Although accurately assessing employee absenteeism may appear simple in theory, many businesses fail to do so. There is more than one single type of absenteeism, so our first step is to define what information should be included in the absenteeism rate.
Since this is an important part of organisational success, it makes business sense to focus on employee absenteeism rates in the workplace. In this article, we will take a look at the most common forms of absenteeism and the best ways you can measure those in your organization.
What is employee absenteeism?
When an employee does not attend a workday – even if this was scheduled or unscheduled – this is classed as an absence from the workplace. Besides other forms of time away from work (such as booked holidays or asking for days off in advance), unscheduled absenteeism is usually unplanned and can occur due to illness, personal emergencies, or caring for a family member.
In the U.S., the law classifies absences as ‘excused’, ‘unexcused’, or ‘no-fault’. Excused absences are usually known to the company and are planned in advance, while the unexcused ones are not.
The importance of measuring employee absenteeism
Tracking employee absenteeism can help your business both directly and indirectly. It gives you the bare information about which employees frequently miss work. Pointing out the absenteeism rate can help you uncover key issues within your business that you’re not necessarily aware of.
For example, if many employees frequently miss work, this could point out an issue with health and safety that could affect employee wellbeing. In this case, you need to have more data on this problem to ensure that your company culture looks after staff mental health. Some common causes of employee absenteeism that are related to employee mental health are:
The lost time calculation allows you to see an employee’s lost time due to absence as a percentage of the total time spent at work.
For example, Sheril is supposed to be at work 162.6 hours a month based on 7.5 hours of working days. She was absent for three days in a row, which leads to 22.5 lost work hours.
The percentage of lost hours is calculated like this:
Total absence (hours or days) for the period: 22.5 x 100
Possible (total) hours or days in period 162.5
2250:162.5=13,84%
Individual Absenteeism Rate
If you want to calculate an employee’s individual absenteeism rate per day, you can also choose the following method:
Divide the employee’s total unexcused absences in the specified time frame by the total workdays in the specified time frame and multiply the result by 100. If Tim has four unexcused absences in a month, the formula would be (4/20) x 100 = 20%.
Divide the team’s total unexcused absences in the specified time frame by the total number of employees multiplied by the total workdays in the specified time frame and multiply the result by 100. If your 30-person team had 20 unexcused absences in a month, the formula would be (20 / (30 x 20)) x 100 = 5%.
Many companies will benefit from decreasing their absenteeism rates in the workplace. Some ways to achieve this goal are:
Last but not least, employers shouldn’t ignore that the greatest step to decreasing absenteeism is taking care of employees’ mental health.
This can be achieved by offering mental health support alternatives, such as ongoing employee therapy. SupportRoom is a digital therapy provider specialising in workplace mental health committed to improving mental health at work. Besides, it helps leaders identify mental health trends in the workplace with data-driven insights. This way, you can implement changes and mental health initiatives knowing exactly what’s going on behind the scenes.
You can find out more information about SupportRoom here.
Do you want to find out how we can bring mental support to your organisation? Book a call here, and let’s get to know each other.