Contents

• Part 1 - Policy
  • Introduction
  • Policy Statement
  • Underlying Principles
  • Mutual Responsibilities of Management and Employees
  • Relevant Legislation and Policies
  • Useful Reference Material
• Part 2 - Guidelines
  • Suggested Strategies to Support the Effective Management of Attendance at Work
  • Workplace culture
  • Occupational health and safety
  • Monitor and report attendance patterns
  • Consider organisational or climate surveys
  • Optimise employee health, safety and wellbeing
• Appendix
  • Occupational Stress
  • Alcohol and Other Drugs
  • Flexible Workplace Arrangements
  • Mature Workers
  • Managing Long-Term Injury and Illness
• PDF version

New South Wales Premier's Department

Cataloguing-in-Publication entry

New South Wales. Public Sector Management Office.

Managing and Supporting Attendance at Work: Policy Framework

Sydney: NSW Premier's Department.

ISBN: 0 7313 3021 8

1. Civil service - New South Wales - Personnel management
2. Personnel management - Government policy
3. Administrative agencies - New South Wales - Personnel management

1. Title.

658.300994

January 2000

Acknowledgment

This document is published by the NSW Public Sector
Management Office in consultation with representatives
from the Audit Office of New South Wales, public
sector agencies and unions.

For further information, contact the Public Sector
Management Office, telephone (02) 9228 5559 or
e-mail [email protected]

Premier's Department

This work is copyright. It may be used for the purpose
of developing organisational specific policies and
guidelines for managing and supporting attendance
at work provided proper credit is given to the
NSW Premier's Department.

Part 1 - Policy

Introduction

Australia is part of a world trend that has seen many organisations move from having a raft of separate policies and procedures dealing with the whole range of factors that may lessen people's attendance at work (eg accidents, illness and family/life needs) to recognising the inter-connectedness of these issues and actively managing and supporting attendance at work. It is now clear that the application of best practice attendance management techniques can assist both public and private sector organisations to improve service delivery and to gain real and lasting benefits in terms of economic savings and employee motivation.

The scope of a policy dealing with the management of attendance at work is necessarily broad. Its intention is twofold: firstly, to support individual employees to fulfil their work obligations to their employer; and secondly, to recognise their need to respond to issues that affect them as individuals. This includes responding in ways that may involve the need to be away from the workplace for a period of time.

This document provides public sector agencies with an overarching policy framework within which they can work to manage and support attendance levels. This policy is an integral part of the framework of NSW public sector human resource management policies that currently include Taking Safety Seriously, Flexible Work Practices and Mature Workforce.

To be effective, an attendance at work policy should be part of a strategic human resource management approach linked to and driven by the agency's corporate and business plan.

Policy Statement

The NSW Government recognises the value its employees add to the continuous improvement of service delivery to the wider community. It is the intention of the Government to generate and sustain workplace conditions and practices that support the ability of employees to fulfil their obligations to their employer and to optimise their contribution to the output of the agency in which they work.

The application of best practice management techniques will assist agencies to promote a culture of attendance at work, minimise costs and improve the quality of their services.

Underlying Principles

Policies developed by individual agencies to manage attendance should be based on the following principles:

• demonstrated management commitment to employee health, safety and welfare
• whole organisation ownership through consultation and employee involvement
• a fair go for all so that all employees at all levels in an agency are treated equitably
• mutual responsibilities of individual employees and managers that are clearly articulated and based on fairness, transparency and two-way communication
• flexibility for both management and employees through appropriate job design and work organisation
• a commitment to flexible workplace arrangements that are mutually beneficial
• a workplace culture that encourages realistic productivity and performance management outcomes
• effective communication strategies and work flow procedures
• adoption of a risk management approach to developing strategies for performance improvement through effective measuring and monitoring of employee attendance

Mutual Responsibilities of Management and Employees

The agency's Chief Executive has overall responsibility for the operation and monitoring of the agency's attendance policy and the principles underlying the attendance framework. Delegated responsibilities for managers in the implementation and on going monitoring of the policy should be clearly articulated. All staff must be informed and understand the purpose and content of the policy and its operation in the agency. The Chief Executive is also responsible for reviewing the policy and its operation on a regular basis with the relevant unions.

Individual employees also have a responsibility to cooperate with employers by ensuring that they understand the purpose and content of their agency's attendance policy and the principles underlying the attendance framework.

Agency specific strategies for managing attendance should be developed in consultation with relevant unions, incorporate the views of staff and apply to employees at all levels within the agency.

