What Is Absenteeism? Definition, Causes, and Costs for Business

What Is Absenteeism?

Absenteeism refers to the habitual non-presence of an employee at their job. This extends beyond what is deemed to be within an acceptable realm of days away from the office for legitimate causes such as scheduled vacations, occasional illness, and family emergencies. Absenteeism may be the result of job dissatisfaction, ongoing personal issues, and chronic medical problems. Long-term absences can tarnish reputations, which may threaten long-term employability. Some absences are legally protected and cannot result in termination.

Understanding Absenteeism

Absenteeism refers to (a long) absence from work that extends beyond what would be considered reasonable and customary due to vacation, personal time, or occasional illness. Companies expect their employees to miss some work each year for legitimate reasons.

However, missing work becomes a problem for the company when the employee is repeatedly and/or unexpectedly absent, especially if they must be paid during their absence. Absenteeism is also a particular problem if an employee is missing in action during busy times of the year or when deadlines for major projects are approaching.

While disability leave, jury duty obligations, and the observance of religious holidays are all legally protected reasons for an employee to miss work, some workers abuse these laws and saddle their employers with unfair costs in the process.

Why Absenteeism Happens

Below, we've highlighted some detailed explanations of the top reasons absenteeism may occur:

• Burnout: Overworked employees with high-stake roles sometimes call in sick due to high stress and lack of appreciation for their contributions.
• Harassment: Employees who are habitually picked on—either by senior management personnel or fellow staffers—are apt to ditch work to escape the relentless unpleasantness.
• Childcare and Eldercare: Employees might have to miss extensive days of work if they are charged with watching loved ones when regularly hired caregivers or babysitters become sick and temporarily cannot fulfill their obligations.
• Mental Illness: Depression is one of the main causes of American absenteeism, according to statistics from the National Institute of Mental Health. This condition often leads individuals to abuse drugs and booze, which in turn causes further missed days of work.
• Disengagement: Employees who feel dispassionate about their jobs are likely to blow off work simply because they aren't motivated.
• Injuries or Illnesses: Illness, injuries, and doctor's appointments are the main reported reasons employees don't come to work. The number of absentee cases dramatically rises during flu season.

The Costs of Absenteeism

The direct cost of absenteeism is a decrease in business productivity, which then reduces revenues and profits. If an employee cannot work, they cannot contribute to their company's growth and success.

If the work of absent employees cannot be covered by others, then the reason why they were hired leaves a gap in the company's workforce. This creates more work for others who may have to pick up the slack, which can eventually succumb to burnout.

Other costs of absenteeism include:

• Poor quality work from overworked employees (covering for absent ones)
• An additional burden for managers having to deal with absent employees
• Low morale for employees filling in for absent employees
• Increased costs as a result of having to pay absent employees even when they're not working
• Increased administrative costs of dealing with absenteeism

Employers may also have to deal with higher costs associated with finding replacements for absent employees, including freelance workers. These individuals may receive higher wages or overtime pay, which can cost more than paying regular employees.

How to Reduce Absenteeism

Employers may discourage absenteeism by taking several proactive steps, such as rewarding good attendance, providing emotional support to employees, setting clear attendance expectations, and formalizing the organization's attendance policy in written documents. In many cases, all new employees must review and accept the terms when they sign their employment contracts.

Employers can also focus on health initiatives to discourage absenteeism. These can include working from home some days to help improve work-life balance, providing discounts on gym memberships, discounts on daycare for children, and introducing other physical and mental health benefits that employees can take advantage of.

Furthermore, most jobs come with a specific amount of personal or sick days that an individual can use. After that point, a variety of measures can be taken against an employee depending on the company and its policies. The majority of these measures would be disciplinary, resulting in the loss of employment.

Example of Absenteeism

Here's a hypothetical example to show how absenteeism works. Let's say John was hired to perform Task ABC. The jobs of three other people depend on John completing his task. If John is absent a few times every month, then his productivity is lower than if he was at work every day.

This not only causes his work to be delayed, but it also means that the work of those who depend on him is also delayed. This creates a chain reaction that slows the company's productivity. This decrease in productivity has a major impact on revenue and profits. It can also impact the motivation of the other employees.

The Bottom Line

Absenteeism is a common occurrence in the workplace. Caused by bad working environments, a lack of motivation, health-related issues, and personal problems among others, absenteeism can have a big impact on productivity, profitability, and employee morale. Companies can offer employees with work-life balance and other perks to curb or eliminate absenteeism.