Are Traditional Methods of Employee Attendance Monitoring Still Useful?

What Could Be Improved?

The latest information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that hundreds of thousands of employees miss work daily due to illness, injury or appointments. To get a little more specific though, just a little over a year ago, in January 2022, nearly 4.2 million workers called off. That’s a big hit to productivity and the ability to meet customer delivery deadlines.

If we rewind the clock back to the ‘80’s, many companies used a standard call off method where employees were required to call their manager directly and ask permission to stay home if they were sick. If the manager approved it, then the employee was typically responsible for finding a coworker to cover their shift. A two step process that set the stage for resentment from the employee’s perspective.

As time went on though, labor laws became more employee-centric and compliance became highly regulated. However, absentee management processes did evolve a bit and larger employers started to allow employees to use email, SMS text and voicemail to report their absences — all of which are known for being an impractical solution for organizing data accurately, not to mention open the door for call off abuse. Here’s the bigger issue though and that is the fact that most call off messages weren’t delivered to the individual they were intended for. Here at Employee Hotlines, we know that this type of reporting is still common place.

Obviously, businesses should establish employee call-off protocols that support their absentee management procedures. The need for a simplified system is big in many industries, especially in trucking, manufacturing and food processing where a large employee population is required to get the work done and minimize any type of work stoppage.

Employee Call-Off and Attendance Hotlines are the best way to report an absence, tardy or report an FMLA update.

In 2022, there are more and more HR Managers and Shift Supervisors who are searching for the answer to this question:

“Is there a better way for employees to report their absences with less stress, knowing that their message is delivered correctly to the individual it was intended for and is the company compliant in terms of accurate documentation?”

If you are asking the same question, we have the answer and that is to implement an employee call off hotline. It is unequivocally the best method to streamline your absentee management process, reduce work stoppage and ensure accuracy in labor reporting.

Our award-winning employee hotline call center services blend one dedicated phone number with a team of live virtual assistants working as your absentee call support line. This allows your employees to report their absences and receive a unique call confirmation code to ensure their call is accurately documented and sent to right supervisor or group.

This way, you can see your employee absences in a more transparent manner, gain insights faster, eliminate any roadblocks in your productivity and be able to make decisions in a more organized way.