5 Reasons Why Every Business Needs an Absence Management Program – LIFESTYLE BY PS icon

5 Reasons Why Every Business Needs an Absence Management Program


A solid absence management policy can reduce the time your employees miss work and its impact on your business. Ensure that your absence management policies are just, consistent, and flexible enough to accommodate unforeseen circumstances that might cause someone to miss work. This is especially important in the case of last-minute illnesses or accidents. If your company cannot handle these situations, they can lead to a drop in productivity and morale among your team members.

Increased Productivity

Employee absences are a high cost to any business. They decrease staff productivity, reduce morale, and can create workgroup disruptions.

Taking adequate steps to a successful absence management program can help you reduce absenteeism, maximize staff productivity and minimize the impact on your operations. However, to be successful, your absence management plan must be communicated effectively to all employees and managers, and company leaders need to be trained on the proper procedures and policies.

The right absence management system will help you manage the entire process, including scheduling leave and tracking attendance. It should also offer a self-service portal for employees to request time off conveniently.

When evaluating your absence management policy, you must consider the business benefits and the legal and regulatory risks. It is essential to use a standard software tool that can automate many absence-related processes, such as FMLA compliance management, and provide easy access to all necessary records.

Reduced Expenses

Absences have a profound effect on a company’s productivity and costs. Excessive absences can increase sick time costs, lower productivity, and even higher employee turnover rates.

To reduce absence-related expenses, businesses should have an effective absence management program. An absence management system can help managers better understand why employees take unplanned leave.

Companies can track absences telephonically, on paper, and via the web. The most effective way is a single intake system that captures the notification of an employee’s leave, confirms federal and state requirements, calculates tiered benefit structure (auto plan calculations), verifies paid time off balances, and provides eligibility feeds to other vendors or interfaces back to the employer for payroll purposes.

Increased Employee Satisfaction

Employee satisfaction is the intangible but powerful force that drives massive team productivity and creativity improvements. It’s also crucial to boosting employee retention.

According to a recent study, the happiest workers stay at their companies twice as long as their least satisfied peers.

This means a happy workforce is more productive, which drives higher profitability and overall business success. However, it’s essential to understand that happiness is a complex process, and many factors influence it.

While salary is naturally a critical factor in job satisfaction, there are several other things that employees need to feel valued. This includes leadership trust and flexible work policies that support a healthy work-life balance.

An absence management program will help you improve these aspects of your employees’ lives. For example, it can reduce the risk of deception and mistrust among team members by providing everyone with a transparent system for reporting absences. It can also help you identify and address various workplace issues, such as the spread of germs, which are detrimental to employee health and well-being.

Increased Employee Morale

Absence management refers to reducing employee absenteeism through policies and procedures. This is done to increase morale and improve productivity within the workplace.

When employees miss work, it can create a hostile environment and damage workplace morale. It can also result in extra workloads and stress on other employees who may have to cover for them.

Employers can identify and take action against staff abusing their time off policies or not returning to work promptly with a centralized absence management program. They can also implement regular one-on-one meetings and interventions from managers to increase morale and boost productivity.

A good absence management policy will clearly define what constitutes an acceptable absence and disciplinary procedures for non-acceptable absences. This will help employees understand why they should take time off and avoid unnecessary absences.

Reduced Stress

Workplace stress is the number one reason employees miss work and can severely impact morale. According to an American Psychological Association (APA) survey, nearly 3 in 5 employees feel stressed.

Having a good absence management program in place can help your business reduce its stress levels. It allows you to track employee absences, determine if there are any concerning patterns, and put in place new policies that can help reduce absenteeism.

It also helps you track how much time off your employees take and how much they cost your business. By monitoring your absence costs, you can make better decisions about whether or not your absence management program is worth the investment.

Keeping track of sickness absence is essential for any business. But it’s even more critical for a health and well-being-oriented company that wants to keep its workers healthy.