Faced with an array of HR challenges, it can be easy for businesses to focus on areas other than senior leadership when seeking the source of an issue.
Absentee leaders have been highlighted as a detriment to a workforce, with employees criticising this type of leadership more so than other forms of poor management.
This article focuses on the impact that absentee leadership can have on an organisation, and how companies should avoid it.

What is an Absentee Leader?
In short, an absentee leader is in the office in body but not in mind or spirit.

A recent Forbes article described absentee leadership as ‘emotional disengagement’ with their role and purpose.
While this ‘leader’ may be present, their lack of guidance or advice to staff as a mentor and management figure can make a lasting impact on their team and company.

While troublesome staff members are often guilty of disciplinary-worthy actions, absentee leaders can often become detrimental for an organisation on a long-term basis.

Whether it’s frequently cancelled meetings, multiple unanswered emails or little to no feedback, a leader who maintains an absent attitude to their role, their staff and their organisation can leave a lasting impact.

How can Absentee Leaders Impact their Staff?
Just as absentee leaders project a poor attitude, fellow staff can become demotivated towards their work or their role within an organisation. By not receiving appropriate feedback, staff may struggle to imagine a future within an organisation.

Not only can their own staff become impacted, but fellow senior leaders may be forced to pick up an absentee leader’s workload. Other managers who may also be causing trouble in more obvious ways will be focused upon, allowing absentee leaders to continue their poor management, leading to consequences for an organisations in the future.

What about Organisational Impact?
Poor management from an absentee leader may take some time to impact an organisation, but the consequences can be bad news for any company.

With demotivated staff comes an unproductive organisation. The Workforce View in Europe 2018 found that absentee leaders were one of the worst causes of unproductivity for organisations.

As staff become disenchanted with an organisation and how it is managed, many may consider or follow through leaving. Not only will this result in a loss of talent, but a company could face significant skill shortages.

An organisation’s performance will also inevitably suffer. While some managers face criticism for ‘micromanaging’, absentee leaders can lead to a toxic reduction in an organisation and its standing with its publics.

How can Absentee Leaders ruin your Organisation?
Hogan Assessments CEO Scott Gregory has shed light on the top five ways that an absentee leader can affect, or even ruin an organisation.
With a simple infographic, the consequences of failing to deal with absentee leaderships are plain to see.

​If an absentee leader fails to ensure staff are certain of their role and purpose, this will affect organisational productivity in the near future. By failing to provide feedback, absentee leaders can cause uncertainty for staff on their own performance, and their responsibilities within their own roles.

Other ways in which an organisation may be ruined by absentee leadership is increased employee dissatisfaction and staff turnover. A lack of feedback or understanding can lead to demotivation. In turn, staff will seek career fulfilment elsewhere, affecting an organisation’s ability to retain talent and superior performance over competitors.
Absentee leaders can cause further stress for staff. As job dissatisfaction rises, staff burnout can become inevitable, affecting staff health as they tackle increasing workloads as a result of frequent staff turnover. 

What should you do about it?
Absentee leaders are clearly toxic for any organisation and its staff. If their own leadership is not engaged and ready to serve their purpose, other staff will become demotivated and follow suit. As job dissatisfaction increases, staff turnover will follow, leading to skills shortages and performance reduction.

Organisations should protect their own reputation amongst both internal and external publics. If an absentee leader is identified, an organisation should strive to understand why they disengaged in the first place and work to motivate this person towards their role and purpose with an organisation.

By taking a top down approach to this HR issue, organisations can ensure their success continues, and that all staff are certain and motivated towards their roles.

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Last year I wrote a blog highlighting some of the key issues employers should be aware of when it comes to incapacity dismissal and noted that, in 2015, sickness absence cost employers in Ireland a massive €490 million.
 
A recent case in Ireland - wherein the Labour Court overturned a €17,000 award by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) to a former employee of Dunnes Stores who was dismissed after a period of absence of three years – has prompted the need for a fresh look at the complicated legislation surrounding absenteeism.
 
Here at the HR Department, we would like to unpack some of the reasons why the Labour Court overturned the WRC award in this case. Hopefully this will provide some valuable tips and ensure employers and employees know where they stand when it comes to absenteeism.

So, here are three of the most important points to be taken from the Court ruling:
 
1. Employers are not obliged to ‘officially’ find out if someone is unable to work.

The court in this case ruled that if an employee is not fit to perform the duties they have been hired to perform, this can give rise to dismissal. While this may seem evident, what was important to note was that the court also ruled that it was not the role of the employer to establish if the employee could or couldn’t work.
 
Instead, as was the case here, the employer can simply believe the worker when they say they are unable to work.  In other words, an employer is not required to send an employee to an independent medical assessment if they believe the reason for incapacity is genuine.

2. Employees who are ill should, where possible, give an indication of when they may be back to work - otherwise they may face dismissal.

