Absence Management Policy | Meaning and Definition

Absence Management Policy

Employees will get sick, experience burnout or the demise of a family member or close relative, or might have to attend weddings, etc. They would be on leave for these and several other reasons. And how you handle employee absences is covered in the absence management policy. Do you know that companies face a loss of an average of 7.5 days/ year owing to sickness per employee? This was indicated in the 2016 CIPD absence management survey.

Employee absence leads to revenue loss. Often companies have to consider recruiting temporary employees and paying them wages. If an employee is absent, his/her colleague or other workers are doled out extra work to prevent the loss or meet the deadlines, which further sets off other serious consequences. This ultimately results in an unproductive work environment. 

Absence Management Policy intends to manage and reduce employee absences in the organizations. The policies are designed to support employees taking leave due to serious reasons like sickness, injury, etc., while at the same time preventing undue or excessive absenteeism. This is to avoid workforce disruption and to overburden other employees to compensate for the missed work.

Key features of Absence Management Policy in HR

Human Resources teams develop a comprehensive absence management policy that impacts the behavior of employees’ behavior regarding taking leave from work. Absence Management policy entails informing employees about the work attendance, procedures for taking leaves, and who to contact for asking for time off from the job.

 Furthermore, it also intends to clarify the employees with who they need to touch base when they revert to working and discussions and interviews on how to make up for the lost work. While crafting a staff absence policy, one has to consider diverse unforeseen scenarios that may transpire, such as sickness for which employees can ask for leave. Moreover, it needs to be fair and consistent throughout.