Things Business Owners Need To Know About Job Abandonment

Let’s examine why job abandonment is increasing and what you can do about it as a company owner. Because, if you have employees, you absolutely will be dealing with this issue.

What causes job abandonment

  • Overworked. Your employee told you they were getting too many hours, had too much work, with insufficient help, and were burned out.

 

  • Unhappy with their job. For whatever reason, they don’t like their job. Bad management, poor workplace culture, frustrations with coworkers, insufficient pay, no incentive or job advancement opportunity, terrible shift schedules, or boredom. They simply don’t want to be there anymore.

 

  • Underperformance. Employees who aren’t motivated, underperform, or do the bare minimum may sometimes lack the motivation to even show up for work.

 

  • COVID (and other illnesses). Between sickness and quarantine, or even fears over health and safety, an employee may stop coming to work. They may not understand how sick and medical leave policies work, their rights, or what they need to do to let employers know they are sick.

 

  • Find something better. A tight labour force means a fiercely competitive market. The employee may have found something better and didn’t want to deal with telling you or going through the exit confrontation or process. It was easier just to take the new job and walk away from the old.

 

  • Ignorance and communication differences. Not every worker has a lot of experience in the labour market, mainly if they are younger and don’t know about giving notice or calling in sick.

 

Some inform you of their absence instead of asking you. It might be after the fact. Employees might not be great at communicating with managers. Expectations of older generations are assumed, while younger generations might not realise they ought to call or inform employers of their intentions.

How to deal with (and prevent) job abandonment

When an employee doesn’t tell you they have no plans to return to work, that’s job abandonment. But hold on — be sure you have legitimate job abandonment on your hands.

 

Do they fit your job abandonment definition in the employee handbook? Are you trying to communicate every way you can, and you hear nothing from them? Have they cleaned out their desk or work area?

 

Yeah, that’s a pretty good sign they’ve abandoned their job. So, as an employer, how do you deal with the reality that job abandonment will happen to you at some point?

 

  • For starters, always be sourcing.

 

You’re never done hiring employees. You are never fully staffed. You can never stop and take a breather from finding the next great worker. Always keep an eye out for people or places to find people who would be great employees. Don’t be afraid to contact and hire someone, even if you think you have enough staff to get by.

 

  • Set up abandonment policies and procedures

 

The first step to successfully dealing with absent employees is to create a policy. This includes defining job abandonment and what employees can expect if that occurs.

What to consider in your job abandonment policy?

Define what it is. Your employees need to know how you define job abandonment, so let them know how many days absent without communication is considered abandonment. How many times will you attempt to contact the employee before it’s considered abandonment? What is the employee’s responsibility when they need time off, wake up sick, or have an emergency?

  • Communication avenues. What communication forms are valid (email, text, phone call, friend, written note). Fallback options for employees who don’t have smartphones or might claim to have lost their phones should be part of the plan. Should they contact you until they’ve heard back that their message has been received?

 

  • Documenting communication. The documentation of communication attempts will be necessary in case there are dissenting opinions (employer or employee) if the claim of job abandonment meets any pushback. You might require medical verification forms, a doctor’s note, or anything else that would legitimise the employee’s claim that they did not abandon their job but could not communicate.

 

  • Differentiate between abandonment and being fired. Make it clear to employees that they were not fired if they abandoned their job. This matters in case they apply for unemployment. If an employee has left their job according to your policy, you’ll want to inform them with an appropriate employee termination letter. Again, however, you have to make it clear you didn’t fire them, but they simply abandoned their job per the policy.

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