Hey guys,
Please help me in the area of Employee Absenteeism as I'm facing 30% absenteeism daily, which is huge. Yet, I'm daily keeping track of employees, but it is not improving. Each time they reply with any reason for not attending work. This is the case with staff employees.
Please suggest any other way to work on it and reduce it.
Regards,
Rashmi K
From India, Jalgaon
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14Please help me in the area of Employee Absenteeism as I'm facing 30% absenteeism daily, which is huge. Yet, I'm daily keeping track of employees, but it is not improving. Each time they reply with any reason for not attending work. This is the case with staff employees.
Please suggest any other way to work on it and reduce it.
Regards,
Rashmi K
From India, Jalgaon
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The incidence of 30% absenteeism in a day is not suggestive of normal absenteeism. The very fact that there is no improvement in the attendance despite monitoring it indicates that it is habitual among the employees to remain absent from work. Before deciding on any measure to remedy the situation, you need to ascertain the causes for such behavior. The causes may vary. It may be cultural in the sense that there is no culture that permits frequent absenteeism and does not inculcate the value of commitment and sincerity in the employees. It may be environmental. The work environment is depressing and not motivating, for example, office politics, a bad manager, or rigid working hours. It may relate to the job profile in that the work does not generate any interest in the employees. The absenteeism may also show some pattern. I used to observe a pattern of remaining absent on the days immediately following the day on which the salary was disbursed. Similarly, in offices with a five-day work schedule, some employees find it too lazy to get to work on Monday after two consecutive days of slothing.
Therefore, you need to diagnose the causes by talking to those employees who are remaining absent habitually. Thereafter, you can decide on the appropriate course of action. In the meantime, you can initiate the following measures:
1) Draft a policy and procedure to deal with absenteeism.
2) First, call a meeting of the staff and put them on notice about your observations regarding absenteeism and advise them to be punctual and regular in attending the office.
3) Administer counseling to those who are habitually absent.
4) If they do not show any improvement, issue them an advisory memo and caution them that their absence without prior sanction of leave/permission will be treated as unauthorized, and they will be liable for a deduction of wages.
5) If they still persist in being absent, issue them a show-cause notice and if their explanation is not satisfactory, issue them a letter of censure or warning as per your policy.
6) The next step will be initiating disciplinary action by issuing a charge sheet, conducting an inquiry, and passing appropriate penalties as per your standing orders, rules, or policy.
Thus, you can proceed to deal with it stage by stage from the administrative point of view while simultaneously undertaking initiatives to deal with systemic causes like proper culture and environment building and employee engagement to motivate employees, etc.
B. Saikumar
In-House HR & IR Advisor
From India, Mumbai
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Therefore, you need to diagnose the causes by talking to those employees who are remaining absent habitually. Thereafter, you can decide on the appropriate course of action. In the meantime, you can initiate the following measures:
1) Draft a policy and procedure to deal with absenteeism.
2) First, call a meeting of the staff and put them on notice about your observations regarding absenteeism and advise them to be punctual and regular in attending the office.
3) Administer counseling to those who are habitually absent.
4) If they do not show any improvement, issue them an advisory memo and caution them that their absence without prior sanction of leave/permission will be treated as unauthorized, and they will be liable for a deduction of wages.
5) If they still persist in being absent, issue them a show-cause notice and if their explanation is not satisfactory, issue them a letter of censure or warning as per your policy.
6) The next step will be initiating disciplinary action by issuing a charge sheet, conducting an inquiry, and passing appropriate penalties as per your standing orders, rules, or policy.
Thus, you can proceed to deal with it stage by stage from the administrative point of view while simultaneously undertaking initiatives to deal with systemic causes like proper culture and environment building and employee engagement to motivate employees, etc.
B. Saikumar
In-House HR & IR Advisor
From India, Mumbai
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Dear,
Thank you for the valuable guidance. I am personally speaking with all employees, and they are facing problems with the working environment inside the plant. How can I present this to management as it is not a visible factor?
