Benefit Facts

Managing Frequent Absences with an Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

Chambers Plan’s EAP provides organizations and their employees fast access to appropriate professional resources to help employees resolve problems affecting health, performance, and attendance.

When employees are frequently absent, you not only lose their productivity, but it also impacts the productivity and morale of co-workers who may need to “pick up the slack." Keeping accurate records is critical to managing the situation. Patterns of absence often develop over time, and good record keeping makes it easier to identify, and take constructive action before insurmountable problems develop.

You may want to put policies in place that detract employee absenteeism.
For example:

New employees joining your firm may not be eligible for pay during the first two days of any sickness at home, during the first 3, 6, or 12 months of employment.

You can ask for a doctor's certificate if the employee is to be paid during absences of three or more days. Continual absenteeism or patterns of absenteeism (eg. away most Mondays and Fridays) may be an indication there is an issue in an employee’s personal life. As an employer, you may be uncomfortable broaching such issues directly. That’s where an Employee Assistance Program helps. An EAP offers confidential counselling services to help employees deal with personal situations that lead to absenteeism.

So take a few moments to review your policies, or add the security of an EAP program to your employee benefit plan and make employee absenteeism one less worry in your workday.