A STUDY ON EMPLOYEE’S ABSENTEEISM IN AN

ORGANIZATION

Submitted to: Prof. Vibhor Kataria

Submitted by: Manisha Mittimani
20PGDM083
Course title: People Analytics
Contents
Abstract:...............................................................................................................................................2
Introduction:........................................................................................................................................2
Literature Review:..............................................................................................................................3
Cost of Absenteeism:.............................................................................................................................3
Research Objectives:.............................................................................................................................3
Methodology:........................................................................................................................................4
Data Collection and Analysis:.................................................................................................................4
Recommendations:................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion:............................................................................................................................................9
Abstract:
In today's competitive environment, companies are increasingly focusing on issues that
affect cost and productivity. The absenteeism at the workplace of employees is one of the
major issues hampering the progress of a company today. In mass production industries,
almost every production process is dependent upon other processes and an unexpected
absence of an employee in a particular department may cause problems to another
department or even to the entire plant. This paper on factory employees’ absenteeism in a
Food Manufacturing Company in Sri Lanka, tries to cover various habits of employees,
which are responsible for absenteeism. The objectives were to examine the causes of
absenteeism and to introduce appropriate management strategies to contain absenteeism. A
questionnaire was developed to explore the reasons for absenteeism. Data were collected by
author observations, personal interviews, questionnaires and secondary data sources and
100 factory employees were selected as a sample.

Introduction:
Absenteeism is a phrase that is commonly used to describe unplanned employee absences
from work. Many reasons for absence are real, such as personal sickness or family concerns,
but absenteeism may also be connected to other factors such as a bad work environment or
employees who are uninterested in their professions. If these absences become too frequent,
they can have a significant negative impact on a company's operations and, ultimately,
profitability.

It refers to a worker's absence from his or her usual duty when he or she is supposed to be
working. According to Webster's dictionary, "absenteeism" is "the practice or habit of being
absent from work," and "an absentee" is "someone who regularly misses work." Absenteeism
is defined as the total number of man shifts lost due to absence as a proportion of the total
number of man shifts scheduled to work, according to the Shimla Labor Bureau.
Literature Review:
Absenteeism is described as an employee's failure to show up for scheduled work. In the
workplace, absenteeism is a recurrent issue. Various studies have demonstrated that in any
plant, a small number of workers are responsible for a significant share of absenteeism
(Bhatia, 1980). Absenteeism is one of the elements that affects the most efficient use of
human resources. It's an industrial ailment that has an impact on productivity, profitability,
investments, and the employees themselves. Its effects are serious, because every day lost is
a resource that cannot be invested. As a result, a growing rate of absenteeism raises the cost
of output in a sector and stifles progress. Absenteeism has a wide range of economic and
social consequences that are difficult to quantify (Bhatia, 1984).

One of the most researched demographic determinants in absenteeism is age. The majority
of research show a link between age and absenteeism among employees in general. Because
of a stronger workplace commitment and a better person-organization fit that develops
through time, older workers will have a lower absence rate. 

Absenteeism in the workplace has a negative impact on the morale and discipline of the
entire workforce. It disrupts the manufacturing schedule and causes varied levels of
dislocation. The amount of time, energy, and money wasted is significant. When a worker
misses work once, whether for legitimate reasons or not, he develops a desire to miss work
more frequently, sometimes on flimsy grounds, and eventually becomes a chronic absentee.

The absentee loses his salary and his company suffers a loss of output as a result of his
absence. He impacts his family's economic standing by losing pay, and if he engages in
chronic absenteeism, he jeopardises his own and his family's level of life. As a result,
absenteeism is a severe problem that affects both industry and the people who engage in it
(Murthy, 1954).

In their study on the causes of employee turnover, William H. Price, Richard Kiekbusch, and
John Theis discussed the causes as well as the implementation. He also emphasised the need
of giving a difficult work and genuine promotion chances. Schedule input, insurance, and
family income are other variables that have a little influence. 

Cost of Absenteeism:
In discussing absenteeism and its impact on an organization, we identified the direct and indirect
costs due to absenteeism. It concluded that a huge amount of money was spent on unnecessary
work due to the absence at work. Sick leaves was found as the most common excuse to be away
from work because it would be paid.

Research Objectives:
The main objective of this study is to identify the factors which are affected by the employee’s
absenteeism. Further this study would propose management strategies to control the issues due to
absenteeism.

