Managing Absenteeism
To protect our workplaces from the ever-present risk of COVID, we need to encourage staff to take personal leave and get tested if they are feeling unwell. But what do you do when you have a staff member who is frequently absent seemingly without good reason?
Here are some key things to put in place:
- Implement an absenteeism process. Educate staff on what you expect of them when they need to take personal leave. Ensure they understand their obligations with respect to notifying their manager of their absence and providing medical certificates or evidence of their need to take leave.
- Record and monitor absences. If you believe there is a problem, review the data. Is the absenteeism as significant as you first thought? Have they exceeded their paid leave? Is there a pattern forming?
- Address your concerns directly with your employee and invite them to discuss any issues or circumstances that may be contributing to their absenteeism. Work with the employee to identify how their attendance can be improved and what you can do to support them eg temporary adjustments to hours to attend medical appointments.
- Be reasonable with your expectations.
Discipline or dismissal for absenteeism
You should not discipline staff for temporary absences due to illness or caring responsibilities – this may be considered discrimination or adverse action under the law. However, disciplinary action may be justified where you have evidence that an employee has wilfully misled you as to the reason for the absence, or where they fail to comply with the absenteeism procedure.
It is important to manage absenteeism issues with procedural fairness. The decision to take disciplinary action or terminate employment must only be made after thorough investigations have been conducted or where expert medical advice supports taking such action. Employers are recommended to seek advice.