Many businesses have policies and procedures in place for dealing with employee absence but those policies don’t always cover unauthorised absence and how to manage unauthorised absence.
What is unauthorised absence?
Unauthorised absence is when an employee fails to attend work without a valid reason or permission to be absent. It can also occur when an employee fails to follow the correct reporting procedures for absence and on occasion when an employee reports their absence and a reason is provided but the employer does not believe that the reason given is genuine. Unauthorised absence is often referred to as an employee being AWOL (absent without leave) and an employee doesn’t need to be absent for a full day for their absence to be classed as unauthorised. If an employee is late and doesn’t notify their employer then the time between their contracted start time and when they actually arrive for work can be classed as unauthorised. Similarly, at the end of the working day if an employee leaves work early without their employer’s permission this can also be considered unauthorised absence.
Why does unauthorised absence happen?
Unauthorised absence happens for lots of different reasons, most of the time it tends to come under the traditional category of someone throwing a sickie but there can be other reasons such as:
- Annual leave being requested and refused but the employee decides to take the day off anyway as they have already made arrangements
- Having no annual leave left but needing or wanting to take a day off so the employee fails to attend work
- Reluctance to attend work due to bullying, harassment or a disciplinary issue, in these cases employees often don’t attend work as they are worried about difficult situations and conversations
- An emergency situation occurs and the employee doesn’t have the time or capacity to follow the correct reporting procedure
What should I do if an employee is AWOL?
As an employer your first thought if an employee fails to attend work when they are expected should be for their safety and wellbeing. Employers have a duty of care to their employees under the Health & Safety Act 1974, and so you should take reasonable steps to check where the employee is and if they are safe. Typically it is the role of the employee’s line manager to try and make contact with the employee so that they can hold a conversation about the reasons why the employee isn’t at work. If you are unable to make contact with the employee then leave them a message or send them a text, explain why you are contacting them and give them a deadline by which to respond to you. It might also be reasonable to try and get in touch with an emergency contact or next of kin particularly if it is out of character for the employee to not turn up. Having conversations with these third parties needs to be handled sensitively and it is important to be calm, ask relevant questions and avoid causing any unnecessary panic. If no contact is made though by the deadline you have given then you should write to or email the employee and request that they get in touch with you to explain their absence, again it is important to set a deadline. Ideally, this will prompt a response and you can then meet with the employee to discuss the situation and decide on an appropriate course of action which might include putting in place relevant support mechanisms or potentially instigating a disciplinary process resulting in a sanction. If the employee though doesn’t get in touch and you have genuine concern for their welfare you may decide, if appropriate and practical, to go to the employee’s home address to check on them. When taking this step it is important that you don’t place yourself or colleagues at risk and therefore it is good practice for two employees to carry out the home visit. If you have serious concerns you may also wish to contact the police. Assuming that no contact is made then you should continue to follow your AWOL procedure. Depending on the length of an employee’s service you will need to send at least one more letter or email and you will need to inform the employee that if they fail to make contact then this may result in the termination of their employment. Again this may encourage the employee to make contact with you.
Are employees paid for unauthorised absence?
This will largely be determined by company specific rules and policies around acceptable reasons for absence and what is in an employee’s contract so it is important to check.
Should my business have an AWOL policy?
The simple answer is yes. By having an AWOL policy it is made clear to employees as to what counts as unauthorised absence and how it will be dealt with so that there is a consistent approach taken across the company. As with any policy it useful to train managers and staff on the policy.
As with any other employee relations matter, unauthorised absence will occur from time to time so make sure that you understand what steps to take and always maintain consideration for the safety and welfare of the employee concerned.
Do you have any questions about today’s blog, need help in becoming legally compliant with contracts/policies or can we support you in taking away any people pains to give you peace of mind?
If you answered yes to any of the above, just give us a call at CUBE HR on 01282 678321, or book in a FREE 30 Minute HR Health Check here FREE HR Health Check and we’ll happily give your business a full HR overview with our personal recommendations absolutely FREE!
Why not also check out last weeks blog Top 5 Employee Absenteeism Reasons and How You Can Avoid Them
We also have a YouTube channel with loads of handy videos outlining various HR related scenarios.