Methodology:
A literature study was used to identify employee characteristics and variables that influence
absenteeism. Based on the information gathered, a descriptive, prospective, and predictive
analysis was created to determine the factors that influence employee absenteeism in the
chosen organization. The following are a few of them:

1. Age
2. Gender
3. Location
4. Division
5. Job Title

Data Collection and Analysis:

The primary data has been collected by taking the companies database ie., the list of
employees working in the organization based on their age, gender, location, division and
their job titles. The following graphs will show you the results of absenteeism on different
parameters:

1. Age:

Analysis:
From the above graph, we see that the age group from 20 to 30 is more likely to be
absent in the work place. Young people who begin working are an important
demographic in terms of prolonging their careers, but research on changes in work
abilities among young workers is lacking. Long-term sick leave (SA) puts you at
danger of losing your job permanently. We looked at patterns in SA spells among
young female and male municipal employees during a 12-year period.

Also the results shows that tenure employees are most likely to bunk work too.
Long-term employee sickness may be costly in terms of both money and
productivity. Even once the person has healed, they may not be able to return to
work in full capacity right away.
2. Gender:

Gender Wise Absenti seem

35000

34000

33000

32000

31000

30000

29000

28000

27000
F M

Analysis:
The majority of studies relate the gender gap in absenteeism to the fact that women
are more likely to be primary caregivers for dependents, particularly small children.
Females with children had greater absence rates, according to Leigh (1983).

In most Western countries, female workers are more likely than male workers to
miss work due to sickness. Finally, we compute the cost of wages for women who
have menstruation. The 28-day cycle causes increased absenteeism, which accounts
for 11.8 percent of the wages gap between men and women.

3. Store based:
Analysis:
According to the data above it seems that Vancouver has the highest amount of
absent employees which results in less sales in that area. We need to build a strategy
which will reduce the absenteeism rate in this particular store. The Vancouver stores
can take following steps to reduce absenteeism:
 Consider working from home or on a flexible schedule.
 Establish a procedure for return-to-work interviews.
 Enhance employee and workplace happiness.
 Ensure that there is a sense of balance, incentives, and acknowledgment.
 Establish disciplinary processes and penalties.
  Make use of effective absence management software.

4. Division and Job titles:

It seems like the absenteeism percentage is most likely to be in bakery stores and also
by the above analysis we can see that meat cutters, shelf stockets, cashier, baker,
dairy person, product clerks are most likely to be irregular to work.
, as the primary level employees we need to make sure that they are aware of the
rules and they should be satisfied with their work we can improve it by taking the
following steps:
 Establish a clear attendance policy.
 Reward good attendance with a prize....
 Unauthorized absences must be addressed as once....
 Enhance employee satisfaction.
  Provide a variety of job possibilities.
 Encourage employee participation.
 Develop a culture of collaboration....
 Please give us feedback.

Recommendations:
The factors of high absenteeism were discovered to include type of employee, gender,
division, and amount of experience, as well as location and age. Furthermore, health issues
and other personal issues had a big role in the rise in absenteeism.

It is critical for the organization to develop a more shift-based working environment since it
reduces employee absenteeism considerably. Additionally, enhancing employee satisfaction
with welfare benefits and providing a pleasant working atmosphere can assist reduce
absenteeism. Increasing the percentage of outsourced employees, changing the criteria for
rehiring employees, reducing cleaning work during night shifts, counselling programs, and
better employee allocations are just a few of the actions that could be taken to encourage and
develop positive attitudes among employees.

Conclusion:
Absenteeism is an inherent threat that most businesses must deal with, and it must be
controlled. It is impossible to devise a foolproof technique for permanently eradicating this
issue. In most industries, absenteeism rates of five to ten percent are frequent. Employees
do, in reality, miss work due to a variety of reasons; after all, they are also human people.
The cause of feelings of boredom at work is a significant obstacle, and managers should take
appropriate steps such as sending staff on vacations, excursions, and so on.

Job rotation and multitasking tactics can also help to reduce feelings of lethargy or boredom.
The pay of the labourers in this research are also unappealing. Workforces should be well
compensated by management. So that they might be motivated to achieve particular goals.

Even while money is not the only element that influences workers' work behaviour, it may
undoubtedly improve their motivation to work to some amount.