The financial impact of employee absence is significant, yet managing it is increasingly complicated, time consuming and expensive. Automating absence processes across the organisation help mitigate and reduce these costs. Find out more here.

1. Automating Employee Absence Management
ADP Insider
Four Reasons to Automate Employee Absence
Management
April 22, 2015 - by James Kissell
The financial impact of employee absence
is significant, yet managing it is increasingly
complicated, time consuming and expensive.
Automating absence processes across the
organisation help mitigate and reduce these
costs.
Each time an employee is absent from work
there is a cost involved due to lost productivity
on the day, having to cover the missed shift, and
the impact of not being able to accurately track
various absence and leave types. The more
employees an organisation has, the higher the
costs.
Leslie Tarnacki, VP and GM, WFS: A WorkForce
Software Company, says, “The Aberdeen Group
found that organisations not actively managing
absence are subject to several overlapping costs
(1). While HR managers spend approximately two
hours per week on absence-related tasks, line
managers spend almost as much time on tasks
such as finding last-minute replacement workers
and communicating with HR about employees
taking time off.
“The same study showed that some organisations
call in temporary workers and some simply
accept that the work won’t get done. The majority,
however, rely on existing staff or supervisors to
provide coverage, which can result in unplanned
overtime costs.”
Top-performing organisations are integrating
absence management tools to relieve the
financial and emotional burden of handling short-
and long-term employee absences. WFS Australia
has identified four key reasons to automate
absence management:
1. Reduced manual processes
An automated system provides a clear,
documented channel for handling absence
requests. It can recognise patterns in absences,
alerting the right people at the right time when
occasional absences become more frequent. It
also means all absence-related communication
is contained within a single system, including
medical certificates.
2. Greater accuracy
The chances of error are reduced with an
automated system, preventing instances where
employees continue to be paid despite using all of
their allocated leave.
3. Reduced labour costs
If absence tracking is not accurate, employees
may take off more time than they have earned,
costing the company money. With automation
comes greater transparency in how leave
requests are made and granted, and how that
information is communicated to the payroll
department. It also lets managers plan for
extended absences in advance.
4. Improved employee satisfaction
When employees have clear communication
channels, immediate receipt confirmations and
clarity around processes, confusion is reduced.
Employees are therefore more likely to feel that
leave policies are fair, making them more loyal to
the organisation.
Leslie says, “It’s clear that automating absence
management tasks has many benefits for
employers and employees alike. And while HR
directors can’t always anticipate or prevent
employee absences, they can empower their
organisations to respond with improved
efficiency by implementing automated absence
management throughout the enterprise.”
Written by James Kissell - Director of Marketing,
APAC & ANZ, WFS: A WorkForce Software
Company.
1. The Aberdeen Group – Absence Management
(2013)
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"Top-performing organisations are
integrating absence management
tools to relieve the financial and
emotional burden of handling short
and long-term employee
absences."
James Kissell
Director of Marketing APAC & ANZ
WFS: A WorkForce Software
Company