Q: I supervise a small department. We all get along fairly well; however we have one employee whose attendance pattern is beginning to cause friction and resentment in the group. We’re a small team, so when someone is out unexpectedly it’s a huge inconvenience. We have to rearrange our schedules and re-prioritize the workload.
In the last few months this one person has been calling in sick a lot. About every other week. To add insult to injury it’s usually on a Friday or Monday. We’re not aware of any serious health problems or substance abuse, so the team thinks he’s making it up.
Any tips on how to address this?
A: Great question.
A safe way to begin the conversation is to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that the absences are legit. Ask “I’ve noticed that you’re missing a lot of work lately and was wondering what’s going on?” Maybe he’s having to travel some weekends to help an elderly relative. Maybe he’s been given child custody every other weekend. and is having trouble adjusting. Or maybe as you and your team suspect, he’s doesn’t have a convincing answer and it appears he just wanted some long weekends.
Finding out the reasons behind the absences is a necessary part of the conversation, gives you a fuller picture, and might even guide and temper how you choose to deal with him. Ultimately however, the reason for the absence almost doesn’t matter. This is why:
Whether the absence is justified (excused) or not (unexcused) the resulting problem is the same: unscheduled absences leave you and your team scrambling to rearrange schedules and reprioritize workload, creates stress and resentment, and probably hurts customer service.
You need to let him know that his absences are not acceptable and why, and give him a reasonable goal and timetable to reduce them. Then (and this is the important part) you must lay out a consequence if he fails to reach the goal.
Whatever you do, don’t put it off. Fewer things are more demoralizing than the boss doing nothing about a problem employee. Make sure you handle this firmly yet fairly.
The rest of the staff will no doubt be watching you.
© Copyright Eva Del Rio
Eva Del Rio is creator of HR Box™ – tools for small businesses and startups. Send questions to Eva@evadelrio.com
