How Can HR Tackle Unapproved Leave Without Ignoring Employee Concerns?

Dear seniors, I am working as an HR professional and have been facing a serious issue with unapproved leave in our company. According to the leave policy, to avail of leave, an employee must provide two days' prior intimation. However, the approval of leave is subject to clearance from their HOD. In most cases, employees do not come to the office; they communicate with their HOD stating that they are unable to come today, citing reasons such as family problems, illness, etc. When I ask employees about such unapproved leave, they say, "You only want us to come every day and fulfill the company's requirements; you don't see the employee's problem." Given this, unapproved leave also affects daily business operations; therefore, their HOD always asks me to stop such unapproved leave and take action against the employee. Please suggest your valuable opinion on how to deal with this situation.

Thanks & Regards, Akhil Garg

Addressing Unapproved Leave Issues

It's a serious service matter that you need to address and resolve amicably as an HR professional. First, enlighten everyone in your unit or plant about the Leave Policy, whether they are staff or workers, and ensure they are well informed and convinced. Since your policy requires prior information and sanction before availing of leaves, try to motivate your departmental heads to prepare a leave plan for specific groups of employees and then approve it.

Now, you need to prepare Leave/Absence data for each group. Identify defaulters and habitual offenders, and first warn them by issuing 2-3 notices. Before this, you must understand their actual needs and problems. Implement good employee engagement practices with your colleagues and peers. Try to remove guilt and create a healthy work culture and atmosphere.

Best of luck.

Regards,
Akhil

Steps to Implement Leave Policy Effectively

Rightly said by Mr. Raj Dubey.

Step 1: Circulate the Leave Policy

Circulate the leave policy among all employees with an appeal for cooperation.

Step 2: Engage with Department Heads

Have meetings with the respective department heads and appeal for their cooperation. Explain all terms and conditions of the policy and ask them to communicate the same to their team members. The ultimate goal of the meeting should be to gain their confidence, as no policy can be successfully implemented without cooperation from the department heads.

Step 3: Monitor and Report Attendance

Observe for the next 15 days from the day of the meetings before taking any action. Send the attendance report daily to the heads, highlighting latecomings, unapproved leaves, and approved leave information. Prepare a collective report of 6 days every Monday for the previous week and send it to the department heads, showing total numbers of latecomings, leaves, absences, etc. This report will make all respective heads more concerned about their department's attendance, with the understanding that their department is being monitored. If after 15 days you don't see any improvement, start sending the collective attendance report to them with a cc to the management. Instead of 15 days, you may extend this buffer to 30 days. After that buffer, you may start taking actions as per policy, though that may not be necessary, I believe.

Recognize and Reward Discipline

On the other hand, start appreciating those departments that are more disciplined and consider rewards for the most disciplined department every month. The reward may be anything like circulating an appreciation email, a certificate from the chairman, a memento, or a one-day party for the department, as per your management's decision. You can even do the same for the most disciplined employee as well.

Understand Employee Challenges

Lastly, as you are in HR, you also need to understand the real problems of the employees while maintaining discipline in the company. Act as outlined above, as in very rare cases, employees face unavoidable circumstances that lead them to take sudden leave. Act wisely and politely with employees.

Hope this will help you. For any further clarity on this, please write back to me.

This is in addition to what Mr. Sujan Roy has said. Unplanned leave disrupts the regular work of the department. Due to the absence of a few others, some might be working extra, leading to demotivation and a subsequent cascade effect.

The primary issue behind this behavior is a lack of motivation. Their actions clearly indicate a mental disengagement with the company. Therefore, it is essential to identify the causes of demotivation or disengagement. Without pinpointing the root cause of their behavior, such problems will persist.

Possible Reasons for Employee Demotivation

The possible reasons for their behavior could include:

a) Lack of career awareness among the employees

b) Lack of a strong company brand image, or if present, it holds no significance for the employees

c) Employees believe that their leave requests will not be approved, leaving them no choice but to be absent

d) Remuneration below market standards

e) HODs not serving as role models or motivators due to poor managerial skills

f) The overall company environment lacks motivation, with employees merely going through the motions, regardless of company growth.

Such issues are more prevalent at lower levels within the organization. The lower the level, the more severe the problem. To motivate lower-level staff, showcasing examples of individuals who started at a similar level but achieved significant career growth can instill career aspirations in others. If despite these efforts, there are still a few who remain resistant, disciplinary action may be necessary.

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar