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rockyhr
28-07-2007, 06:17 PM
The organisation where I work needs to address this area and quite dramatically. For a while now we have been monitoring and managing through "green frame" approaches aimed at supporting the employees as much as possible in dealing with the issues driving up absenteeism, and this is assisting in many cases but not all. I would be interested from hearing from others who have made inroads in this area and particularly how termination matters have been approached and managed without complication.

HRbeat
30-07-2007, 06:14 PM
From my previous life, we have introduced "Absence Return Interviews" and have a clear procedure for employees returning from absent days. There is a questionnaire form for line supervisors/managers to go through so as to avoid the impression of being personal...it's about the procedure, system and company policy and not about the person.

As with any other performance management tools, the form explores contributing factors or what could have been done differently to prevent the person from being absent (if applicable), what could be done next time, how the company can support the individual to improve attendance (e.g. change in roster/change of hours), etc.

This is taken from a collaborative perspective, working with the employees to improve attendance. However, consistent attendance issues will inevitably lead to disciplinary procedure.

In terms of termination, the termination of employment procedure and principles are followed. No one should be dismissed without a chance/opportunity for improvement and having appropriate support/strategies to improve. If you're talking about abandonment of employment, then there are clear standards that should be followed.

Let me know if you want more info. :)

Noel
01-08-2007, 08:27 AM
Hi HR Beat

That is good advice. What about managing the employee who constantly takes single days off however brings in a medical cert for each absence which is for colds etc?

Sonya P
01-08-2007, 09:13 AM
Hi HR Beat

That is good advice. What about managing the employee who constantly takes single days off however brings in a medical cert for each absence which is for colds etc?

That's a difficult one to deal with Noel. Pretty hard to argue with someone if they have a doctor's certitifcate.

But why would anyone repeatedly go to the trouble and expense of going to see the doctor for a doctor's certificate for a single day for a cold ?

Sounds like they might have a freind or a family member who is a doctor, or there is something more to this than meets the eye.

jdeniese
01-08-2007, 10:54 AM
The organisation where I work needs to address this area and quite dramatically. For a while now we have been monitoring and managing through "green frame" approaches aimed at supporting the employees as much as possible in dealing with the issues driving up absenteeism, and this is assisting in many cases but not all. I would be interested from hearing from others who have made inroads in this area and particularly how termination matters have been approached and managed without complication.

Hi

How about rewarding staff that don't take sick leave? ie. giving them a bonus or vouchers or even extra days off each year?

HRbeat
01-08-2007, 11:00 AM
Sorry guys! For some reason, I didn't get notified for posts in this thread. Usually I automatically subscribed to threads I have posted in.

Anyway, it's a real challenge if a person consistently brings in a medical certificate for single days off. Our current policy doesn't require a medical certificate for single days off. We only require it for anything more than two days. However, if the absence is consistently on or before a public holiday or weekend, then we reserve the right to require a medical certificate.

kevinh
01-08-2007, 06:34 PM
Hi

How about rewarding staff that don't take sick leave? ie. giving them a bonus or vouchers or even extra days off each year?

There are a few issues with this. Firstly it may encourage people to come to work who really should be home in bed (rather than coughing and sneezing over everyone else in the office!).

Secondly, sick leave is cumulative (by law last time I looked), so they are still entitled to the sick leave in subsequent years, even if you reward them for not taking it.

Last but not least, doesn't giving people extra days off rather defeat the object of persuading them not to take sick leave when they're not sick?

I think the answer is to promote a culture where sick leave is used for genuine sickness. Maybe remind people that they may need their accumulated sick leave in the future. Then in the event that they have some extended illness or injury they won't find themelves on unpaid leave after a few days.

HRbeat
02-08-2007, 09:25 AM
Ditto! I second the motion

rockyhr
02-08-2007, 09:19 PM
Hi HR Beat I had thought I had responded to your initial post but it never made it up. Would you be willing to share some of the questions that make up your Absence Return Interviews questionairre?

HRbeat
03-08-2007, 12:46 PM
Hi RockyHR,

Sure, no problem with that! I sent it through private messaging (copied and pasted). Please note that it doesn't fit every workplace culture and the questions are designed for the workplace in my previous life.

Alli
06-08-2007, 09:47 PM
May be you should look and see if there is a particular pattern of absenteeism i.e do they take the same day off and look at the rest of the team's pattern as well. Be open and talk to the employee as absenteeism could link to a number of things from personal issues to not being challenged at work. So it would be best to determine what the cause is. What is the rest of their performance like and their attitude while at work?
I use the following document to help managers understand the impact on Absenteeism. It is a Government document but you may find it useful http://www.apsc.gov.au/publications06/turneduptunedin.pdf

Sven
07-08-2007, 03:25 PM
There are a few issues with this. Firstly it may encourage people to come to work who really should be home in bed (rather than coughing and sneezing over everyone else in the office!).

