A big part of HR's job is to track employees working hours by noting whether they follow the attendance policy. They are responsible for seeing when employees come in and leave for the day and for recording their extra hours. Things like attendance can be managed on staff sign in sheets, as they help make tasks simple and manageable. HR is also responsible for ensuring that employees follow the attendance policy. Thus, keeping track of staff attendance is a very important part of the process, and therefore, it should be done correctly. Below are the top 6 strategies for managing employee attendance.

Use Time Tracking Software

Time and attendance software is one way to keep track of your employees' hours, but it also helps cut down on absences and makes workers more responsible. Tracking sick and leave time, as well as keeping an eye on hours worked, delays, and absences, can all be done with it. The software might also handle payments and make sure that labor laws are followed, among other things related to handling workers. Once you see patterns in a tracker like the Excel attendance tracker, you can take steps to increase attendance.

Tools like Rippling can automatically track employees' hours from the time they clock in until they are paid. For example, if an employee clocks in more hours than planned, you can change the method to fit your needs. You will also be notified when mistakes are made.

Moreover, other tools, like the staff sign in sheets that track employee hours, are useful for more than just keeping track of who went to work using an Excel attendance tracker. Examining the data gathered by the program, managers can find any changes in employees' work habits, find the busiest times for production, and make sure that plans are optimized correctly.

Always Measure Performance

The number of absences and the quality of work done by your workers are clearly linked. If attendance is used as a measure of success, people should know what will happen if they don't show up. If you can reliably track employees' time and attendance using something like an Excel attendance tracker, you can rank them based on their good work and ability to show up for work.

Tracking employee success can help you get more staff to show up for work. If you only look at the days a person is present, you might get some useful information, but it's only part of the story. Moreover, if a worker is always late or takes long breaks, they might need more time to be fully focused on their job. By keeping an eye on this, you can see where growth is necessary and give staff members help or training to help them develop better attendance habits.

Provide an Employee Assistance Program

Employee assistance programs (EAPs) are cheap and easy to obtain and are often overlooked. They give employees access to third-party help. However, when it comes to attendance policy issues, employees may just be having a rough time and need someone to talk to. These are a few of the many services that EAPs may offer:

• Recommendations to other counselors
• Financial help
• First legal guidance
• Workshops on nutrition and exercise.

Employee assistance programs are thought to be able to help employees with personal problems that might be affecting their attendance in many situations. EAPs are free for employees because their health insurance covers them through their jobs.

Developing an Attendance Policy

If your organization has a documented attendance policy, everyone will know what to do and what consequences they will face if they don't attend. When setting workplace attendance requirements, notify everyone and enforce them. Moreover, your policy at a minimum, should include the following:

• Simple Definition
• Various Examples
• Appeals process
• Many Disciplinary actions
• Employee acknowledgment

For businesses to be consistent, formal attendance policies create explicit attendance criteria that make performance evaluation and accountability simpler and ensure that everyone respects the rules. This policy should outline how you will penalize absenteeism so you can resolve attendance concerns swiftly.

Moreover, having an attendance policy will make your employees aware of their common attendance dos and donts. They will be aware from the very start whether they can take off or not (This is decided on how serious their cause of abscess is).

Reduce Sick Leaves

Nobody wants sick employees to work as it affects productivity at work and also risk the health of people around them. When we get sick, our coworkers' health is affected, which affects everything from customer service to employee turnover to work output. Moreover, it is still very important that we keep up the appropriate cleanliness standards.

Stronger workplace mental health policies, healthy snack choices, and bike-to-work programs are some other ways that businesses can help their employees' mental health at work. Over time, a lot fewer sick days will be recorded if you take steps to make your employees healthier and happier.

Always Communicate

When absences become an issue, a supervisor normally meets with the employee to discuss it. The employee has a chance to explain before the manager urges them to improve and threatens penalty. To avoid this whole process of punishment and penalties, an employee should always communicate with the supervisor or manager before and after the leave.

Supervisors who wish to be empathic should understand their employees' struggles and relax the attendance policy so that the employees feel understood in the workplace. This is especially important for employees who dont feel comfortable sharing personal reasons for leaving. When you relax the policies, the employee will also feel relaxed. As a manager or somebody in charge of attendance management, you should check on the employee after a few days and give support if required. If an employee misses more than two weeks, schedule a meeting to welcome them back. Here, you can:

• Share company updates and new hires.
• Prioritize tasks together.
• Explain how their work was handled.
• Ensure they're ready to return.
• Discuss their absence and future steps.
• Staying in touch during their absence builds goodwill.