Keep on top of absence management and reduce sick leave with HR software from Sage

Staff absence management best practices

When it comes to reducing sick leave, it’s important to understand the reasons behind above-average absenteeism. While most people take time off due to legitimate health reasons, it’s also important to rule out the possibility of sick leave abuse, or time theft. Attendance register software eliminates the guesswork from this process, as it helps managers measure sickness absence and detect patterns that are indicative of potential abuse. 

For those employees suffering with different medical ailments, the best ways to reduce sick leave include:

• Creating a culture that encourages a healthy work-life balance
• Having a clear policy for absences
• Implementing wellness programmes

Wellness programmes support employees’ well-being with things like voluntary health assessments, occupational health facilities and opportunities for flexible work.

As for annual leave, it’s important to encourage employees to spread out their holidays across the year rather than saving them up. Taking regular breaks from work will keep their well-being and motivation levels high throughout the year. You should also be mindful of how many people are taking annual leave simultaneously to ensure business continuity.

Turning down holiday requests can be badly received, so it’s important to have a clear practice in place for accepting requests, such as ‘first come, first served’. An annual leave tracker makes sure everyone knows when people are on leave and makes the holiday request approval process fairer and clearer for everyone.