...

I think the answer is to promote a culture where sick leave is used for genuine sickness. Maybe remind people that they may need their accumulated sick leave in the future. Then in the event that they have some extended illness or injury they won't find themelves on unpaid leave after a few days.

This is becoming a real issue and costing businesses a lot of money. Newspaper articles highlighting the real costs to employers are becoming more frequent and people are wondering what can be done.

jba
08-08-2007, 04:01 PM
Is rewarding people who take less sick leave with vouchers or bonuses starting to walk down the path of medical prejudice?

kevinh
08-08-2007, 04:20 PM
Is rewarding people who take less sick leave with vouchers or bonuses starting to walk down the path of medical prejudice?

I suppose it could be construed as discrimination.

It probably goes against OH&S guidelines - failure to provide a safe and healthy work place.

The ramifications could be quite serious in certain circumstances.

kevinh
08-08-2007, 04:32 PM
Hi RockyHR,

Sure, no problem with that! I sent it through private messaging (copied and pasted). Please note that it doesn't fit every workplace culture and the questions are designed for the workplace in my previous life.

HRbeat, are you able to share some of them here ?

RogerB
13-08-2007, 11:14 AM
In a previous role we converted all leave to what we called consolidated leave. This provided each person with 30 days leave per a year to be taken as the individual wished. At the end of the year any days over 10 were paid out.

The employee only had to submitt a single form that requested (ie annual leave) or notified of time off (ie personal leave). This eliminated problems with those who abused personal leave and cut out a lot of administration.

HRbeat
13-08-2007, 12:25 PM
Sure...but my comments on cultural fit stands...any HR policy, procedure and form should align with the culture you're trying to build, or to address current cultural concerns. This was designed for a very specific culture with absenteeism issues.

Questions for Absence Return Interview

REASON FOR ABSENCE
 Work-related  Personal
If work-related:
 Work overload
 Physical stress/Burnout
 Workplace Bullying  Harassment (please specify)
 Discrimination (please specify)
 Others _________________________
1. Did you phone work to inform us of your absence/period of absence?
2. If not, what prevented you from letting us know about your absence?

3. Have you read the company policy on notification and certification requirements for absences? (Supervisor then explains the implication of a consistent failure to comply e.g. non-payment/disciplinary action)
4. What could you have done differently to achieve a more positive outcome? (e.g. fix car, get a lift, go to GP, etc.)

5. Is there a possibility that you would be taking time off work again? If so, how long and when?

6. How can we work with you as an employee to reach a possible solution? (if there are multiple issues, What is more important for you right now?)

COMMENTS/RECOMMENDATIONS


ACTION TAKEN
 Strategy was formulated
 Disciplinary Action (please specify)
_____________________________
 Referred to Manager  Referred to Human Resources
 Linked to external resource (specify)
___________________________

RogerB
13-08-2007, 06:07 PM
Sorry HR Beat, but I did not read anything regarding culture in your repley perhaps I have missed some of them. I read your form with some interest and I would have to admit it left me concerned regarding the type of culture you are trying to create. Perhaps I am miss reading but I get a sense of miss trust in your employees.

Rather than treating the being of sick to be an offence if the employee had the perception they were using thier own time rather than the company's there would be a reduction in absenteeism.

I have learnt over the years that forms do not change culture only interaction, involvement and clear directives do

rockyhr
13-08-2007, 10:26 PM
Thanks for the form HRBeat In dealing with an absenteeism culture I can see how it would have been applied as a basis structure to at least start the interactions between the employees and their supervisor. It definately provides a basis for me work with in developing one for my organisation.

Roger B thanks for your idea also. It is a popular one and one that has been considered by us . Our big issue though is very much at the front end in addressing some of the obvious discretionery behaviour that is keeping our absenteeism at record levels. To give you an insight set the average benchmark for an industry (days per year per employee) and double it.

I particularly like your comment about forms.......if only the supervisors and employees had the maturity to have the conversations and interactions themselves without prompts or the structure of forms to guide them. Ahhh, the elusive 'holy grail' for all HR practictioners is it not, but then I doubt the profession of HR would exist if it did occur this way. I once had someone describe the best performance mangement system is when an oragnisation doesn't have one simply because it doesn't need one. Imagine supervisosr and employees meeting on a daily basis in open communication to give feedback to other (ie 360) about each other's performance and plans for teh future. (Its a bit Martin Luther King like isn't....I have a dream.....)

