Frequent absenteeism interview: a tool or a means of control?

I regularly hear it from managers when I ask them if I can join a frequent absenteeism discussion with an employee: 'I hesitate, because I don't know if this will turn out right for the employee'. As a Labor & Health Advisor , I look at this differently. Where does this doubt among managers come from, and what can you do as a manager to remove this doubt from the employee beforehand so that an open conversation is possible?

Recently I was in contact with a supervisor about an employee he was concerned about. The employee was not in absenteeism at the time, but had been absent with some regularity in the period before. I asked the supervisor if he had already started talking to the employee about this, to which the supervisor indicated that he was talking to employee regularly about how things were going. It turned out that there was a lot going on in the employee's home situation, about which they spoke to each other regularly. Very nice when a supervisor and employee have such a bond! I offered to have a joint conversation with the employee to see if there was anything that could be done in the context of prevention. To this the supervisor responded doubtfully. I asked where his doubt came from, to which he replied that he was afraid that a frequent absenteeism discussion, with a Labor & Health Advisor from De Arbodienst present, would backfire. He indicated that the employee is very private and that he absolutely does not want this conversation to come across as 'controlling' or 'reproachful' to the employee, and that this would affect their relationship. In fact, he was afraid of that.

I found that interesting. Managers more often share their concerns when it comes to frequent absenteeism calls, or "care calls," as I actually prefer to call them. Those concerns are not necessarily justified, because the purpose of such a conversation is absolutely not to control or reprimand an employee.

The concerns this supervisor had could already be addressed at the time of inviting the employee:

Since the employee was not in absenteeism , the supervisor had the opportunity to physically speak to the employee. This allowed him to explain the purpose of the conversation right away and address questions or uncertainty directly.

In doing so, the manager was able to clearly indicate to the employee why the conversation was being held and that the conversation would involve a joint effort to see if something could be deployed that would promote sustainable employability .

Finally, the manager could explain why the Labor & Health Advisor would join this conversation: the Labor & Health Advisor supports the employer and the employee in absenteeism and prevention, and is happy to think along with both parties in this. The advisors conduct the conversation from attention and interest, not as a means of control or coercion!

So if you want to have a frequent absenteeism discussion with an employee but are not sure how to go about it, please be sure to contact the Labor & Health Advisor, we are happy to think with you.

Amanda van de Vendel, Labor and Health Advisor