You've gathered the absence data ... but now what?

Today's post comes from G.Neil's HR News Weekly:

You’re well-versed in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) time and pay laws, you keep careful records of each employee’s attendance and you’ve even identified your company’s biggest attendance issues. But that’s where it stops, according to a Liberty Mutual survey of 300 human resource and benefits professionals conducted in April 2011.

The survey found that employers are making the effort to stay informed and track attendance, but they’re not using the numbers to address the bottom-line impact of employees missing work. Specifically, 53% of respondents ranked compliance with state and federal leave laws as their greatest concern, yet nearly 50% didn’t know the cost of absence within their own workplaces.

That can be an expensive mistake! The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) calculates that uncontrolled employee absence costs employers $100 billion per year, based on 2009 data.

“While employers are clearly aware of how important it is to comply with leave regulations — and are therefore tracking these leaves — many haven’t taken steps to use the data they collect to proactively manage absence and control the total financial impact on their companies,” says Heather Luiz, disability product manager for Liberty Mutual Group Benefits. insurancenewsnet.com

From at-a-glance tracking sheets to software, G.Neil offers a variety of practical tools to help you manage attendance, employee vacations, sick time and other time off.

Beyond the tracking, it's up to you to review the data and look for weaknesses in employee attendance. Is it a certain handful of employees who call in sick or come in late month after month? It may be time for these employees' managers to have a heart-to-heart talk with them about what is going on and what they expect going forward. If your attendance rules are clear and you enforce them consistently, this type of counseling shouldn't pose any problems.

Managing medical leave - and preventing FMLA abuse - can be a little trickier. In addition to the administrative side of FMLA leave (requiring leave request forms and medical certifications, for example), you'll need to track used and available FMLA time based on the latest federal regulations.

You've gathered the absence data ... but now what?

Taking care of employees who are caregivers

As if the demands of balancing a full-time job and raising children weren't enough, many employees are facing an added strain these days: Taking care of aging mothers, fathers and other family members. For these employees, "caregiver" is just one more hat they must wear, and the daily juggling act can be exhausting.

So while you're accustomed to accommodating the needs of employees with young children (providing daycare benefits and flexible scheduling for doctor's appointments and school functions, for example), you might want to extend that generosity to employees with elderly parents, as well. It's not enough to be a "child-friendly" business, but an "eldercare-friendly" business, too.

As outlined in an online article at The News-Enterprise, thinking along these lines benefits companies and caregiver employees in many ways, including:

>> Easier to attract and maintain the best workers
>> Increased productivity by reducing stress on employees
>> Less employee absences and disruptions in the work schedule
>> Enhanced community image, which can attract new customers

For forward-thinking employers, recognizing the situation is the first step: Taking care of  elderly or ill parents puts a significant financial and personal strain on employees. The next step, then, is to explore ways to ease the burden on these employees and offer valuable reinforcement. This might come in the form of:

1. Health and information fairs covering adult day care, nursing home evaluation, insurance issues and services like "meals on wheels"
2. Flexible work hours, including telecommuting opportunities and job sharing
3. An employee attendance policy that recognizes caregiving obligations and includes paid time off (PTO) that doesn't necessarily distinguish between vacation and sick days
4. Onsite caregiver support groups

The risk of ignoring the situation is great. According to a 1999 study by the MetLife Mature Market Institute, 16 percent of survey respondents indicated that they had to quit their jobs entirely in order to meet the needs of elderly parents. Many other respondents indicated that they passed up job promotions, training opportunities, or career-advancing projects because of their caregiving obligations.

Obviously, it makes sense to help those employees who are helping others. Otherwise, you could lose trained, highly qualified employees who feel caught between their obligations at home and at work.

Taking care of employees who are caregivers

No excuses! Employees can't dodge a well-defined employee attendance policy

No matter how compelling the reason (and employees come up with loads of them), missing work without permission is unacceptable.

In a recent appealed court case, Matter of Rivers v. Commissioner of Labor, the ruling stands that an employee’s unapproved absence was properly deemed misconduct and as such, made the employee ineligible for unemployment benefits.

The employee, an automotive technician, requested time off to spend time with his son returning from Iraq. He was approved for one day. But when he decided to extend his family visit two additional days without approval, he opened an unintended door. When he returned, he was fired for misconduct and as a result, couldn’t file for unemployment.

If we were to step out of the “employer’s advocate” arena for a moment, we might feel an emotional pull regarding the employee wanting to reconnect with his son. But rules are rules. Most employers have a clear employee attendance policy that outlines the request/approval process … and specifies that a “no show” is grounds for disciplinary action or termination. That’s your first line of defense. Your second line, regarding using “misconduct” as a basis for denying unemployment benefits, is showing that the employee deliberately and willfully engaged in activity that showed a complete disregard for your workplace standards and policies.

This employee overstepped his bounds on both counts … and suffered the consequences.

No excuses! Employees can't dodge a well-defined employee attendance policy