Should an employee be unable to work, it is imperative they try to indicate to the employer when they may be able to return to work. It is an employee’s duty to say when they might be able to work again and if they fail to do so, employers may have grounds to dismiss them. In this case, the court argued that the worker, despite having plenty of opportunities to do so, had not made it clear when she would be able to return to work, thus justifying her dismissal.
 
Clearly an employer can’t be expected to keep a position vacant indefinitely. Therefore, employees need to be diligent when it comes to keeping an employer up to date with their ongoing situation regarding their absence. Equally, returning to work after a long period of absence can be a tough and daunting task. Employers should consider ways in which they can help employees who are returning to work in order to make the process as smooth as possible. The key to avoiding problems here is both clarity and open lines of communication between employer and employee.

Finally, it is also worth noting that, under the Employment Equality Act, employers are obliged to make reasonable accommodations for staff with disabilities, and employees on long-term absenteeism could fall into this category.

3. Employers shouldn’t include maternity leave as a period of absence.
 
In this case, Dunnes Stores included the claimant’s maternity leave in its calculation of her three year period of absence – something which was criticised by the court. The critical point here, therefore, is that maternity leave, even during a prolonged period of absence, should not be considered ‘absenteeism.’ Also, with regard to maternity leave, employees should remember to apply in writing to your employer for maternity leave and give your employee 4 weeks notice before you wish to return to work. Clearly this needs to be a two-way street – employees need to inform their employers of maternity leave, and, in turn, employers must be astute enough not to include this as a regular period of absence.   

Absenteeism is a complex issue that can have the potential to lead to costly litigation if it is not dealt with effectively. This case goes to show how an employee’s continued absence, without specifying when they may be back to work, has the potential to lead to dismissal. The important thing to remember is that the more in touch an employer is with their employee (and vice-versa) the less likelihood there is of complications when it comes to absenteeism. It is beneficial for both employees and employers to be well versed in this area, not only to avoid complications, but also to harness a company culture and workplace environment that is as smooth, efficient and understanding as possible.
 
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While it may already seem to have past, the last few days have definitely felt like Summer. With Met Eireann issuing weather warnings and beer gardens packing-up across the country, employers will be all too aware of the multiple employee issues Summer brings with it.

Below are five of the biggest issues employers face with some tips on how to deal with them.

#1. Maximum office temperatures
The HSA’s Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Regulations 2007 state, ‘during working hours, the temperature in rooms containing workstations is appropriate for human beings, having regard to the working methods being used and the physical demands placed on the employees’. While there is no specific maximum temperature, employers must evaluate what is considered ‘appropriate’, factoring elements such as the physicality of the work, whether particular uniforms must be work, etc.

#2. Unauthorised time off
I’ve written extensively about annual leave entitlements before. One big issue employers often report is when an employee decides to take their holiday, despite the fact that their request has been declined…or not authorised.
In such situations it is essential to remain calm and adhere to your company’s disciplinary guidelines. This means that the first step you should take is to conduct an impartial investigation to establish and understand the reasons for their absence.

More often than not it will be for a genuine reason. If, however, it is not then you may need to take disciplinary measures, which should be clearly stated in your staff handbook.

#3. Summer dress codes
With things heating up, the idea of wearing a three-piece suit can be the stuff of nightmares for a lot of employees. As such, many employers to adopt a more relaxed dress code during the summer months. However, employers need to be careful if they adopt a more relaxed attitude.

Depending on the role particular employees perform, they may not all be able to ‘dress down’ to the same extent. For example, those in customer facing roles may need to maintain a more professional image than those working in the company warehouse. Although any workers, where required, must continue to wear any protective wear associated with their role.

Employers must ensure that clear guidelines are still provided to staff, outlining what is deemed acceptable during the more relaxed months, for the department in which they work. This should be done objectively to avoid any feeling of discrimination from any element of the workforce.

#4. Competing summer holiday requests
As an employer, you are not obliged to agree to a worker’s request to take holiday at a particular time, unless the employment contract provides otherwise.

If competing requests for holiday are received from different workers, managers may prioritise requests, provided that they do this in a way which is fair and consistent. There are many different ways of doing this. For example, some businesses opt for operate a first-come, first-served system, while for others may opt for a seniority system.
Again, your staff handbook should include a holiday policy, which details the request procedure. This can help limit the likelihood of short notice on holiday requests, which often results in refusal and thus employee dissatisfaction.

#5. Keeping staff motivated
The summer months can be very disruptive for many businesses. The coming and going of staff, kids on holidays, clients on annual leave, not to mention the sunshine blasting through the window, can contribute to employees losing focus and productivity dropping.

Allocating responsibility to particular individuals and ensuring they recognise the important role they play in delivering your company’s product or service can help keep them on track. Additionally, promoting collaboration where employees have a sense of duty to one another can be very effective.

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