E-mail absence?

KLeede

We don't have a formal policy about how employees should report that they will be out sick and it hasn't been a problem until recently.  Now a couple of times employees said they sent e-mails but the e-mails were never received.  We're considering requiring employees to talk to a manager or supervisor in addition to sending an e-mail.  Any other ideas?  Thanks!

efeldman

We have a system where an employee emails both the supervisor and HR in addition to calling his/her supervisor and leaving a message.

Once they return from their sick day, they are required to log it in our online attendance tracking system.

johnnyBravo

When someone claims they sent you an e-mail message that you never received, proving whether they ever "sent" it is nearly impossible. If you didn't receive the message, its a moot point.

A phone call should be required, so that at the very least the superivsor has a voice mail message--but the employee should make every effort to talk to someone in person. So, I agree that it's a good idea to have 2 contacts as efedlman wrote--if the superivsor isn't available at the time of the phone call, hopefully HR would be (or vice versa). 

TXHRGuy

[quote user="johnnyBravo"] When someone claims they sent you an e-mail message that you never received, proving whether they ever "sent" it is nearly impossible. If you didn't receive the message, its a moot point.

A phone call should be required, so that at the very least the superivsor has a voice mail message--but the employee should make every effort to talk to someone in person. So, I agree that it's a good idea to have 2 contacts as efedlman wrote--if the superivsor isn't available at the time of the phone call, hopefully HR would be (or vice versa). [/quote]

 

Ditto.

However, if you have a smallish business and you like the email program and would like to continue it, you may want to see if the person's personal email address or service provider is blocked by your system for any reason.  We require a phone call to the EE's supervisor or shift manager here.  The notification policy is embedded in our attendance policy and requires notification within an hour of shift start.  Unfortunately, we run into "my phone broke", "I don't have a phone", "my cell phone was out of minutes", and variations on those themes but we don't accept those as excuses.  What we don't ever run into is a difference of recollection as to whether or not a phone call was received, so the particular problem you are running into is avoided altogether.

Bridget1

My opinion - there is no substitute for requiring employees to call in and speak with their manager, in person. If the employee calls twice, leaves messages both times and has demonstrated that the supervisor cannot be reached, then it is OK to leave the message, rather than to speak to the supervisor. However, the voice message is pretty critical, I think. Keeps everyoen as honest as they can be and reduces the amount of he said- she said when trying to prove notification of absences.

talbottr

What online attendance tracking system do you use?  Is it part of your HRIS?  I work for a small company with a totally outdated and antiquated HR database and the company has gone out of business.  I hold my breath each time I use it for fear that it will die and there is no support.  Thanks for your response. 

TXHRGuy

Ceridian web HR/Payroll w/ time and attendance solution by Cybershift