The Causes of Employee Absenteeism
As you know, employee absenteeism is defined as the prolonged absence from work. What’s interesting is that in our growing economy, it’s a huge problem that’s prevalent in large corporations.
And while many employers expect their employees to miss a certain number of workdays per year, the statistics show that excessive absences are increasing and lead to decreased productivity.
When all said and done, the cost of absenteeism takes its toll on company finances, productivity, morale as well as other factors. In this article, we will be discussing the most common causes of absenteeism, the costs associated with lost productivity, as well as the best strategies to reduce absenteeism.
Nowadays, people miss work for many reasons. Some of them are legitimate, and some, not so much. The most common causes of employee absenteeism include the following:
- Illness— Whether it’s a medical appointment, an illness or injury, these are some of the most common reasons for missing work. During the cold and flu season, there are reported spikes in absenteeism for both full-time and part-time employees.
- Burnout, stress and low morale— Work can definitely take its toll. Stressful meetings, toxic work environment and feelings of being unappreciated are also common reasons to avoid going into work. Personal stress can also lead to absenteeism.
- Partial shifts— Late arrivals, early release and longer breaks are all forms of absenteeism, which certainly affect productivity and workplace morale.
- Job hunting— Employees often call out sick, however the actual reason is that they are attending a job interview, meeting with recruiters or working on their resumes. Productivity aside, these forms of absenteeism often result in negative scenarios for the employer.
- Childcare and eldercare— Employees often miss work in order to stay home and take care of their children and elderly relatives.
- Injuries— Accidents can occur on the job and of course outside of work, which many times result in absences. Aside from acute injuries, chronic ones such as neck and back pain are often reported as some of the top reasons for employee absenteeism.
- Depression— Depression is a growing problem for many U.S. employees. Individually, it can lead to other health concerns that have a negative impact on attendance.
- Bullying and harassment— Bullied and harassed employees are more likely to call off to avoid toxic working relationships.
The Cost of Employee Absenteeism
According to a recent survey of over 94,000 employees across 14 major industries in the United States, those surveyed, 77% of them had chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and obesity. The impact here, in terms of cost, landed in just over $84 billion.
On a smaller scale, these costs vary from industry to industry. The greatest losses, however, tend to occur in occupations such as manufacturing, processing plants, warehousing and in general, organizations that have a large work-force.
As a result of absenteeism, the direct and indirect costs can be summed up to service delivery interruptions, production delays, reduced productivity, safety issues, all setting the stage for low morale.
Tracking Employee Absenteeism with Employee Hotlines
Our absentee management systems and employee reporting services here at Employee Hotlines come with dedicated telephone lines that are available for employees 24/7/365 to call and report their absence or updates, making it easy to streamline and document absences accurately.
Our professional call agents are experienced in gathering specific information and dispatching the messages to all the appropriate shift supervisors and departments for tracking and managing attendance data.
