This means absence management turns into a big task for companies who don’t have HR software. Even though the average employee worked 4 days whilst they were unwell last year*, surveys show that employees take an average of 6.9 days unauthorised absences per year, costing employers around £554 per employee**. Just because employee absence is a given, it doesn’t mean it’s an easy task to manage.
Absence management covers many different absence types including authorised and planned and unplanned unauthorised leave. Many of these types include
- Short-term sickness
- Long-term sickness
- Annual leave
- Paternity, adoption and maternity leave
- Compassionate leave
- Educational leave
HR departments are under immense stress from many different sources, so easing pressure in certain areas is essential. Here’s are 3 ways that using HR software can relieve the pain of absence management for your HR departments.
Record absences and reduce errors
Recording absences can be a time-consuming headache. You’ve got spreadsheets for employee data, time and attendance, measuring holiday allowance, benefits packages – believe it or not, there is such a thing as too many spreadsheets.
Solve these issues and combine all the data across your numerous spreadsheets in one single HR portal, where only the people who need to see it have access. Why not empower your teams with integrated Time and Attendance, HR and Payroll solutions from Mitrefinch?
If your employees are absent, you can clock the number of days, hours or shifts they’ve been off in their profile keeping track of how long they’ve been off for. The use of these systems means that you can easily record absences and reduce the inevitable human errors that are likely to occur.
Compare
Using HR management systems will also allow you to notice and compare how your employee absences compare with other companies in your sector. Knowing where you stand next to competitors or others for employee absences will help you to clock how to implement consequences and change of policies where needed.
Comparisons not just between companies but between your company’s departments are a benefit of HR software too. By exporting reports of your absences, you can easily spot trends of which departments are taking more unauthorised absences. With this tool, spotting overworked and under-supported departments means you can provide support where needed. This could easily go untracked without these systems in place.
Managing consequences
Employee absence is a significant cost for companies, but only a third of employers monitor that cost. For absence management to be effective it needs to support the employees’ needs whilst complying with guidelines and procedures that avoid inappropriate use of sick pay or other benefits.
Through noticing how often your employees are taking absences, you’re able to see trends for employees taking more than usual or expected absences to put procedures in place.
Remember to keep the employees’ wellbeing considered whilst tracking absences. HR issues could bubble to the surface when noticing these changes, so be ready and have your employees’ best interest at heart to ensure they feel supported and valued.
If you’re interested in HR software, contact us today to hear about our bespoke products and services.
*https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/work-while-ill-four-days/
**https://www.naturalhr.com/blog/absence-management
