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How to Effectively Reduce Absenteeism in the Workplace

Absenteeism

30 Aug 2022 (Last updated 2 July 2025)

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Absenteeism is when employees take off work due to sickness, holiday, or other reasons. At first glance, it may not seem like a big deal. It is completely normal to have emergencies or illness or personal issues. Businesses are prepared to deal with such last-minute no shows or absences.

Employee absenteeism is on the rise, with workers calling in sick or not showing up for shifts. Staff absenteeism has impacted all industries from airlines to childcare to hospitality.

Excessive employee absenteeism is a repeat pattern of unplanned absences. It is when an employee forms a habit of regularly staying away from work, generally without good reason. It also includes sick leave, coming in late, leaving early and taking extended and/or unscheduled breaks.

Why is absenteeism bad for your business?

Absenteeism is costly for a business. If unplanned absences are frequent and form a pattern they can start to impact upon the employee’s work, which is not being completed due to their absence. This affects fellow workers negatively as their workloads increase to compensate, and their morale drops accordingly. They become disengaged or stressed and start to take time off work. The upshot is increased absenteeism as well as decreased productivity across your business as a whole. In addition, there are financial costs to the business, for example in wages for absent employees and in employee replacement costs if an absence is long-term.

While some companies can make do with an absent employee, smaller businesses cannot. In certain industries such as hospitality or security, the effects of absenteeism can mean delays, slower customer service, and the risk of increased accidents.

There is a visible impact of absenteeism on businesses:

  • Restaurants run at reduced hours of service
  • Hotels shut down rooms or event areas
  • Hairdressers operate at reduced hours or days
  • Farmers are forced to reduce their operations or work longer hours, thus raising the risk of accidents or injuries

Businesses are doing their best to maintain normal business operations but are being held back by absenteeism and workforce shortages.

What causes employee absenteeism?

Everyone is sick from time to time, and some absences are unavoidable, for example in case of an emergency. However habitual absences result in productivity loss due to both absenteeism (other than scheduled leave) and presenteeism. This is where the employee comes into work but is unproductive, for example when they are sick but don’t take the day off work.

The main causes of absenteeism and presenteeism in terms of illness or injury are related to an employee’s psychological health and wellbeing, and are due to stress or depression, and lack of engagement. The cost in absenteeism in Australia due to these causes is estimated to be $6 billion dollars per annum.

Disengagement can be due to poor workplace culture with excessive conflict; a perception of an unfair workplace; or low morale due to lack of positive feedback, excessive demands and work pressure, and insufficient support and job control. These factors can also lead to burn-out.

Another reason for absenteeism may be carer’s responsibilities and a lack of flexibility within the business to accommodate these responsibilities as well as a general lack of employee work-life balance.

Absenteeism also may be a symptom of workplace bullying and harassment.

Tips to reduce absenteeism in the workplace

How an employer responds to an absence can influence the employee’s ongoing engagement with work, reduce the length of time away from the workplace, and minimise future absences, as well as reducing the impact on the employee’s fellow workers and therefore reducing absenteeism and increasing productivity across the business.

Below are some steps you can take to manage absenteeism:

Create a workplace lateness and absenteeism policy

Workplace attendance can seem simple and straightforward. But employers and managers must keep track of multiple employees and shifts depending on their business. You must track and document employee attendance. What is the policy if they are running late? Can they show up for a half day? Who should they contact in an emergency? Whether you have ten or hundred employees, having an attendance policy can make expectations clear to all your team members. Consider scheduled absences, unscheduled absences, emergencies, and sick leave in this attendance policy. This policy should be inclusive and define each type of absence. You should communicate this policy in your employee handbook clearly. It should also include a timeframe and procedure for notification of absences and clarify when you expect reasonable evidence of an absence to be provided, for example in the form of a Medical Certificate or Statutory Declaration.

Keep track of absences

Make sure you have suitable timekeeping system in place to track any absences – keeping accurate time records is a requirement under the Fair Work Act. Ask employees to complete a time sheet, either manually or online, or invest in a (mobile) software system or application that allows clocking in and out such as BrightHR.

Enforce the workplace policy

In case of any absence or no show contact the employee immediately to ask for an explanation, and ask them to give you an indication of when they think they will be likely to return to work, so you can plan accordingly. Remind them of your workplace policy and procedures and to provide reasonable evidence of their absence on return to work, if appropriate. Be consistent and make sure you enforce the policy across all of the business with every employee, with every absence.

