Life happens. As cliché as it is to say, we all have that morning where nothing goes right and we’re late to work. While it’s okay to be late in an emergency or call in sick to work, it’s important for employees not to let bad habits build and affect their work.
Employers need to know they can rely on their employees to be to work on time and to communicate with their team if they aren’t able to make it in for their shift. Here are a few ways to deal with employee attendance issues in your business.
Have a clear attendance policy
Every business should have an attendance policy that the employees and supervisors can agree to and reference. It’s essential to set clear expectations for timeliness and attendance. An attendance policy will help lay out the ground rules for tardiness and other attendance matters and explain the procedures for disciplinary actions. Making the attendance policy easily accessible also helps employees navigate tricky schedules, such as flexible working time or shifts outside the standard nine to five jobs.
Identify the key causes of absenteeism
To solve a problem, you first have to identify its cause. The most direct route is to ask employees why they are often late or why they take so many sick days. If you can identify patterns in an employee’s behavior, you can then talk openly about the situation and work together to find a solution.
For example, suppose an employee is often late on Tuesdays and they explain that it is because they need to drop their kids off at school. In that case, the solution might be adjusting that employee’s work hours to accommodate their needs while still completing their work throughout the week.
Follow through on consequences
While it’s easy to create an attendance policy and identify absenteeism, it’s not always as easy to enforce the rules. For employees to see that the policy should be taken seriously, it’s important to follow through on disciplinary action. There may be exceptions, but most cases of excessive tardiness or absences should be addressed with warnings, probation, and ultimately termination if they do not change their behavior.
At the same time, rewarding employees and teams who are consistently on time and present throughout the workweek is a great way to show how much you value their time and work. A simple word of thanks or even lunch on the company’s dime can go a long way in motivating employees to show up for shifts on time.
Monitor Attendance
Keeping a close eye on attendance can make a world of difference for a business. Checking attendance reports monthly or weekly can help companies identify employees who may often be late or not show up for work and take corrective action before things get too far.
Chronotek prevents attendance issues from becoming a problem
Identifying attendance patterns takes time that many supervisors don’t have to spare. Chronotek makes it easy for supervisors to stay on top of tardy or no-show employees and track attendance at a glance.
With supervisor alerts, Chronotek sends a notification when an employee has not clocked in for a scheduled shift. This allows your business to get the shift covered and make a note to review that employee’s attendance records. A variety of reports make it quick and easy to find patterns of absenteeism. With the ability to clock in and out from anywhere with any device, employees and supervisors can communicate throughout the day and stay on top of schedules.