{"id":79,"date":"2017-10-18T05:01:34","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T16:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monsellierlaw.com\/?p=79"},"modified":"2022-03-07T13:56:54","modified_gmt":"2022-03-07T00:56:54","slug":"absent-employees-costing-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsellierlaw.com\/absent-employees-costing-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Are your absent employees costing you money?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The law doesn\u2019t specifically define absenteeism<\/strong>, so what is it?<\/p>\n

Generally speaking, it refers to \u201ca constant and habitual absence from work\u201d. There could be many reasons for workplace absence but the most commonly given reason is caused by workers pulling sickies.<\/p>\n

According to a \u2018Wellness in the Workplace\u2019<\/strong> survey recently conducted between BusinessNZ and Southern Cross Health Society, it seems that New Zealand businesses are losing around 6.7 million working days per year due to sickness, resulting in an average loss of NZ$1.5 billion to the country\u2019s economy. Worryingly, these figures are increasing year on year with no end in sight.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, this survey revealed that most New Zealander\u2019s who are unable to work due to sickness have either caught the illness, or sustained injury, outside of the workplace. In fact, the working environment has little bearing at all on the reasons behind a worker\u2019s absence from the workplace. Yet, it is employers that bear the brunt of the absence and businesses that suffer the direct and indirect consequences.<\/p>\n

Sickness unrelated to the workplace is the most common reason for absenteeism, followed a close second by caring for a family member \u2013 both of which are completely outside of the employer\u2019s control. So, what can an employer do to minimise potential losses to its business caused by workforce absence?<\/p>\n

The answer is simple \u2013 have appropriate policies and processes in place!<\/p>\n

The main purpose of having these policies is to assist employers in benchmarking absence levels within its own workforce; setting the standards to employees; identifying how to boost attendance rates, and ultimately enhance employee welfare \u2013 all of which is particularly important considering the new health and safety laws. There\u2019s no doubt that managing absenteeism is difficult \u2013 it can be due to many reasons most of which cannot be controlled or foreseen. For example, an employee may be frequently absent without offering any explanation as they try to deal with personal issues totally unrelated to work. At this point, many employers may quietly think to themselves \u201cso, why is it my responsibility, why should my business lose out because of their personal problems?\u201d and this is not an unreasonable thought. However, the harsh truth is \u2013 an employer has a legal duty to safeguard a worker\u2019s well-being as much as reasonably possible. Therefore, like it or not, an employer must be prepared to address these issues even if the workplace is not at fault (particularly if commercial losses are to be minimised). To do this, an internal policy addressing certain factors can be instrumental in reducing absenteeism levels and go some way towards helping an employer comply with its legal obligations:<\/p>\n

Workload management \u2013 monitor working hours and caseloads to reduce level of stress and deadline pressures;<\/p>\n

Flexitime \u2013 recognise the importance of work\/life balance by implementing flexible start\/finish times;<\/p>\n

Remote working \u2013 provide equipment to enable home-working to keep productivity consistent;<\/p>\n

Flu vaccinations \u2013 an inexpensive way of preventing illness which could also be offered to family members;<\/p>\n

Subsidised health insurance \u2013 encourages employees to seek medical attention from the outset increasing recovery times;<\/p>\n

Employee Assistance Programmes – provide a counselling service as an outlet for stress or other personal issues.<\/p>\n

Yet despite these simple measures, it seems that 4 out of 5 New Zealand businesses still do not have policies in place that deal with absenteeism.<\/strong> Whether you are trying to reduce absence rates, encourage a healthier working environment, or wanting to deal with repeat offenders (those that tend to take regular undocumented sick leave) clear, well drafted policies are a great way of managing absenteeism.<\/p>\n

In some cases, a repeated absence can lead the employer to initiate disciplinary measures when in fact there is an underlying issue that really needs addressing. By having a policy in place, an employee will know what standards are to be expected and the potential repercussions of taking advantage of those expectations. Similarly, the employer will know what action to take when confronted with either genuine absenteeism or repeat offenders. The starting point will always be the policy.<\/p>\n

If you are one of those employers that do not yet have any policies in place<\/strong> and your business is suffering at the hands of absenteeism, please feel free to give me a call.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The law doesn\u2019t specifically define absenteeism, so what is it? Generally speaking, it refers to \u201ca constant and habitual absence from work\u201d. There could be many reasons for workplace absence but the most commonly given reason is caused by workers pulling sickies. According to a \u2018Wellness in the Workplace\u2019 survey recently conducted between BusinessNZ and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1195,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,19],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAre your absent employees costing you money? - Monsellier Law<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.monsellierlaw.com\/absent-employees-costing-money\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are your absent employees costing you money? - Monsellier Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The law doesn\u2019t specifically define absenteeism, so what is it? 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