Did you know that 40% of workers that called in sick that last year were not sick in 2017? Unfortunately, employee absenteeism reduces the overall productivity for your business and, in turn, it can lower your profits. 

We have compiled the list below of the top strategies to help reduce employee absenteeism.

1. Attendance Policy

The first thing you want to make sure you put together is an official attendance policy. Although in theory it sounds straightforward (show up on time and as scheduled) it gets complicated quickly when employees have life happen.

For example, what do you do if they have a sick child or an emergency? What if they show up an hour late but they still show up? Having an official attendance policy will set the expectations for everyone. The key is to make it clear and not complicated. 

2. Offer Benefits and Vacation Days

When employees are absent it is usually because they are exhausted, burnt-out, or they have personal obligations they have to take care of. When you offer them a fair amount of vacation days, paid time off, and group health insurance benefits, you can help your employees fee happier about their work-life balance. 

The happier and more appreciated they feel the more productive you can expect them to be. 

3. Increase Engagement

When employees are disengaged they are more likely to take time off and sick days. It is also easier for disengaged employees to quit. The key is to create a culture that your employees want to be a part of. 

Provide your employees with opportunities of development and rewards for positive behavior. The more valued they feel and the more meaningful they feel their work is, the less they want to call off work.  

Human beings are social creatures and they like to have a sense of belonging where they work. You can use team building exercises, community service trips, friendly competitions between departments as opportunities to build morale throughout your company. 

Ultimately, you want to create a space where employees want to show up and work. 

4. Flexible Hours

Studies have shown that the less hours worked the higher the production levels are. With this in mind you might want to consider offering your employees the option to take breaks whenever they need them, offer them to arrive later in the morning or leave early in the afternoon. 

Basically, give them the flexibility to work when they are at their peak production levels. 

Ready to Tackle Employee Absenteeism?

Now that you have our top strategies to help beat employee absenteeism, you can apply the methods you feel would work best for your own employees. You can even try all of the strategies above and pick and choose the ones that your employees seem to have the most positive feedback for.

Did our article help you out today? Please feel free to browse around the rest of this section for some more helpful reads.