How can absence formulas help a small business track absenteeism? HR consultant Lyndsey McLaughlin explains the benefits of measuring absence and some of the formulas available for businesses.
Many challenges are associated with running a business, and absenteeism can significantly impact business owners. Absences are inevitable in any business, but they become problematic if they are a regular occurrence. You can use an absence rate formula to help you deal with any absence issues within your company.
It would be impossible to eradicate employee absenteeism, as there are many reasons why an employee may be off work. They may be absent from work due to sickness, a bereavement, maternity or paternity leave, jury duty, to attend appointments, or it could be completely unexpected, such as severe weather conditions or even a pandemic!
Sickness absence has been falling since the last decade for age groups 16 to 64 but increasing for age 65 and over. The decline in sickness absence could be down to various factors, but most significantly, it may result from increased flexible working options.
There are several ways that absence can impact a small business. When employees are absent and their work needs to be covered by temporary workers, it creates additional costs for the company. In addition to this, it can cause projects to be late or even to fail, which could damage the business's reputation or even cause a company to lose clients.
Employee absenteeism can also lead to discontentment within the workplace if others must pick up the slack. They can become stressed and even resentful towards their co-workers. Large organisations are in a better position to absorb these issues without it causing much disruption. However, for a small business, it is not quite as easy!
You should not just ignore employee absenteeism, especially when your business is growing. If you measure employee absences using an absence formula, you may be able to uncover issues within your organisation, that you can improve on. Quite simply, it is a formula for calculating sickness absence. When you track employee absences, you can highlight problems and make changes that might otherwise be detrimental to your business. For example:
As a small business, it is vital to have the right employees to allow you to grow and prosper. However, it might simply be the case that an employee is just ''pulling a sickie'' or burning the candle at both ends, in which case, you may need to take them through a disciplinary procedure.
As the name would suggest, absence formulas are simply formulas you can use to understand your absence rate. With this information, you can then reach conclusions and make changes to your business to help improve your absence rates. These are some formulas you might want to consider.
If you want to drill down on specific employees, particularly if you notice there have been many short spells of absence, the Bradford Factor is a good formula to utilise.
You can use this formula to compare absenteeism throughout the company. Consequently, you will be able to identify any employees with higher absenteeism than others, and therefore, make changes to support your employees.
Learn more: How to best utilise the Bradford Factor in your small business
Another absence formula you can use is lost time rate. With this, you can understand lost workdays because of an absence.
For example: John works 180 hours per month. His absence within the month amount to 30 hours.
Track and measure staff absence more accurately and efficiently with an online absence management system.
If you are concerned about the number of absences per employee, the frequency rate is a good absence rate formula to use.
As your business grows, it is advisable to keep track of your absence. It will enable you to deal with issues or problematic employees as early as possible, but also because you may need the documentation at some point in the future.
How to calculate a sickness absence percentage for employees