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Absence management policies 'vital for all organisations'
HR News |
23/06/2010
Effective implementation of absence management policies can help ensure high employee attendance rates, it has been claimed.
Sue Hayday, senior research fellow at the Institute for Employment Studies, commented that the majority of organisations are now taking steps to reduce absenteeism and its associated costs.
She said that by conducting return-to-work interviews after every unauthorised day off, and collecting and analysing attendance data, organisations are creating a culture "which does not tolerate casual absence".
HR and employee line managers are also being trained to manage the attendance of the general workforce more effectively, Ms Hayday claimed.
She noted that while absence can be a way of expressing dissatisfaction with one's job, it can also be unavoidable for people at certain times.
"Non-genuine absence due to domestic responsibilities or problems should be tackled by flexible working arrangements," Ms Hayday added.
By allowing carers, such as the parents of young children to work from home, subject to the nature of their role, they can ensure attendance and high productivity rates, she suggested.
Other options include alternative starting and finishing times and the option of flexi-time, Ms Hayday claimed.
Her comments came after the Office for National Statistics reported a 0.1 per cent increase in the working age economic inactivity rate in the three months to April 2010.
Some 21.5 per cent of the population were either unemployed or off work during this period, a rise of 0.7 per cent on the equivalent period in 2009.
The number of economically inactive people of working age increased by 29,000 over the quarter, and by 298,000 over the year to reach a total of 8.19 million.
Posted by Jon Aspinell
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