Wednesday focus: The workplace

On any given day, about 1,500 J.C. Penney Co. employees are on a leave of absence from one of the company’s 11,000 stores across the country.

About 1,200 workers a day will be out on disability.

It’s a problem lamented in human resources offices across the nation as lost days of work can add up to big money. And in recessionary times when profits are slim, it’s a cost that most managers would prefer to eliminate.

The nation’s 300 largest employers estimate that unscheduled absenteeism costs their businesses, on average, more than $760,000 a year in direct payroll costs – and even more when lower productivity, lost revenue and the effects of poor morale are considered, according to a 2007 survey by the research firm CCH Inc.

In an effort to improve its numbers, Plano, Texas-based Penney implemented a program two months ago that is staffed with workers who gave up their daily customer service responsibilities to work solely on reducing absenteeism.

If you’re sick and can’t work for more than three days, you call the company’s PowerLine. The PowerLine team, based in Salt Lake City, determines the type of benefit, if any, you receive – workers’ compensation, short-term disability or a leave of absence.

The team notifies the store where you work, along with the appropriate insurance carrier, and sends you any necessary forms to complete.

The PowerLine employee follows up with absent workers, repeatedly checking on their condition until they return to work.

“I’ve found that when someone goes out on disability, that person undergoes a significant event in their life, and if no one checks on them to see how they’re doing, they could stay out longer than necessary,” said Jim Cuva, Penney’s benefit manager. “It’s letting them know we care.”

Only a third of all absences are related to an illness, said Susan Frear, director of education for the Dallas office of the Society for Human Resource Management.

“The rest of the absences are related to having to be someplace else or they just don’t feel like coming in,” Frear said. “So a lot has to do with the culture of the place.”

Dallas Morning News