Relevant Legislation and Policies

• Public Sector Management Act 1988 and Regulation
• Anti-Discrimination Act 1977
• Occupational Health and Safety Act 1983
• Workplace Injury Management and Workers Compensation Act 1998
• Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998
• Disability Discrimination Act 1992
• Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act 1986
• Industrial Relations Act 1996
• Freedom of Information Act 1989
• Performance Management: Policy & Guidelines 1998
• Dealing with Employee Work-related Concerns and Grievances: Policy & Guidelines 1996
• Harassment Free Workplace: Policy & Guidelines 1996
• Strategies for Flexible Workplace Arrangements (to be released)
• Mature Workforce: Policy & Guidelines 1998
• Alcohol and Other Drugs: Policy & Guidelines 1998
• Taking Safety Seriously: Improving Workplace Safety Management in the NSW Public Sector: Policy & Guidelines 1999
• Personnel Handbook 1999

Useful Reference Material

Absenteeism: A Much-Neglected Opportunity, John Hennessy, Australian Industry Group, Melbourne, 1999

Best Practice in Absenteeism Management Survey, Australian Industry Group, Melbourne, 1999

Managing Attendance in the Public Sector: Putting Best Practice to Work, UK Cabinet Office, March 1999

Performance Audit Report: Management of Sickness Absence, New South Wales Public Sector, Audit Office of New South Wales, 1999

Working Well Together: Managing Attendance in the Public Sector, UK Cabinet Office, June 1998

Part 2 - Guidelines

Suggested Strategies to Support the Effective Management of Attendance at Work

To ensure this policy framework operates in a manner, which supports both managers and employees, the following strategies should be actively promoted:

Workplace culture

• promote a positive `blame free' workplace culture in response to sick leave and work related injury and illness
• managers and employees should agree that when they are sick they should not attend work until fully recovered from their illness

Occupational health and safety

• encourage employees who are suffering from a work-related injury or illness to report the injury or illness to their manager at the earliest opportunity
• support and assist employees who are absent from work and following their return to work

Early intervention in the treatment or rehabilitation of occupational injury or illness has been overwhelmingly demonstrated as a major means of ensuring an early recovery. This is of particular relevance to cumulative type work related illness and injury such as occupational stress, overuse injuries and some manual handling injuries.

Monitor and report attendance patterns

• recognise that some level of absence will occur in all agencies
• benchmark to measure these levels
• assess absence levels (and the reasons for the absences) from an organisation-wide perspective
• benchmark across work units and on a functional basis
• record core data so that performance and trends can confidently be compared over time, both within the agency and with other similar organisations within the public sector

The level of targets set for measuring absence should not be static but should be reviewed regularly in the light of changes within and external to the agency and revised accordingly.

Consider organisational or climate surveys

• implement climate surveys to provide a clear, quantitative picture of what's working well and what obstacles exist that affect the delivery of quality services
• identify areas that need attention
• gain broad agreement from all stakeholders about aspects that need attention
• translate the results into greater ownership by employees at every level and in consultation with relevant unions

Optimise employee health, safety and wellbeing

• recognise and promote changing patterns of work. This includes teleworking, permanent part-time work, gradual retirement arrangements and fair and equitable access to all leave entitlements, including Family and Community Service Leave

Optimising health and wellbeing is integral to effective risk management and provides agencies with benefits such as increased morale, improved job performance, lower absenteeism, reduced worker's compensation claims and better service delivery.

Appendix

Occupational Stress

Work-related injury and illness is a major issue in today's NSW public sector workplaces. Agencies are required to identify the causes of work related injury and illness affecting their employees, conduct a risk assessment of the workplace hazards, work practices or other identified causes of workplace injury and illness and develop and implement the appropriate prevention and control policies dealing with work-related injury and illness.

Incorporation of identified risk assessment outcomes will ensure that the agency's attendance policy will be a proactive means of assisting the successful and early return to work of employees who have been absent on sick leave or as a result of a work-related injury or illness.

Alcohol and Other Drugs

A key principle of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Policy and Guidelines is that employees who are attending counselling, treatment or rehabilitation will have access to sick leave or leave without pay. Organisations are responsible for reducing the effects on the workplace of the misuse or abuse of alcohol and other drugs and related costs, including absenteeism, accidents and low productivity.

Flexible Workplace Arrangements

Flexible work options for employees contribute to a positive, healthy and productive work environment. Benefits may include improved organisational climate, increased attendance levels and a more efficient use of staff.

The Flexible Workplace Arrangements Strategy encourages agencies to develop workplace cultures that support flexibility so that they are better placed to meet customer expectations while assisting employees to balance their work, life and family needs.

Mature Workers

Agencies are encouraged to develop and implement strategies to retain the skills and experience of mature-aged employees. A mature workforce program should be part of a strategic human resource management approach linked to and driven by the agency's corporate and business plan.

The Mature Workforce: Policy and Guidelines sets out a range of flexible workplace arrangements that provide mature workers with opportunities to gradually reduce hours prior to full retirement, to move into a less physically demanding field of work, to commence voluntary or community activities while still maintaining permanent employment, or to care for aged partners or relatives.

Managing Long-Term Injury and Illness

There is evidence to suggest that managers can have a positive effect on the recovery rate of employees who are unable to attend work over an extended period of time. It is also important that managers understand how the nature of the employee's illness affects their prospect of returning to work.

Two useful strategies that may assist the employee back into work are the demonstration of management commitment to care for employee health, safety and welfare and maintaining frequent contact with the employee. Further, some employees may be encouraged to take on light duties or part-time work to help them make a graduated return to full-time attendance. Sensitively handled back-to-work interviews are also a useful management tool to demonstrate that the employee is a valued staff member.