Is an Injury or Illness Actually Work Related?
Over $250 billion is spent each year in the U.S. on employee absence costs. It affects an organization on every level, from their overall rate of productivity, to the employer’s bottom line. Learn how it’s affecting your business–and a simple way to manage it from here on out (it’s easier than you think!)
What Is Employee Absence Costing Me?
Employee absence refers to an employee’s absence from work due to personal illness or injury.
However, in many cases, an employee’s absence can turn into a prolonged leave, and this affects everyone — from shift workers, to managers.
Employees may need to go on leave for weeks (or months!) because of a surgery, anxiety/depression, maternity/paternity leave or substance abuse.
No matter what the reason may be for their leave, the ways in which it affects a company are significant.
Here are some of the most common ways an organization experiences the impact of absenteeism:
- Lost productivity. Just one employee on leave can create a powerful domino effect to the entire company. You may experience a disruption within your daily process and productivity. Without a employee absence management plan in place, everything from special projects to critical tasks change how much you can produce, and ultimately affect your bottom line.
- Low morale. Low morale leads to stress, which leads to less motivation to produce, which can lead to going on leave for an extended time. Isn’t that all the more reason to invest in your employees from the start so your bottom line isn’t affected?
- Human resource costs. Human resources may suffer the most from employee absence. When an employee goes on leave, they have to use time, energy and resources to recruit and train a replacement.
Looking For An Easier Way to Manage Employee Absence?
When your employees are out of work for three or more days due to a personal injury or illness, Axiom’s Occupational Health Employee Absence Management Services offer around the clock care to ensure a safe and quick return to work.
Our nurses act as a guide for the injured or ill employee throughout the entire recovery journey. This includes keeping the employer updated of his/her return status.
Besides evaluating an employee’s current disability and establishing appropriate treatment plans, Axiom also manages all the necessary documentation such as FMLA forms.
Other Employee Absence Management Services include:
Return to Work. Our team of registered nurses will determine when your employees are safe to return to work with a Fit For Duty Exam (FFD). The FFD enables them to return to the job safely while maximizing productivity.
Medication Reviews. Appropriate medication management is instrumental in the safety and productivity of an employee when they return to their job.
Axiom’s registered nurses will gauge the safety of your employees by reviewing a medication’s effectiveness, dosage and potential side effects that could impact their ability to safely perform their working duties.
Functional Capacity Exams. Axiom offers Functional Capacity Exams (FCE), which can be used to correctly determine if the employee is capable of doing the work activities of their job.
Choose between a modified (most common) FCE or a full FCE. The Functional Capacity Exam assesses every employee’s job function based on specific testing tailored for that role.
Give us a call at (281) 465-7100 to find out how big of an impact absence management could have on your bottom line.
It’s just one of the many ways we’re transforming occupational medicine.
Holly is an ER nurse by trade, but loves content marketing. She was born outside the box and believes everything is better with “sprinkles and sparkles”. She is passionate about impacting lives and uses marketing as her platform for sharing practical solutions to address real life occupational health challenges.
Find out more about our Injury Case Management services or our Occupational Health Programs.