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BUSINESS: The Ultimate ResourceApril 2003 Upgrade #7

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 2003

ACTIONLIST

Absence Management

Getting Started

In the United States, the annual cost to employers for time lost due to accidents isalmost $100 billion. To make matters worse, over 50% of employees injured neverreturn to work. Absence management is a growing body of knowledge and experienceapplied to the control and reduction of these costs.

FAQsIs there anything I can do to manage absence without risking claims ofdiscrimination?

Absolutely. Its not easy, but there are several things you can do to protect yourbusiness, particularly:

understand the scale of the problem you are facing; discover the causes; take a positive and methodical approach to the solution.

More information about all these is given later.Can the effects of absence be measured?

Just as for workplace safety audits, you can measure the number of days lost perdepartment or individual. You can also trace the type of absence, whether injury,illness or other. These have their uses but are fairly blunt instruments. A different typeof measure is the Bradford Factor, which takes account of the fact that persistent shortspells of absence are much more costly and disruptive than occasional longerabsences. It measures irregularity of attendance using the formula:

Bradford Factor = S x S x D

where S is the number of spells of absence over the last year and D is the number ofdays absent in the same period. For example, if an employee is absent for one periodof 15 days, the score is 1 x 1 x 15 = 15 points. If he or she was absent for 15 separatedays, however, the same persons score would be 15 x 15 x 15 = 3,375 points.

This is perhaps only a crude measure, but one that employers practiced in the art ofabsence management regard as a realistic comparison of disruption.

Making It Happen

Formulate a Policy

The most effective absence management policies are those based on the following

principles:


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balance concern for cost with concern for people; keep people informed; collect quality information.

Balance Concern for Cost with Concern for People

The value of an absence management policy, if followed and analyzed, is increasedproductivity and profit for the company. However, the policy must reflect humanvalues of fairness and respect, and managements duty of care for employees. Ratherthan focusing on policing the policy, and suggesting that employees are malingerers,hypochondriacs, or cheats, successful approaches emphasize care, positive thinking,and shared responsibility. The policy should be concerned principally with managingthe effects of genuine sickness absence, while acknowledging that some may besuspect or exaggerated.

Keep People Informed

Effective programs communicate to employees the aims of the policy andresponsibility for its application. Discussions with staff should be aboutpresence,rather than absence, and the avenues available to help them get well. Depending onthe nature of the absence, benefits and services might include counseling, jobretraining, job sharing, extended sick leave, and so on. Remember that federal andstate laws are designed to help employees truly in need, and your policies need to becomplementary with those laws.

Collect Quality Information

Its essential to know what you are dealing with, both in terms of absolute levels ofabsence and the patterns shown by individuals and groups. Differentiate between

regular days off, frequent short-term absences, and long-term absenceeach mayneed a quite different approach. Supervisors and HR staff should develop skills fordiscussing absence with employees, not in an adversarial way, but as a means ofspotting problems and offering help early. They should also observe patterns ofabsence and behavior, and particularly changes in these things. Records should bemaintained. When managers and others show that they are interested and will followup, sickness rates almost always decline.

The Goal Is Return to Work

The shared purpose must be to get the employee back to his or her work as soon as isreasonable. This is especially the case after a prolonged absence, when it will be

important to maintain the relationship with the employee and help him or her tobecome productive again. The possibilities for modified or transitional roles to helpthe employee back into work should be looked at very carefully. If properlyconstructed, these can be very valuable jobs for all concerned. Its worth creating aninventory of roles that can be modified to meet different physical conditions.

You will often need to put together a team of people to handle these cases, as medicaland occupational health information will have to be considered alongside workingconditions and perhaps legal requirements. The supervisor plays a key role inmaintaining contact with the employee and identifying suitable transitional workduring their recovery and return. The employee also should be a member of the team.


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Other Practical Considerations

However you plan your absence management policy, there are certain actions that willalways help you to achieve a better result in this area.

Act early. If you notice increases or changes in the pattern of absence,investigate and take action before it becomes a major problem. In somecompanies a certain level of sickness absence has been overlooked for so longthat employees regard it as an acquired right to extra leave.

