Countering abusive absenteeism.

When was the last time you called in sick for duty. Were you really sick? If not, did you ever stop to think about what your absence meant to your employer?

Abusive absenteeism--a costly and disruptive problem--plagues many American employers. Even more disturbing is the fact that at least 50 percent of all employee absenteeism is not caused by bona fide illness or other acceptable reasons.(1)

While abusive absenteeism impacts the efficiency of all organizations, in the field of law enforcement, it can lead to something much more costly than a loss of production: It can lead to a loss of life. This possibly exists because police managers must frequently ask officers from previous shifts to fill in for absent officers, increasing the chance of injury or death due to fatigue. Clearly, the reflexes of officers who must work double shifts cannot possibly be as sharp as those officers who work only one shift.

Despite the problems it causes for agencies, many police managers ignore excessive absenteeism because they believe that no solutions exist for the problem. They simply accept the fact that they will always have certain employees who consistently call in sick on Mondays or Fridays so they can have an extended weekend. This places additional burdens on the managers and officers who must cover for the missing employees. All too often, both managers and employees take the abuse of sick leave for granted.

However, potential remedies do exist for reducing excessive absenteeism. Law enforcement administrators should explore the various options and implement those strategies that meet their agencies' needs.

AN OVERVIEW

Experts estimate that absenteeism in the United States results in the loss of over 400 million workdays per year--an average of approximately 5.1 days per employee.(2) In fact, managers must often postpone projects or training assignments because of last-minute absenteeism.

Unfortunately, some employees adopt an attitude of using all the sick leave allotted to them because they believe that it is their "right" to do so.(3) They fail to realize that no law requires employers to provide paid sick leave, paid holidays, or paid vacations to employees. These are benefits provided by the employer to encourage employees to seek and retain employment with that particular agency.

Moreover, many employees give reasons other than illness for missing work. For example, employees inform supervisors that they are experiencing stressful personal situations; have "earned" sick days; wish to retaliate for a perceived injustice, a poor performance rating, or for being "called on the carpet"; or that they simply do not feel like going to work.(4)

Rather than simply accepting an absenteeism problem, managers can attempt to find solutions to the problem. Prior to taking any action, however, they must determine why the problem employee has developed poor habits. They can then discuss the situation with the employees and explain what further action will be taken.

CONFERRING WITH EMPLOYEES

To begin, police managers can explain to problem employees that the efficiency of the organization depends on all personnel reporting for work as scheduled. They should emphasize the fact that unscheduled absences cause safety hazards to the public and to the officers' colleagues, who must fill in when individuals call in sick. They should also explain that officers should conduct personal business during planned vacation days or compensating time off (CTO) days, rather than abusing their sick leave by using it when they are not ill.

To further discourage problem employees from using sick leave unnecessarily, managers should advise them that they plan to monitor their leave records and that continued abuse of sick leave could result in disciplinary action. In addition, in order to deter the use of sick leave to gain an extra day in combination with a holiday, managers can require a signed doctor's certificate to prove illness.(5)

Many times, simply speaking one-on-one with problem employees gains immediate positive results. However, organizations can also offer incentives designed to encourage employees not to use sick leave unnecessarily.

INCENTIVE PROGRAMS

Accrued Sick Leave

Some organizations allow employees to accrue sick leave to use in case of a long-term illness or disability.(6) Although organizations often place a cap on the number of hours that employees can accrue, some will pay employees at retirement for up to 1 year of unused sick leave. The drawback to this plan is that it can be quite expensive if the retiring employee has accrued a large number of sick leave days.

Bonuses

Studies have shown that relating pay closely to attendance increases attendance.(7) In fact, pay may impact employees' decisions about job attendance more than their decisions about how hard they will work.(8) Therefore, some agencies now reward employees monetarily when they do not use the number of sick days allotted to them.(9)

For example, the Huntington Park, California, Police Department provides 12 sick leave days each fiscal year to all employees. Employees can accrue a maximum of 704 hours of unused sick leave to use for long-term disability in the event of a serious injury or illness. At the end of each fiscal year, employees can bank one-half of their annual unused sick leave for that fiscal year and receive payment at their regular salary rate for the remaining half of the unused sick leave.

Employees of the department receive their checks for unused sick leave on the first pay period of December. Many consider this check a holiday bonus for not using their sick leave. At the same time, the department benefits from this policy because the amount paid out at the end of the year does not equal the overtime that was previously paid to officers who worked double shifts because of individuals who called in sick.

Since implementing this policy, the department has experienced an 80-percent decrease in the amount of sick leave used by department personnel. Huntington Park administrators based the sick leave policy on obtaining the best results for management while providing quickly earned benefits to employees. Employees know that they will be rewarded at the end of each year, as opposed to being rewarded at retirement.

CONCLUSION

Sick leave can be, and is, easily abused. However, rather than ignoring excessive absenteeism, police managers need to focus on solving the problem. Allowing employees to accrue sick leave and offering monetary incentives to those who use little sick leave are strategies that work. Reducing excessive absenteeism within police agencies results in safer, more efficient departments.

Endnotes

1 J.K. Chadwick-Jones, Nigel Nickolson, and Colin Brown, Social Psychology of Absenteeism (New York: Praeger, 1982).

2 R.M. Steers and S.R. Rhodes, "A New Look at Absenteeism," Personnel, November-December, 1980, 60-65.

3 Cliff Roberson, Preventing Employee Misconduct (Lexington, Kentucky: D.C. Heath & Co., 1986).

4 George Strauss and Leonard R. Sayles, Personnel--The Human Problems of Management (Newark, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1980).

5 Ibid.

6 Ibid.

7 Edward E. Lawler III and J.R. Hackman, "The Impact of Employee Participation in the Development of Pay Incentive Plans: A Field Experiment," Journal of Applied Psychology, 1969.

8 Edward E. Lawler, Pay and Organizational Effectiveness: A Psychological View (New York, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1971).

9 Prior to instituting such a policy, administrators should contact their legal advisors to determine the policy's propriety under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Model Leave Plan

Organization provides 12 paid sick leave days in each fiscal year. If employee uses 2 sick days during the fiscal year, 10 unused sick days remain. Of the 10 remaining days, 5 are placed into an accruable account, and the agency pays the employee, at straight time, for the remaining 5 days.

Lieutenant Gwaltney is a patrol watch commander with the Huntington Park, California, Police Department.