How employers can manage absenteeism and presenteeism in the workplace

The first Monday in February is known as National Sickie Day. This is because it’s normally the day for the highest number of workers calling in sick, costing your business money and lost productivity.

During the winter months, many of your employees will suffer from colds, coughs and flu. You may have individuals still come into work and others who take advantage of the season and fake illness to have some time off work.

Managing absenteeism and presenteeism in the workplace is vital for long-term business success. Both situations present different challenges for your business, which our team of experienced HR consultants can support you with. Or you can read our guide to reduce instances of employees missing from work.

What is presenteeism and absenteeism?

It’s when employees are either in work and not being productive (or burning themselves out through overwork) or absent from work regularly. Both can have negative effects on your business productivity even if, for example, an employee arrives at work despite being ill.

The difference between absenteeism and presenteeism

There are subtle differences between the two your business should understand. We break the two areas below and provide a plan of action for how to deal with both.

1. Understanding employee absenteeism

Naturally, absenteeism can be frustrating for businesses. Repeated short-term absences can cause major headaches for organisations, so here are some key steps to take:

• Monitor absences: By keeping a record of all absences, you can identify any patterns or trends and build a complete picture of the employee’s attendance.
• Establish sickness absence reporting rules: Make it clear in your sickness absence policy that an employee must call their line manager, rather than send a text or email, leave a voicemail or get someone to call for them.
• Ask for medical evidence: You may become suspicious if they conveniently become sick on a few Fridays, so ask for medical evidence.
• Conduct return to work interviews: These should be carried out after every absence. It’s a good way to probe into the reason for the absences and explore possible solutions.

If the employee was absent due to illness, you’ll soon see the nature of the illness and whether they’re fully recovered. It may be part of an ongoing condition. However, if they’re dealing with bereavement (or a serious personal concern), you can explore whether their absences could be reduced if they have flexible working arrangements in place.

If you believe the employee is playing truant, you must still follow a fair process of recording their days off or lateness. Do not discriminate against them. Make sure you understand the full truth before addressing persistent truancy with the likes of a business disciplinary procedure.

2. Understanding employee presenteeism

You’ll probably know an employee or two, who no matter how sick they are, will always drag themselves to work. The problem here is when a person doesn’t feel well, it can have negative effects on their morale, productivity, performance and work quality.

If they have a contagious illness, it also has the potential to spread around the workplace fast. Instead of just having one person off, imagine a whole team! It can place a huge strain on whoever is left standing and significantly reduce overall productivity.

However, if the employee is overworking and refuses to take much-needed time off to recover, they may be delaying their recovery and need to take longer absences in the long-term.

Absenteeism and presenteeism possible causes and solutions

The causes for both issues will vary from one employee to the next. Some will be keen to avoid missing work and want to impress you, so they may over commit. Others may be having an unfortunate series of life events that mean they miss work, or they’re not happy in work and may be attending job interviews.

Ultimately, if you review your existing policies you can address the issue head on and look to have consistent employee performance:

• Encourage people to stay away: It’s important to encourage people not to come into work until they are recovered and can work productively. If they can work but they are suffering from a contagious illness, you could consider whether it’s appropriate for them to work from home.
• Review your policies: Having a hardline and aggressive sickness absence policy and workplace culture may be harming those who are genuinely sick.
• Promote a transparent company culture: Offering staff mental health days or the chance for confidential 1-1s with managers can help reveal issues you can make reasonable adjustments for.
• Offer fairness: Your sickness absence policy should be fair, reasonable and allow some flexibility and it should be implemented in a fair way by your managers.
• Promote a strong work-life balance: It’s good business practice to promote health and well-being in the workplace. For example, offering flexible start and finishing times, hybrid working, and other company perks.

We realise it’s not easy to manage, but it’s important you and your managers stay on top of absences for long-term business success.

Take back control and reduce absenteeism and presenteeism

Need help with employee productivity? Our expert UK Employment Law and HR consultant team can support your business. Contact us today for a no-obligation, free consultation: 0345 226 8393.