Talk to the employee

If you detect a pattern of excessive absenteeism your first step is to talk to the employee. This will help to pinpoint the cause of the repeated absences so you can adopt an appropriate strategy for managing absenteeism, you may be able to resolve this informally. Ask the employee if there is anything wrong or if they require support and if so, ask how the business can provide it.

Treat the cause

If the employee is struggling with childcare commitments, then discuss flexible working arrangements. If the employee claims they are being bullied, then encourage them to provide more details or lodge a complaint so the business can investigate the matter thoroughly. If the employee is suffering from stress or struggling with their mental health, then offer to support them and refer them to the Employee Assistance Programme or mental health helplines. Continue to meet with them regularly to monitor their situation and offer ongoing support.

Consider disciplinary action

If there is no obvious reason for the continued absences then disciplinary action may be appropriate, however this is a formal process that must be conducted properly. The Fair Work Act protects employees while they are sick from ‘adverse action’ against them, which means that dismissing them because they are sick, or  taking negative action against them such demoting them or decreasing their pay, can result in a successful claim against the business and damages to be paid to the employee.

Depending on the circumstances, you can discipline the employee for consistently wilfully breaching the lateness and absenteeism policy, so for example if they refuse to follow the notification of absence procedure and text instead of calling every time they are late, or refuse to provide reasonable evidence of their absence in the form of a medical certificate or a statutory declaration.

Embrace cultural change

If the employees are disengaged or suffering from low morale because they are feeling overwhelmed, then discuss more reasonable workloads and organise help where required for example by engaging temporary casual or contract staff to assist in busy periods or to manage a specific project. Empower employees by allowing them to manage their own workload flexibly; focus on developing their skills and provide continuous constructive feedback and actionable guidance. Recognise employees’ achievements and success to foster engagement and boost morale.

Take preventative measures

Encourage your employees to take time off when they are sick, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. If they don’t take their sick leave, they may infect fellow workers, creating further absenteeism. If employees come in anyway, they are likely to be unproductive.

Employees should also take annual leave at regular intervals so they can rest and avoid burn-out.

If you adopt a pro-active approach to employee absences it can reduce absenteeism and presenteeism in the longer term, while boosting staff morale and increasing engagement and productivity, and reducing costs across the business.

Peninsula has worked with small businesses to ensure their workplace is prepared to manage absenteeism and leave. Call our 24/7 FREE Advice line today.

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Absenteeism

Terminology Explained: What is Abandonment of Employment?

