Managing holiday absenteeism: practical tips for employers

With the school summer holidays in full swing, we thought our focus for this month should be on a challenge many employers face during this period: holiday absenteeism. As employees juggle family commitments and holiday plans, businesses often experience a noticeable dip in attendance and productivity. This can be particularly disruptive, affecting project timelines, customer service, and overall workplace morale.

The true financial impact of employee absenteeism goes beyond lost work hours. There are many indirect costs that can have an even greater impact, especially for SMBs with limited resources. Some of these include:

How to support working parents

Embrace flexible working where possible

Allow employees to adjust their work schedules to better accommodate childcare and other personal responsibilities. Research indicates that remote or flexible working can significantly reduce workplace absenteeism. It shows that flexible work arrangements greatly improve wellbeing, productivity, innovation, and inclusion, and can decrease cases of burnout by more than a quarter (26%).??

Childcare Support

Provide on-site childcare services or partner with local childcare providers to offer better rates. This support can significantly ease the burden on working parents and reduce the likelihood of absenteeism.

How to reduce absenteeism in the workplace

In addition to family responsibilities, there are many reasons people miss work and the underlying causes of habitual absences can be difficult for managers to pinpoint. Other common causes of absenteeism are:

• Minor illness
• Workplace dissatisfaction
• Stress, burnout and mental health

The first step to taking control of absenteeism in your workplace is to ensure that all absences are not only tracked accurately but also monitored and analysed.

Categorising absences can help you to identify problematic patterns of frequent short absences that can disrupt workflows, as well as identify employees who may need additional support. Once identified, addressing underlying issues is crucial and may include:

• Implementing employee wellness programmes to support mental and physical health:

With a massive 90% of people admitting they will never cite stress, anxiety or depression as reasons for their absence, absence data should be analysed carefully. Wellness programmes that focus on stress management, such as workshops, yoga sessions, or meditation classes can help employees manage their stress levels and maintain their mental health during busy periods.

At Access, we recognise the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance and supporting our employees' mental and emotional wellbeing. Hence, this summer, we offered our people an extra day off, a Wellbeing Day, to relax, recharge, and focus on self-care.

• Implementing employee engagement strategies to motivate your workforce:?

Improving employee engagement is essential in today's competitive landscape. Explore 7 ways to improve engagement that can lead to increased retention, reduced turnover, and better business outcomes. ?

• Carrying out performance management reviews where absences are due to lack of engagement:

A Performance Management System helps you track and improve employee performance by setting clear goals, providing regular feedback, and assessing progress. It can boost productivity, align individual efforts with company objectives, and identify areas for development. By using such a system, you can enhance employee motivation, support career growth, and ultimately drive better business results.

Whichever methods you choose, it’s important to regularly review absenteeism in your workplace . This will help you to spot emerging patterns and put a strategy in place before they become a more serious problem.?

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