Thank you.
From India, Jalgaon
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Thank you for the valuable guidance. I am personally speaking with all employees, and they are facing problems with the working environment inside the plant. How can I present this to management as it is not a visible factor?
Thank you.
From India, Jalgaon
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When the effect (absenteeism) is visible, you must have figured out the cause for a bad work environment in the plant. The cause may not be seen but can be felt. You can discuss with your management about it and see what prudent steps can be taken to correct it.
B. Saikumar
In-House HR & IR Advisor
From India, Mumbai
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B. Saikumar
In-House HR & IR Advisor
From India, Mumbai
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Dear Rashmi,
The subject comes up for discussion time and again. You may check my reply to the past post. The link is as below: https://www.citehr.com/448902-absent...ml#post2020155
Do the analysis of that 30% absenteeism. Come up with your analysis and action plan to tide over the analysis. Productive suggestions can be given thereafter.
All the best!
Dinesh V Divekar
From India, Bangalore
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The subject comes up for discussion time and again. You may check my reply to the past post. The link is as below: https://www.citehr.com/448902-absent...ml#post2020155
Do the analysis of that 30% absenteeism. Come up with your analysis and action plan to tide over the analysis. Productive suggestions can be given thereafter.
All the best!
Dinesh V Divekar
From India, Bangalore
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Dear Rashmi,
I have no information about your establishment: its size, manpower, nature of business, surroundings, environment, etc. However, friends have given you good suggestions. I may add that you might encounter some difficulties in conveying your observations regarding the causes of habitual absenteeism. This could be due to various reasons, such as your immediate boss holding a high position that makes it challenging for you to approach him/her directly, and so on.
I have a suggestion for you: consider treating this issue as a project of your own. Collect response sheets filled in by those concerned manually, analyze the data, disseminate it, categorize it, and I am confident that you will obtain revealing results from this data, akin to a sample survey. Present the report for the consideration of your Head of Department/Chief Executive Officer along with your practical suggestions and recommendations that can be implemented effectively in the short and long run.
Alternatively, if you are constrained in terms of time, propose hiring Industrial Engineers, such as NPC, who are experts in this area, and entrust the matter to them. Often, managements are more receptive to comments and suggestions originating externally, even if they come with a cost, rather than accepting suggestions from their internal staff. Give it a try.
Best regards,
[Your Name]
From India, Bangalore
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I have no information about your establishment: its size, manpower, nature of business, surroundings, environment, etc. However, friends have given you good suggestions. I may add that you might encounter some difficulties in conveying your observations regarding the causes of habitual absenteeism. This could be due to various reasons, such as your immediate boss holding a high position that makes it challenging for you to approach him/her directly, and so on.
I have a suggestion for you: consider treating this issue as a project of your own. Collect response sheets filled in by those concerned manually, analyze the data, disseminate it, categorize it, and I am confident that you will obtain revealing results from this data, akin to a sample survey. Present the report for the consideration of your Head of Department/Chief Executive Officer along with your practical suggestions and recommendations that can be implemented effectively in the short and long run.
Alternatively, if you are constrained in terms of time, propose hiring Industrial Engineers, such as NPC, who are experts in this area, and entrust the matter to them. Often, managements are more receptive to comments and suggestions originating externally, even if they come with a cost, rather than accepting suggestions from their internal staff. Give it a try.
Best regards,
[Your Name]
From India, Bangalore
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Hi Rashmi,
I hope you have received a lot of information on how to proceed further in controlling the absenteeism issue you have come across.
All the suggestions and measures provided are absolutely correct. However, we cannot implement the same course of action for all the industries we work with. It varies from industry to industry and from employee to employee.
For example, the employees we encounter in IT industries are different from those in factories, and the actions taken with these employees should also differ. You cannot treat employees in factories the same as those in other industries.
