Best way to handle employee no call or no show

Employee absenteeism is a serious offence. It affects the cohesion of a team and reduces the morale of other staff members. Sometimes, an employee cannot come to work and report his/her absence to the reporting manager due to some unavoidable circumstances, which are acceptable and are a one-off exception. However, an employee who fails to come to work regularly and does not bother about informing anyone about his/her absence is a major problem for employers as well as other employees. 

Such employee absenteeism affects the overall business and is bad for workforce productivity and efficiency. It is like keeping bad potato in a pack of good ones. As an employer, you should either quarantine such an employee and counsel them on attendance rules, no show policy and etiquettes of workmanship or create an atmosphere of healthy collaboration and communication between employees management. However, there are still some who will love to test your patience. They opt for no call no show, on purpose. So, what will you do if such instances happen regularly? Well, today we’ll discuss the process to handle regular no call, no show offenders.

• Create rules for attendance

Creating attendance rules gives structure and order to an organization. When a business is small, employees can be managed on mutual respect and understanding. But, as the team begins to grow, so do the problems and attendance rules provide a basic structure to your newer employees. It is vital in controlling employee absenteeism and greatly decreases the instances of no call, no show termination. Attendance policy, as well as no show policy, streamlines the process for the employees. They get a clear understanding of what’s expected out of them and are encouraged to act accordingly. It immensely helps the business focus on increased efficiency and productivity. Below are some key pointers to help you set up attendance rules:

• Properly define absenteeism and tardiness
• Elaborate what is no call, no show
• Educate on how to generate no call no show explanation
• Create an attendance tracker
• Keep it simple
• Explain the difference in unexcused and excused absences
• Establish procedures for a request for leave
• Institute realistic and practical actions to reduce unexcused or illegitimate leaves

If you include theses attendance rules in the employee handbook, every employee will get a clear idea about absenteeism and the ramifications of regular no call no show.

• Create a no call no show policy

Each business or organization should create effective policies to handle employee absenteeism. In the absence of such policies, the employee can take the administration for granted, affecting the performance of the business as a whole. These policies should be included in that part of the employee handbook, which explains the rules for leave of absence. The policy should answer significant questions and doubts related to absenteeism, such as:

• Consequences of no call, no show
• How to deal with a last-minute leave of absence
• When is the documentation required for unexplained absence from work
• How to utilise personal leaves
• How to apply for an unplanned leave
• In case of an unplanned leave, how to request other members to substitute you

Once the employee reads through the policy during orientation and signs on the handbook, they can be held responsible for instances of no call, no show. Make sure that the policy outlines and explains in detail what is no call, no show and what its ramifications are.

• Understanding the policy

Once you’ve created your set of rules and policies for no call, no show, make sure everyone understands the policy. Your new hires and your current employees should be reoriented with the policy to make sure each individual understands the no call, no show policy, and questions or doubts if any can be addressed. The orientation should be followed by a written commitment which should be sealed with the employee sign to confirm the employee has read and fully understand the contents of the policy and is in agreement with the rules and policies on employee absenteeism laid down by the organization. They must understand that one of the consequences can be no call no show termination.

It is not just enough to frame the policy and email it to the employees to read when they have time. These policies should be made an integral part of work etiquettes. This would be active adherence to the rules. 

This step is an important part of the process. If your employees do not understand your policy they will come back saying, “sorry, I didn’t understand the policy” and your entire effort will amount to nothing. Give a physical copy of your policy to the employes to read, and make sure they sign in agreement to the policy. Hence, make sure everyone understands the policy as this ensures the smooth functioning of your company.

• Consistent enforcement of the policy

Consistency is crucial to the success of implementing a no call no show policy. Few organizations show zero tolerance to no call, no show issues, while some enforce sanctions that culminate in termination. So, enforce your policy consistently.

Whatever consequence you choose, make sure it is implemented for every employee without any bias, even for stellar performers.

An employee should get 2 chances at least. There are no two emergencies that are similar, and there have been situations wherein it would have been impossible for your employee to reach the office or call to explain its absence. However genuine the reason may be, but after the 1st offence, do a one-on-one meeting with the staff member and explain how these kinds of actions affect the team’s cohesion and morale. Don’t forget to stress on how the entire business gets affected by their absence.

Once you enforce your policy consistently, for a first no call, no show absence, you can implement some penalty as a consequence, like a documented verbal warning followed by a written account of the absenteeism.

• Create a backup list

Once you get going with the process and the policy, you can focus on no call, no show by dealing with the problem efficiently. Knowing that the team suffers when a staff member takes unplanned absenteeism, how will you solve this problem? Instead of letting everyone else suffer due to one employee, establish an on-call list that you can refer to when someone fails to come to work. The on-call list should consist of regular workers who are ready to act as a substitute, at short notice, if the need arises.

If you are facing problems motivating your employees to fill in on the short notice, you may want to consider offering them some rewards or monetary benefits or the emergency hours contributed for. This way, you will be able to establish an on-call list.

Paying some extra money can motivate an employee to leave their activities and show up at work to fill in for the no call, no show employees.

• Communicate with the absentee

Sometimes, absenteeism can be because of genuine reasons. They could be experiencing an emergency and may have been unable to call. As an employer, you must give your employees the benefit of doubt and call the employee to make sure they’re ok.

Your call will be assuring to the employee. You must sound empathetic towards him/her. Make sure you ask if the employee is he/she needs help. If the reasons are genuine, your empathetic approach will help to increase your rapport with the employee.

If the reasons are mere excuses, you have every right to take a stand against the individual. You must, however, not worry as you have the policies to help you deal with such carelessness and lack of professionalism. 

But the first intent should be to call the employee to make sure they’re ok. Once you’ve established the reasons for no call, no show, you can then decide on the next course of action.

• Documentation

Documents supplement and prove facts. They provide facts that give further credibility to the reasons for absence. Always ask for documentation after a case of no call, no show. Documents are a way to ascertain whether the reason was legitimate or illegitimate. Based on this, you can take further disciplinary actions. Asking for documentation should be mentioned in the no-call, no show policy. Its inclusion will give your policy some credibility.

Emergencies can be acknowledged. Even certain instances of no call, no show can be permitted. But telling lies regarding an emergency or giving false excuses are unacceptable and the employee should be subjected to disciplinary action in such a case. The employer must not tolerate any unprofessional behaviour from the employee.

In conclusion, for an employer, the success of the business is directly proportional to how well you manage the workforce. One bad employee can demoralize the entire bunch. So, getting to know your employees is the first step to identifying the best way to handle employees.

Establish an effective policy that defines employee absenteeism and defines clearly, precisely and properly the rules of absenteeism and the possible ramifications of illegitimate absenteeism. Make sure that all your employees have read through the policy in detail. Address their queries and doubts, if any, and ask your employees to sign the document as an agreement to the no-call, no show policy.

Getting to know your employees is the best way to boost cohesion and communication within the team, which can prevent such issues. Another best way to handle employee no call, no show is to hire the right people and to provide a great work environment.