt productivity, and torpedo workplace morale. Managers must leverage absence reporting tools to determine if the sudden attendance problems are the result of family issues, an illness, or excessive work. If the problem is the latter, burnout is the culprit behind the absences.

Preventing burnout before it can take hold among the staff is of vital importance to businesses. If your company is trying to contend with absenteeism, Actec can help. Our absence reporting program can improve productivity, reduce absenteeism, and simplify your attendance keeping processes. Contact us to learn more.

4 Surprising Ways COVID-19 Contributes to Employee Absenteeism

Posted on

April 13th, 2021

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COVID-19 has put employees under more stress than ever, and it’s manifesting in several unpleasant ways in the workplace. While businesses can expect employees to call out for the occasional illness, skyrocketing absenteeism isn’t something companies prepare for or want. If employers notice a sudden surge in absenteeism, COVID-19 may be a contributing factor in unexpected ways.

Beyond the obvious of contracting the virus, the following details how COVID-19 contributes to absenteeism:

  1. Anxiety and depression. Prior to the pandemic, a national health survey asked adults about their anxiety and/or depression symptoms. From January to June of 2019, around 10% of respondents reported that they suffered from anxiety, depression, or both. This number shot up by January of 2021 to just over 40%. Unchecked mental health problems have a strong correlation with absenteeism.
  2. Not enough sleep. Over one-third (36%) of adults reported difficulties sleeping during the pandemic. Poor quality of sleep or insufficient sleep hinders productivity and can contribute to employee burnout. Chronically tired employees may begin to arrive late or call out altogether.
  3. Poor nutrition. Employees are shouldering significant burdens because of COVID-19. Some may be struggling with income insecurity, fears for at-risk family members, or difficulties obtaining childcare. The pressure of these situations can lead to poor nutrition, as evidenced by 32% of adults that reported difficulties eating. While diet may not have an immediate effect on employee attendance, it can influence their health. Insufficient nutrition can contribute to fatigue, stress, and loss of productivity. It also lowers the immune system, which makes employees more susceptible to illnesses.
  4. Worsening chronic health conditions. Individuals with chronic conditions likely had their health under control or were taking steps to do so before the pandemic. Unfortunately, many of those conditions are noted as high-risk for developing severe cases of COVID-19. Isolation also wreaks havoc on certain long-term health conditions, such as anxiety or depression. With 12% of adults reporting worsening chronic health conditions, employers may begin to see a corresponding rise in absenteeism.

Employees’ mental health and wellbeing are critical components to sustaining a productive workforce. If your business is struggling with absenteeism, Actec can help. Contact our team of experts to learn about our absence management solutions.

How to Manage Employee Attendance During COVID-19

Posted on

February 16th, 2021

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The pandemic created numerous complications regarding employee attendance. Many companies shifted to a 100% remote workforce at the outset of the pandemic. Some of these companies are back in the office full time, while others are using a hybrid approach. Regardless, the pandemic upended traditional scheduling and made tracking employee attendance more challenging.

Employers can implement the following to improve attendance during COVID-19:

  1. Highlight the importance of employees’ roles. If employees don’t see how their job plays a part in the bigger picture, they won’t see how missing a day of work now and then is a problem. When every employee adopts that line of thinking, a company quickly develops an absenteeism issue. This becomes a greater challenge when employees work from home. Employers should explain that every employee’s attendance is critical to achieving company goals, providing superior service, and not overburdening coworkers with extra work.
  2. Define clear notice requirements. Attendance policies should be clear on how much notice an employee needs to provide for an absence. Otherwise, employees are likely to wait until the last minute to discuss it. While some absences are truly last-minute, such as a sudden illness, employees should give ample notice for known future appointments.
  3. Create a policy for reporting unforeseen absences. Without a clear policy, employees may think they can miss work without an explanation until the following day. This creates confusion and hinders productivity. Employers should explain how and when employees need to report unexpected absences (i.e., by phone, email, or text as soon as the employee can reasonably do so). Employees working from home may not understand how waiting until the next day to explain their absence matter since they aren’t in an office environment.
  4. Clarify paid leave policies. Employers need to explain that employees can’t treat their paid leave as automatic approval for taking time off work. Employees need to understand how absence reporting and notification policies interact with paid leave policies to avoid labor gaps and productivity problems. This is particularly important in a remote environment as employees working from home may not realize they need approval before leaving in the middle of work hours.

Ambiguous attendance policies create a breeding ground for absenteeism. Providing clear guidelines helps ensure employees follow protocols when requesting leave or notifying employers of their absence. To learn more about managing attendance, contact the experts at Actec.

5 Ways Employee Absences Cost Businesses Money

Posted on

February 2nd, 2021

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Employee absences are an unavoidable aspect of running a company. While employees rate vacation time, sick leave, and paid time off (PTO), these absences have direct and indirect costs. Businesses need to account for these costs when planning their budget, but absence-related expenses can be difficult to calculate. The following breaks down the most common costs associated with employee absences:

  1. Payroll. When employees take time off for vacation, illness, bereavement, and so on, they still pull a paycheck. While employers calculate their employees’ salaries into their budget, they may not account for the loss of work while employees use their paid leave.
  2. Overtime. When employees take time off, particularly if there is little notice, other employees may have to work overtime to bridge the labor gap. For non-exempt employees, businesses pay time and a half the employee’s hourly rate for every hour worked over 40 hours.
  3. Temporary workers. When businesses want to avoid overworking existing employees and the associated cost of overtime, they may use temporary workers to cover absent employee’s duties. These part-time temp workers may cost less than paying overtime, but it’s an expense that affects a business’s bottom line.
  4. Loss of productivity. Whether a business opts to pay existing employees overtime or rely on temporary workers, productivity often decreases. Coworkers aren’t as familiar with the absent employee’s job, which typically means it takes longer to complete. It also stresses employees who have to take on the additional work on top of their existing job, which can lead to burnout. While temporary workers don’t have the burden of juggling two jobs, they’re unlikely to know the minutiae of the work. Their unfamiliarity slows productivity.
  5. Unplanned absences. While some leave is easy to plan for, such as vacation time, emergencies and life situations can force employees to take leave with little notice. The hidden costs of repetitive unplanned absences are numerous. They can hurt morale, stress the remaining staff, lower work quality, disrupt projects, and more.

While some employee absences are unavoidable, businesses need to know the associated costs. Without a robust absence management system, it’s easy to miss attendance problems and absenteeism. Contact the experts at Actec to learn how our absence tracking mobile app can improve absence reporting and management for your business.