Seek advice from the outset. Some complex issues may arise aroundmedical, legal, and contractual situations, so try to think through these withspecialists before problems arise. Being able to act with confidence andawareness and avoid ad hoc or impulsive decisions is a significant advantage.Get managers and HR people talking about the issues togetherfor exampleabout opportunities for transitional roles. And be sure you research the lawsurrounding these issues. Resource people at state and federal agencies canhelp, but you may also find people at local business development centers(often at community colleges) or Chambers of Commerce. Consultants, withthis particular field of employment law, are another source of advice.

Be methodical. Make an effort to collect data consistently and carefully; tokeep good records; to see that everyone receives a return to work interviewafter a lengthy absence, and to communicate fully and regularly with staffabout results. This way, fairness and relevance of what you are doing never

becomes an issue of contention.

A Case Study

The case concerns a recently privatized business in which staff numbers have been

drastically reduced, just as the company refocused its attention on better customerservice. The company provides services to residential customers: availability of staffis a key function of the business. They cannot afford to carry previous levels of extrastaff to compensate for absence: to meet business goals they needed 98% attendance(or a 2% absence rate)an undreamed of rate in the industry.

The company decided to construct an absence management policy based on threeprinciples:

Culture and values in the company. The organization has a performance-based work culture which encourages employees to appreciate the impact theirperformance (and their absence) has on their colleagues and the business in

general. Employees are genuinely involved in an ongoing appraisal ofbusiness opportunities, customer service, and team performance. Targets forcontrolling absence are set and periodically reviewed.

A holistic approach. At the same time, managers express a culture of care.They recognize explicitly that, apart from unavoidable injury and sickness,many other factors contribute to absencesuch as family leave, say, forhaving a child or caring for a spouse, or even job related issues such as stress.The policy emphasizes the value of good employees and invests in anemployee assistance program to aid the health and productivity of everyoneworking for the company. The organization invests in rehabilitation to deal

with the full spectrum of employee problems, regardless of whether theproblem is caused by the working environment.


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Reporting and monitoring. The companys HR information system providesevery manager with absence information, including analysis of patterns andtrends and their potential impact on results. Because of the firm linkestablished between presence (absence) and business targets, absencemanagement is a fundamental part of all managers roles. The policy is highly

visible to all staff.

Results. In recent years, the companys unscheduled absence rate has beenless than half the industry average for the relevant occupational groups. Theseresults have a direct and significant effect on workforce availability and

profitability.

Common Mistakes

Ignoring the Issue

There seems to be a tendency for managers to believe that absence is too difficult ordangerous an area to become involved in, when in fact this isnt the case. The benefits

can be very significant, not only in financial terms, but also in building employeescommitment to the business. A good absence management policy may even allow theorganization to avoid problems under discrimination or disability legislation byraising awareness of the whole areaand could give a fruitful lead in new areas ofconcern such as worklife balance issues.

A Lack of Commitment to the Policy

Having a policy in place is a good start, but if sufficient resources arent allocated atthe outset to give the policy time to prove itself, even writing it is just wasted effort.Monitoring such a policy will avoid treating absence arbitrarily, and could avoid legalaction brought by employees based on alleged discrimination.

For More Information

Books:

Fitz-enz, Jac, and Barbara Davison.How to Measure Human Resource Management.New York: McGraw Hill Professional, 2001.

Stevens, Mark.Extreme Management: What They Teach at Harvard BusinessSchools Advanced Management Program. New York: Warner Business, 2002.

Topchik, Gary S.Managing Workplace Negativity. New York: AMACOM, 2000.

Web Sites:IDS Study 702, Absence managementcontains several case studies of

experiences in reducing absence levels:www.incomesdata.co.uk/studies/bradford.htm

Matrix Absence Management, Inc.resource for disability, workers

compensation, and family leave issues:www.matrixcos.com

University of California, San FranciscoHR Absence Management Manual:http://ucsfhr2.ucsf.edu/absencemgmt/overview

Documents

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