4 Questions to Include In Your Employee Call Off Process

When an employee is absent, you need to know what kind of absence and when the employee will return to the office. When you have that information, you can cover their shift and make sure work continues as planned. But that’s not all. You also need to track used time off against accruals and determine if an employees’ absence requires follow-up action, such as a disability leave or workers compensation claim.

According to the CDC Foundation, productivity losses linked to absenteeism cost roughly $1,685 per employee per year. To maintain productivity, it’s essential to keep detailed time and attendance records and stay on top of employee absences.

4 Questions to Include in your Employee Call Off Process:

1. What is the reason for the absence?

2. What type of absence is it?

3. What is the expected duration of the absence?

4. Are there other details that are important for the call off process?

What is the reason for the absence?

On the surface, it may seem that the absence type is the same as asking about the reason for an absence, for example, if an employee is calling in sick. However, if the sickness is due to a work accident or injury, or if an employee has COVID-19 symptoms, you need to know.

The Americans with Disabilities Act limits the questions employers can ask employees who are absent due to illness, but it does permit disability-related questions if they are related to an employee’s job.

Here are some possible absence reasons employees could select when replying to this question:

• Pre-planned time off

• Personal emergency

• Work-related illness or accident

• COVID-19 symptoms

• Other disability

What type of absence is it?

Employee absences can fall into many categories, and each has different implications for how you plan for a replacement. For example, you need to know whether employees are using accrued vacation time or if they’re sick and might be out for an unknown number of days.

To make it easier for employees to reply, it’s a good idea to establish standardized answers employees can select from a dropdown or other list. Possible absence types include the following:

• Vacation time

• Personal day

• Family medical leave

• Sick time

• Other unplanned absence

What is the expected duration of the absence?

When employees request time off for a vacation, it’s easy to know when they will return to work. Buf for unexpected absences, the return-to-work date is sometimes less clear. By asking employees when they expect to return to work, you can put together a tentative plan for making sure you have ample shift coverage during their absence.

To track employee absences as accurately as possible, it’s advisable to make sure you give employees the ability to record their absence duration down to the hour to accurately track as much information as possible.

Hour durations That way, whether employees will be out the whole day or just a few hours, they can respond to this question. You can allow employees to enter the number of hours or work days they will be absent, or you can provide an option to enter a day and time of the expected return-to-work date. For employees who are unsure of their return, you can allow them to select an “undetermined” or similar response.

Are there any other details that are important for the call off process?

Sometimes there is additional information about an absence that employees want to convey, but it doesn’t fit well into the other absence questions.

For example, employees may have physician-ordered work restrictions after returning to work, such as limits to how much weight they can lift after surgery. In such cases, it makes sense to give employees the option of providing additional information.