Abandonment of employment is the term used when an employee is absent from work for consecutive days, without communicating to their employer the reason for their absence. When you’re a business owner if an employee fails to attend work without prior notification or a valid reason, you should follow certain steps before assuming the employee has no intention of returning The first step is to attempt to contact your employee. It is possible personal matters, an unexpected emergency, or accident has occurred, and your employee is unable to contact you directly. Contacting the employee If you have not heard from an employee, you should attempt to contact them. Call them on their home phone, mobile phone or any other contact numbers. Leave messages for them to make contact as soon as possible. Employee records should contain emergency contact numbers – try them. Write in their employee file how and when the attempted call was made, including notes on any voice messages left. Make a reasonable number of attempts over several days. If the employee gets in contact, ask questions to find out whether they intend to return to work or if they have a valid reason for their absence. If no contact can be made, then a letter should be mailed to the employee’s residential address of record, requesting them to contact your business within a specified timeframe. Include in the letter who the employee must contact and advise failure to respond may be interpreted as abandonment of employment. Ensure the letter is sent by registered post, so you are able to track its delivery and confirm it has been received by your employee. Resignation and abandonment of employment When an employee has resigned and given the required notice as outlined in their employment contract but chooses to not show for their last day of work without notice, this is typically considered abandonment of employment. Even though it’s their last day, employers should still attempt to contact the employee. Only after reasonable attempts have failed and the employee hasn't responded or provided a valid excuse for their absence can you conclude the employment has been abandoned. Example 1: When an employee doesn't complete their notice period in full. Consider an employee – let’s call him Darrel – resigned from their role and gave verbal and written notice. On the second last day of their notice period, they leave their access pass and company owned equipment on their desk without notifying their manager or colleagues. This signals no intention of working the final day of their notice period, which is confirmed by them not turning up that day. All attempts to contact Darrel were ignored. Example 2: When a contractor abruptly leaves and doesn't return. In a case of a contractor – let’s call them Garry – After working for several weeks, a review of the projects he was working on was conducted and multiple errors were identified. Following a meeting where the errors were highlighted and the request made to correct them Garry abruptly packed his personal items from his desk and left the office, handing in his access pass to the reception desk. Multiple attempts were made to contact the contractor. All went unanswered. Example 3: When a new employee has multiple sick days in theor first couple of weeks and extra long lunch and other breaks. An employee – let’s call her Samantha – commenced her new role with a business. In her first week Samantha called in sick on three consecutive days. In the following three weeks she would take extra-long lunch breaks in addition to multiple long breaks throughout the day. She would often arrive late and leave early. At the end of her third week Samantha left work saying she would see everyone Monday. She never returned. Over several days multiple attempts were made to contact Samantha via phone, personal email and text message. No reply was received. What do I do if I cannot contact the employee? It’s advised employee handbooks, and employment agreements contain an abandonment of employment clause. However, even with this clause, as the business owner you’re obliged to try and find out where the employee is and if they intend to return to work. If a number of days have passed and you have not been able to contact the employee and they have not contacted you, you can start the abandonment process to end the employment relationship: Advise the employee by phone, email and in writing to their last known address, that their employment is in jeopardy. Let them know unless they make contact by a certain date, their employment will be considered terminated by reason of abandonment. Quote the relevant clause from their employment agreement. If there is still no response by the stipulated date, advise the employee by phone, email and in writing that, in accordance with previous communication, their employment is now considered terminated by reason of abandonment. The employer should then process any final pay. It is your responsibility to thoroughly investigate an employee’s absence before deciding your employee has abandoned their employment. Being proactive in your attempts to contact your employee and adhering to procedural fairness and transparency is critical to mitigate the possibility of facing an unfair dismissal claim. Abandonment of employment can be a challenging situation to manage. Contact Peninsula for expert advice on abandonment of employment. The information in this article is of general information current at the time of publication. Please note the contents of this article and website and any information provided by our advice team do not constitute legal advice and are not intended to be a substitute for legal or other professional advice and should not be relied upon as such. Your specific circumstances or changes in circumstances after publication may affect the completeness or accuracy of this information. You should seek legal advice or other professional advice in relation to any particular matters as it relates to you or your business.

Absenteeism

How to Improve Work Attendance Rates

Managing sick days or tardiness can be one of the biggest challenges employers face. If you have employees who are consistently late or sick, it might be good practice to subtly monitor them. You could try keeping a daily register that is reviewed periodically to monitor who is taking leave, is late and how often. If leave is deemed unreasonable or if there is a pattern of misuse, it needs to be addressed. For example, could it be that your staff are taking sick days in conjunction with weekends? It is important to understand there are often times when bigger employment issues occur. For example, an employee may be absent from work due to an overwhelming feeling of anxiety due to being bullied or are simply overworked. If leave is misused, it is an employer’s job to address the problem professionally and Peninsula can help you to do so. Avoid the frustration of employee tardiness and absenteeism by following our top three tips below. Although not your traditional methods, thinking outside the box of what your employees might be looking for is often the best place to start. 1. Introduce work benefits Introducing fun things each Monday morning could improve tardiness. Buy your team a coffee and encourage employee social interaction for a few minutes. Something such as this not only provides an opportunity for staff bond, but it also gives them something to look forward to. 2. Acknowledge annual leave requests in a timely manner Take a leaf out of Richard Branson’s book when it comes to annual leave. Approving annual leave or rostered days off will encourage staff to stay on and be loyal. If you do not acknowledge the request, anger and resentment will build and the staff member may call in sick or not show up at all, harming the working relationship in the long run. 3. A return to work interview Having a ‘sickie’ is notorious. Good surf, hot days or long weekends are just some reasons businesses see spikes in sickies. A return to work interview can help put a stop to this. This takes the form of a mandatory meeting with your employee the day of their return, where you determine if they are fit for work. It is also best practice to request a doctor’s certificate for each sick day taken, even if it was just the one. Knowing that you have to face your boss the day after a sickie will mean employees are more inclined to only take genuine sick days, or alternatively, schedule annual leave when it is appropriate. For those genuinely sick employees, this meeting provides the opportunity to address any health concerns or work related issues. Whatever you do to manage sick leave, you need to ensure the policy and procedure is clearly outlined and communicated to employees. An Employee Handbook is the best way to ensure all policies and procedures are clearly outlined. Peninsula helps employers implement policies and procedures to support these initiatives and to improve overall attendance rates. As the leading workplace relations specialist, we can discuss how you can implement these, and other ideas into your workplace. Contact Peninsula today.

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