I have learnt that a combination of structure, direction, involvement and interaction, along with a pint of courage assists in the enablement of cultural change, but that with cultural change the wheels turn slowly and when there is a high level of organisation around the distrusting of management (strong traditionalism), its a bloody long road to achieve the involvement and interaction desired to move forward. This is where the simplicity of a form assists as at least there will be a discussion even if it is somewhat scripted/prompted.

RockyHr

HRbeat
14-08-2007, 10:22 AM
In a previous role we converted all leave to what we called consolidated leave. This provided each person with 30 days leave per a year to be taken as the individual wished. At the end of the year any days over 10 were paid out.

I like this concept! It certainly contributes towards flexibility and whole of life balance!

HRbeat
14-08-2007, 10:24 AM
Sorry HR Beat, but I did not read anything regarding culture in your repley perhaps I have missed some of them. I read your form with some interest and I would have to admit it left me concerned regarding the type of culture you are trying to create. Perhaps I am miss reading but I get a sense of miss trust in your employees.


Hi RogerB, it's in page one of this thread, somewhere in the middle. The form was an intervention and not really a platform for culture development. I believe rockyHR has already provided useful feedback and made a convincing argument.

kevinh
14-08-2007, 12:23 PM
In a previous role we converted all leave to what we called consolidated leave. This provided each person with 30 days leave per a year to be taken as the individual wished. At the end of the year any days over 10 were paid out.


This is an interesting approach.

Am I correct in thinking that the employee never has more than 10 days accumulated sick leave ? (is this legal in each State ?)

And doesn't the 'paying out' of sick leave (which in effect is what you are doing) encourage people to be at work when they are genuinely sick?

RogerB
15-08-2007, 09:12 AM
Kevinh

Under workchoices sick leave, personal leave etc has now been packaged up into a single leave package called "Personal Leave" The act requires the company to accumulate unused personal leave at a rate of 10 days per a year. The Personal Leave can be used by empoloyee for thier family or a member of the household who is "deemed ill". As such the leave is open to abuse.

Yes, it is legal in all states to pay out Personal Leave providing the individual maintains 10 days. Remember that pre workchoices "sick leave"was 8 days and in most states was not accumulated, so at the end of each year what was not used was lost. This has created a culture of using up the entitlement.

In practice there was no evidance that people came to work when genuinely ill. Employees saw that this is what the leave was for, however what it did stop was the absents caused through the traditional Aussie "sickie". Partners were happy for the employee to stay at home when genuinely sick but discouraged the sickie day when they were going to lose money.

In the maunufacturing enviroment where we introduced this, personal leave reduced by 73% in the first year and has continued to decline each year since.

DaveG
19-08-2007, 06:52 PM
Yes, it is legal in all states to pay out Personal Leave providing the individual maintains 10 days. Remember that pre workchoices "sick leave"was 8 days and in most states was not accumulated, so at the end of each year what was not used was lost. This has created a culture of using up the entitlement.



Roger, I thought unused sick leave was accumulated, at least in Vic anyway. That's what we have in our employment contracts for Vic employees! We rely on lawyers to draft our employment contracts - I'm now wondering if we got some dud advice...

Nevertheless it's good to hear your strategy is working. Do you think you may have to change it after the next Federal election ?

Dave

PS. How did you go about changing everyone's working conditions?

RogerB
20-08-2007, 12:29 PM
Dave,

You are correct in that unused personal leave accumulates, however when you transform annual leave and personal leave to consolidated leave, who is to say what leave has been used. So therefore as long as 10 days remain in the bank it is ok to pay out waht is left. You will find a number of awards have allowed this and it is common in a number of EBA.s (MUA is a good example).

I am assuming you are talking about common law (CL) contracts rather than AWA's. I too started with a lawyer producing the first CL contract for me, it was too hard to read and it frightened off the employees who thought they needed a laywer to interpret it, so i produced my own which I sent to a lawyer to review (with stricked instruction that it was only to be changed where there was a breach of the Act. It came back with one minor change. Happy to send you a copy. (It was produced in Vic).

With AWA,s again I wrote them after having poor results from those written by lawyers all have gone through the system ok.

On the question of the next election, I am not sure ut I do not think much will change from either party.

How did I change the working conditions?

I held educational sessions with all staff on the workplace relations act, inviting the union to participate, at the end of the session I gave staff all the documentation I could find and provided a summary.

I then asked the staff to choose what they wanted. as a result the staff choose common law or AWA's they did not want Union agreements.