Your complex Spreadsheet vs Activ Absence Control...

Here at Activ Absence Control we quite often hear the line of "my MD says that our spreadsheet does the job and doesn't cost the company anything...".

I'm sure you think that secretly we agree right? Most definitely WRONG!

Let us explain why...

Spreadsheets are perceived free to use, but what about the cost of the Microsoft licence and time of the person who is manually entering all that data? 

Here's a real life scenario we've recently come across...

One of our prospective clients was running two sites with 300 employees between both sites. Each site had one person who was tasked with calculating and inputting the annual leave requests and sickness history. 

When we first spoke to the HR Manager, they informed us that they felt the Financial Director "wouldn't pay for something like Activ Absence Control as it's too expensive...".

We asked the HR manager to work out on average how many hours per week the two HR Advisor's were spending on the spreadsheets and their hourly rate. We then gave them a break down of the potential savings on using Activ Absence Control...

5 hours per week of manual input x £16 (cost per hour) = £80 Per Week x 4 weeks x 12 months = £3840 x 2 (employees)

Cost of Spreadsheets = £7680 (excludes Spreadsheet license) 

The total annual cost for 300 employees for Activ Absence Control = £3600 

Therefore we were able to guarantee this company a saving of over £4000...

....need we say more, decision made?  

Do you have a staff sickness absence problem?

Recent reports have shown that staff sickness is costing UK companies £29 billion per year*. On average, UK workers miss 9.1 days of work due to sickness.

Many managers acknowledge that staff take sick days, but don’t have any real idea of how often, what the sickness was or if there are any trends appearing in the employees absence e.g. Monday mornings & Friday afternoons.

In our experience, lots of organisations keep track of their staff sickness either on a paper based form or a complex spread sheet, meaning only one person can access this at a time and important data may not be taken into account. Ideally when an employee is off sick data such as absence type, data, number of days needs to be record, so that any trends can be identified.

The constant active monitoring of staff sickness levels in the business can be a challenge for many managers as they feel this would be complex and potentially sensitive to all parties involved.

Our aim is to work with companies to demonstrate just how simple and easy it can be to effectively monitor all types of staff absence, complete a return to work process and monitor any absence trends.

We can help you see instantly when reporting an employees unplanned absence of any previous sick days they may have had and quickly identify trends that may be occurring!

A popular HR tool that is now widely used in HR is the Bradford Factor.

The Bradford Factor is a measure that combines the absence frequency and duration measure to identify an employee’s irregularity of attendance. It is a way of illustrating how frequent short-term absences may cause more disruption to an organisation than occasional long-terms absences: the higher the ‘score’, the worse the disruption. It is calculated using the following formula:

S x S x D = Bradford Factor

S is the number of spells of absence of an individual over a given period; and

D is the total number of days of absence of the individual over the same period

In a 30 minute no obligation online demonstration, we can show you all of these features and much more. 

Call us today on 0845 543 5066, email sales@activabsence.co.uk or click on the “live chat” option.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Do you know how much staff absence is costing your business?

According to the Workplace Savings and Benefits website today, employee sick days cost companies £29billion per year.

“Sickness absence is costing UK businesses almost £29billion a year, as workers take more than four times as many days off work due to sickness than their global counterparts, research has revealed.

On average, UK workers miss 9.1 days of work due to sickness, nearly double the amount that workers in the US take at 4.9 days of sickness per year, four times more than their counterparts in Asia Pacific (2.2 days) and still higher than Western Europe (7.3 days), according to findings from PwC.

Sickness accounts for around 90% of UK companies’ absence bill, which also covers compassionate leave and industrial action.”

Click here to read the full published article

Activ Absence Control can help you calculate the cost of absence within your business! 

Absence management is a key business driver, more now than ever. Effective absence management has the potential to save money and create efficiencies. Unauthorised staff absences is now recognised as a wide scale problem that affects more than just payroll.

Click the calculator below to find our how much absence could be costing your business…

Study reveals the most bizarre excuses employees use for taking a sick day…

A recent study completed by Beneden Health, a leading provider of healthcare and well-being services in the
UK has revealed that six in ten bosses don’t believe their employees’ excuses when they call in sick.

Some of the more bizarre excuses bosses heard from employees calling in sick included:

• Days off to tend for a sick dog
• 
  
• Dropping a can of beans on their big toe
• 
  
• Mourning the death of their hamster
• 
  
• The dog ate their shoes 

The study of 1,000 bosses and 1,000 employees found certain excuses stand up better than others –vomiting bugs, viruses and abdominal pains are more likely to be believed.

Gill Landon, HR & Development Director at Benenden Health said: “In a tough economy, managing sickness absence becomes vital for businesses, but employers are clearly suspicious about days taken off for illness – perhaps not surprising given the varied excuses presented for absence. This is not helped by the fact that for more than a fifth of the sick days taken, workers admitted they could have actually made it into work”.

“High levels of sickness absence can have a huge negative impact on businesses – both from a financial perspective and on the effect it has on staff who bear the extra workload. This is naturally causing employers to be more alert to spotting staff who are not genuinely ill, using methods such as checking their social media profiles to catch them out if they are lying or rigorously questioning the reasons they give for their absence.

“However, employers should also show caution – we can see from the findings that being stressed or overworked can result in increased numbers of sick days being taken. Employers need to play their part by ensuring that the wellbeing of staff is dealt with through an effective health and wellbeing policy in the workplace.”

Gill Landon added: “Clearly sickness absence in the workplace, whether through genuine illness or otherwise, does have a significant impact on businesses and so it is important for employers to have a robust procedure for managing absence.

“If an organisation has an effective approach to employee health and wellbeing, this can result in healthier workers who are more productive and who will have lower levels of sickness absence. By adopting a caring approach to their employees’ health and having a proper scheme in place, employers can proactively assist in reducing sickness absence in their workplace.”

25 OF THE MOST BIZARRE EXCUSES FOR SICK DAYS TOLD TO BOSSES

1. A can of baked beans landed on my big toe
2. I was swimming too fast and smacked my head on the poolside
3. I’ve been bitten by an insect
4. My car handbrake broke and it rolled down the hill into a lamppost
5. My dog has had a big fright and I don’t want to leave him
6. My hamster has died
7. I’ve injured myself during sex
8. I slipped on a coin
9. I’ve had a sleepless night
10. My mum has died (this was the second time the person used this excuse)
11. I am hallucinating
12. I am stuck in my house because the door’s broken
13. My new girlfriend bit me in a delicate place
14. I burned my hand on the toaster
15. The dog ate my shoes
16. My fish is sick
17. I swallowed white spirit
18. My toe is trapped in the bath tap
19. I’m in A&E as I got a clothes peg stuck on my tongue
20. I drank too much and fell asleep on someone’s floor – I don’t know where I am
21. My trousers split on the way to work
22. I’m using a new contact lens solution and my eyes are watering
23. I have a blocked nose
24. I’ve had a hair dye disaster
25. I’ve got a sore finger

Full news story published on the 25th April 2013 by Beneden Health

Are you in control of your staff sickness absence? Do you have a clear view on historical sickness?

Contact us today on 0845 643 5066 and we will be delighted to take you through a no obligation online demonstration. We will demonstrate to you how Activ Absence Control can help monitor, track and record all forms of absence within your organisation.