Absence management software offers the best solution for managing sick leave. Absences do not just have an effect on large businesses. If you have a small to medium-sized company, every dollar matters.
The way that you handle sick leave can have a major impact on your business operations. Without proper management, you could end up with a drop in productivity, efficiency, and overall performance.
Why is Sick Leave Management Important?
Paid time off for sick leave is not mandatory. It is up to you as a business owner to decide how much paid time off to make available and the details of this sick leave. Though, these details must be clearly defined when you hire an employee.
The benefit of offering paid time off to your employees is that they are less likely to bring a contagious illness into work. This only results in the spread of illness and a natural drop in productivity. You do not want sick employees to feel that they need to come into work, even when they are in need of medical care.
Additionally, there are situations when an employee may need to take a considerable amount of time off in order to obtain proper medical care. Providing this time off shows that you truly care about the welfare of your staff.
While these are great reasons to offer sick leave, it is not always easy to implement. You need to have a clearly defined attendance policy. This should include details related to paid time off. Here are a few of the reasons why this is essential to maintaining a productive workforce:
- You can clearly define job expectations
- You can deter staff from taking unnecessary sick days
- You can ensure that all shifts are properly covered
- You can avoid patterns and trends in absenteeism
Clearly Define Job Expectations
Before you can begin managing sick leave, you need to clearly define job expectations. Your employees need to know how much paid time off is available. They also need to understand your entire attendance policy.
In the past, businesses would print this information out in an employee handbook or use other physical documents to keep employees informed. This is not an efficient solution.
With the right software, you can easily define and update your attendance policy. It will be available to your entire staff. They can even view their own schedule and check how much time off they have left.
Deter Staff from Taking Unnecessary Sick Days
You can also deter your staff from taking unnecessary time off. When they are able to clearly see how much paid time off they have available, they are more likely to follow your attendance policy.
Ensure That All Shifts Are Properly Covered
When you offer sick leave, your employees are more likely to put in a request for time off ahead of time, instead of simply calling off at the last minute. This makes it easier to ensure that all of your shifts are properly covered.
If you work in an environment with multiple shifts or departments, you want to be able to schedule in advance. Knowing that an employee will be unavailable due to sickness will allow you to make any necessary changes to the schedule.
Avoid Patterns and Trends in Absenteeism
With the proper management of sick leave comes the ability to avoid trends in absenteeism. Using software to keep track of this time off, you will be able to look at all instances where an employee has taken time off.
For example, you may notice that the same employee uses their paid time off every other Friday. These anomalies are an indication that the employee is abusing the system. Addressing these issues quickly can prevent the duplicate behaviour from other employees.
Increase Employee Morale and Job Satisfaction
All of the benefits discussed are negligible compared to the improvements in employee morale and overall job satisfaction. Your staff will be happy if you implement a satisfactory policy.
As mentioned, it is not mandatory in Ireland for a business to provide paid time off for sick leave. But, doing so can have a positive impact on staff morale. You can see examples of this across the tech industry.
For instance, Google gives employees 15 paid days off per year, during their first three years of employment. After three years paid time off increases to 20 days. They even allow employees to donate their available time off to other sick employees.
While you do not need to follow Google’s example, you can begin implementing a paid time off policy of your own and reap the benefits.
Managing Sick Leave with Absence Management Software
How can you enjoy all of the benefits described above? With the use of absence management software. This software allows managers and supervisors to keep track of employee absences. It makes it easy to manage sick leave.
You will no longer need to deal with an outdated filing system. All of the details that you need are stored in a central database. This information is available in real-time, allowing you to view up to date records, the day that an employee calls off from their shift.
If you would like to begin enjoying these advantages, then you need to implement absence management software. Learn more about the complete time and attendance solutions available through Advance Systems.
