It’s difficult for organizations to maintain the bottom line and keep things running when employees aren’t at work. According to a “Shiftwork Practices” study by Circadian, unscheduled absenteeism costs $3,600 a year for each hourly worker and $2,650 for each salaried employee.
To help control labor costs—as well as minimize compliance risk and reduce human error—many organizations are turning to solutions like Kronos Workforce Absence Manager. The Leave component, in particular, automates processes like requesting a leave of absence, checking eligibility, generating documentation, and sending notification reminders and follow-ups, making the whole process much more efficient.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the features of Workforce Absence Manager’s Leave component, as well as some things to keep in mind before and after implementing it.
Features of Workforce Absence Manager: Leave
One client-favorite feature of Workforce Absence Manager is its ability to instantly generate leave-related documents like a Certificate of the Healthcare Provider as well as Rights and Responsibilities forms. However, it’s good to keep in mind that while the system will generate the documents, but it doesn’t save them within the system—those documents will still need to be emailed or printed for your records.
The Workforce Absence Manager Leave component will also track both paid and unpaid time concurrently. And if an employee is not covered under The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Workforce Absence Manager gives you the information you need to have a discussion with that employee on their other leave options, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and company leave.
On top of that, the Leave component gives managers real-time alerts with the insights they need to act on leave of absence requests, including intermittent leave, in addition to plans for necessary coverage to minimize downtime.
What to Consider Before and After Implementation
Before: Create a Leave Policy
Before you start implementing Workforce Absence Manager, you need to consider your leave policy. While not the most fun of activities, creating a well-documented leave policy will offer clarity to your employees, protect your company from legal issues, and help lay the groundwork for configuring your Leave component in Kronos. (Plus, you can create your leave policy in something as simple as a Word document or spreadsheet.) Here are a few things to consider when developing your leave policy:
- Is the employee requesting their own leave?
- Who is responsible for tracking the leave?
- Who is responsible for approvals?
- What documents need to be generated in Kronos?
Outlining your policy before implementation will help speed up the process and reduce ongoing reconfigurations. An outline is also critical to ensuring that the system accurately aligns leave processes with the business needs of your organization. Think of it as the software version of the carpentry proverb “Measure twice, cut once.” In other words, “Outline twice, implement once.” Better to spy an issue with your leave policy and solve it ahead of time than to try and do so after implementing it.
After: Stay Up-to-Date on the Law
Speaking of implementing Workforce Absence Manager (as well as the Leave component), let’s imagine that employees are correctly submitting leave time and management is reaping the benefits of the new system. At this point, you probably think there’s nothing left to do, right? Not so fast…
If you’re in the manufacturing industry or a state with specific leave policies, you will need to stay up-to-date with local leave laws. Mismanagement of employee leave is a common cause of easily avoided legal challenges that can be prevented altogether by implementing proper policies and practices.
Best practice for heading these issues off at the pass is to designate someone who’s trained in the configuration of your Workforce Absence Manager system to regularly check for updates. In addition, it’s also good practice to audit your leave policy every two years, just to ensure you’re in compliance with relevant laws that may have changed in the interim.
These are just a few tips to help you before and after implementing Kronos Workforce Absence Manager Leave. Our senior-level Kronos consultants can provide more detailed planning and guide you from prep to post-implementation. Learn how we can help you make the most of your Kronos investment and mitigate compliance risk by contacting us today.
