Case Study

1. Background

Company Delaney
Based in Dublin, Ireland
Client Major car-hire company, which has
outsourced its European booking operations
to Delaney
Number of staff 260 full-time and part-time
Staff profile Mostly European women in their mid- to
late- 20s. Many of them are fluent in English,
Spanish, Italian, French or German
Average length of service 3 years
Problems with absenteeism and high staff High costs of recruitment, selection and
turnover training
Newer staff have lower productivity levels
The competitiveness of the Irish call-centre
industry

2. Report on absenteeism

Conductor Delaney’s HR department

Subject Absenteeism in the company
Length of study 12 months
Average no. of days taken for absence/year 7
Common causes Headaches, migraine, colds, flu, back
problems, stress
Consequences Delays in answering calls
Extra work and stress on colleagues
Costs of finding replacement staff
Uncertainty in planning
Long-term consequences Caller and client dissatisfaction
Task Find the reasons
Find ways to reduce absenteeism and deal
with it when it arises

3. Real possible reasons for absence

1. Personal problems (family/home responsibilities)
2. Lack of motivation: boring work, low salary, feeling undervalued for the job
3. Pressure of workload
 4. Pretending to be ill

4. Solutions
1. Regulation:

 Set a policy requiring employees to call in and notify the company of any absences. Ask
employees to speak to their supervisor, if possible, rather than leaving a message.
 Clarify what evidence you require for claims of illness, ensure this is covered in employment
contracts.
 Include illegitimate absenteeism as a disciplinary offence.
 Analyse any significant correlations: for example, high levels of absenteeism on Mondays or
among a particular group of employees.
 Meet with employees on their return to work: make sure they are fully recovered, bring
them up to date and, if necessary, clarify the reason for the absence.

2. Improvement in environment:
 Check whether you can implement any changes to working practices or working
environment to reduce further illness, for example, ergonomic seating or longer breaks.
 Create a climate of open communication and trust so that employees approach supervisors
with problems rather than just calling in sick.
 Treat employees with genuine reasons sympathetically; respect the legal rights of employees
suffering from long-term illness or disability.
 Consider drawing up family-friendly policies to allow employees to legitimately take personal
time when they need it. Offering extra holidays or rewards for exceptional attendance
records can help to motivate and engage employees
 Check that you are providing healthy working conditions: ensure that you have good
lighting, ventilation and safe working practices, providing an employee health scheme or
offering training in healthy lifestyles and stress management.

5. Tips to welcome employees back

Be W.A.R.M.
W. welcome - welcome them back; tell them they were missed.
A. absence - discuss the absence; are they fit to return? For example, if it’s part of a pattern,
the manager may benefit from inquiring about issues that the employee may have which are
contributing to the absenteeism. This may prompt consideration of a disability vis-à-vis the
equality legislation or even invoking of the disciplinary procedure.
R. responsibility - explain that being absent means they have a problem; talk about how they
are going to solve it. One might also explore the effect of the absence on work colleagues (e.g.
what arrangements were in place during the absence, changes at work that may have
transpired during the absence).
M. move on - focus on getting back to work; update on developments in their absence (e.g.
new priorities), end on an upbeat note.