It's great that you are following the suggestions provided by our dear friends. Ultimately, it depends on the work environment we have created for the staff. There should be a balance of fun and work to make employees feel good about working there. Implementing employee engagement activities, involving staff in knowledge-based activities, conducting team-building sessions, spending time with staff on the shop floor or in the office, recognizing and rewarding employees, and having regular meetings with staff to discuss benefits and growth opportunities are all important aspects.
Although this may seem general, it can be effective.
All the best,
From India, Bangalore
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I hope you have received a lot of information on how to proceed further in controlling the absenteeism issue you have come across.
All the suggestions and measures provided are absolutely correct. However, we cannot implement the same course of action for all the industries we work with. It varies from industry to industry and from employee to employee.
For example, the employees we encounter in IT industries are different from those in factories, and the actions taken with these employees should also differ. You cannot treat employees in factories the same as those in other industries.
It's great that you are following the suggestions provided by our dear friends. Ultimately, it depends on the work environment we have created for the staff. There should be a balance of fun and work to make employees feel good about working there. Implementing employee engagement activities, involving staff in knowledge-based activities, conducting team-building sessions, spending time with staff on the shop floor or in the office, recognizing and rewarding employees, and having regular meetings with staff to discuss benefits and growth opportunities are all important aspects.
Although this may seem general, it can be effective.
All the best,
From India, Bangalore
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We have 40% absenteeism in our unit. The main causes are:
1. Cultural: Local people are lethargic. Alcohol consumption is part of their culture. During the marriage season or harvesting period, it increases tremendously.
2. Educational: The education level is poor, and they do not understand the consequences of unauthorized absenteeism.
3. Work environment: It is an underground coal mine, and the working conditions are tough. Little can be done to improve the working conditions due to the inherent nature of underground mining. If they are allowed to work on the surface, their attendance improves tremendously, but it will affect coal production and ultimately the industry.
Steps taken to control it:
1. Counseling: Every employee who is absent from duty is counseled.
2. Disciplinary action: Disciplinary actions are taken, and penalties are imposed against absent employees.
3. Motivation: We have various reward schemes for employees with good attendance. We also have good welfare measures comparable to the best in the industry.
Please suggest any other measures to control unauthorized absenteeism in a situation like this.
From India, Pune
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1. Cultural: Local people are lethargic. Alcohol consumption is part of their culture. During the marriage season or harvesting period, it increases tremendously.
2. Educational: The education level is poor, and they do not understand the consequences of unauthorized absenteeism.
3. Work environment: It is an underground coal mine, and the working conditions are tough. Little can be done to improve the working conditions due to the inherent nature of underground mining. If they are allowed to work on the surface, their attendance improves tremendously, but it will affect coal production and ultimately the industry.
Steps taken to control it:
1. Counseling: Every employee who is absent from duty is counseled.
2. Disciplinary action: Disciplinary actions are taken, and penalties are imposed against absent employees.
3. Motivation: We have various reward schemes for employees with good attendance. We also have good welfare measures comparable to the best in the industry.
Please suggest any other measures to control unauthorized absenteeism in a situation like this.
From India, Pune
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Before attending to your problem, please provide details about your establishment such as the industry/sector, size of the organization, brief information about the organizational structure, organogram, your reporting relationship, etc.
Thanks,
R. K. Nair
From India, Aizawl
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Thanks,
R. K. Nair
From India, Aizawl
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Dear Rkn61,
I'm talking about Coal India Limited, the largest coal-producing company in the world. Our unit is an underground coal mine with 650 employees on the payroll. It's a watery mine that faces ventilation problems. The mine operates 24x365 days a year and is managed by mining engineers who strictly adhere to the safety regulations set by government authorities. If you have any other questions or need further clarification, please let me know.
Thank you.
From India, Pune
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I'm talking about Coal India Limited, the largest coal-producing company in the world. Our unit is an underground coal mine with 650 employees on the payroll. It's a watery mine that faces ventilation problems. The mine operates 24x365 days a year and is managed by mining engineers who strictly adhere to the safety regulations set by government authorities. If you have any other questions or need further clarification, please let me know.
Thank you.
From India, Pune
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