Uni

t-
4LabourAbsent
eei
sm
Labourabsent eeism r
eferstothedel
iberat
eorunintenti
onalactofemploy eesnotshowingup
forworkorbei ngabsentf r
om workwi t
houtanyvali
doraut hori
zedreason.Iti
saper si
stent
i
ssuef acedbyor ganizat
ionsacrossvari
oussectorsandcanhav esi
gnif
icantconsequenceson
producti
vity,
financi
alhealth,
andoverallworkenvi
ronment.Herei sadetai
leddescri
pti
onoft he
meaning, nature,
causes,consequences,andmeasur estoreducelabourabsenteei
sm:

Meani
ng:

Absent eei
sm ref
erstothehabi
tualnon-
presenceofanempl oyeeatt hei
rjob.Habitualnon-
presenceextendsbeyondwhati
sdeemedt obewi thi
nanacceptablereal
m ofday sawayfrom
theof fi
ceforlegi
ti
matecausessuchasschedul edvacat
ions,occasi
onalil
lness,andfamily
emer genci
es.

Labourabsenteeism refer
stot heunscheduledandunaut horizedabsenceofempl oyeesfr
om
work.Itcanoccurduet ovari
ousreasonssuchasi l
lness,personalissues,l
ackofmot i
vat
ion,
di
ssati
sfacti
on,low jobengagement ,ori
rresponsi
bil
it
y.Regardlessoft herootcause,awor ker
whoexhi bi
tsal ong-t
erm patt
ernofbei ngabsentmayt arnishtheirreputat
ion,whichmay
consequentl
ythreatent hei
rlong-t
erm empl oyabi
l
ity
;howev er,somef ormsofabsencef r
om
workarelegal
lypr ot
ectedandcannotbegr oundsforterminat
ion.

I
nIndi
atheprobl
em ofabsent
eei
sm i
sgreat
erthanothercoun­tri
es.Whentheemploy
eetakes
t
imeoff,onaschedul edworki
ngdaywi thpermissi
on,itisauthor
isedabsence.Whenhe
r
emainsabsentwi
thoutper
missi
onorinf
orming,
iti
swi l
ful
absencewit
houtl
eave.

Intheseday swhent heneedsoft hecount ryrequi

regreateremphasisuponi ncreaseof
product
ivi
tyandtheeconomicandrat
ionalut
il
isat
ionofti
meandmat er
ial
satourdisposal,i
tis
necessar
yt ominimiseabsent
eei
sm tot hemaximum possibleextent
.Absent
eei
sm ishi gher
amongwomenwor kersandamongwor k­erswhol i
veawayfrom t
heplaceofwork.

Defi
nit
ionofabsenteei
sm asgi
veninIndi
anFact
ori
esAct,1948,“
Absenceisthefai
lur
eofan
employeetoreportf
orworkondutywhenheisschedul
edtoworkonhi sdut
y.Anemployeeis
tobeconsideredasschedul
edt
owor kwhentheemployerhasworkavail
abl
e”forhi
m andthe
employeei
sawar eofit
.

Nat
ure:

Thenat ur
eofl abourabsent eei
sm canv aryf
rom occasionalandshort-
ter
m absencest ochroni
c
andlong-term absenteeism.Itcanbecl assi
fiedintol
egi
timateabsenteei
sm (suchassickleave
orfamilyemer genci
es)andnon- legi
ti
mateabsent eei
sm (
suchasunaut hori
zedl eav
eor
unwarrantedabsencewi thoutvalidr
easons).Itcanbesporadicorbecomear ecurr
enti
ssue
amongcer t
ainempl oyeesorwi thinspeci
fi
cdepar tment
s.

Ther
ear
esomepecul
i
arf
eat
uresofabsent
eei
sm amongt
hel
abourf
orcesuchas:
-
(a)Ther ateofabsent
eeism i
sthelowestonpayday ;itincr
easesconsiderabl
yont heday s
foll
owingt hepaymentofwagest obonus.Thel evelofabsent eei
sm iscompar at
ivel
yhi gh
i
mmedi at
elyaft
erpayday;whenworker
seit
herfeelslikehav i
ngagoodt i
meori nsomeot her
casesr et
ur nhometot hei
rvil
l
agetomakepur chasesf orthef amil
yort omeett hem. The
i
ncidenceofabsenteei
sm,bothbeforeandafteraHol iday,hasalsobeenf oundtobehi gher
thanthatonnormaldays.

(b)Thepercentofabsent
eeism i
sgener
all
yhigherint
henightshi
ftst
hanint
hedayshif
ts.Thi
s
i
ssobecausewor kersinthenightshi
ftexperi
encegreat
erdiscomfor
ttouneasi
nessinthe
courseoft
heirworkthentheydoduri
ngdayti
me.

(c)Thepercentageofabsent eei
sm ismuchhi gherincoalandmi ni
ngi ndust
ri
esthani n
organi
zedindustr
ies.Thi
shi ghper­centageofabsent eeism isduetot heengagementof
l
abourersi
nthefields,
marri
agesorfest
ivals,whichtoget
herareesti
matedtoaccountforabout
75percentofthecasesofwith­drawals,drunkenness,r
elaxati
onorsi
ckness.

(
d)Absent
eei
sm i
nIndiai
sseasonali
nchar
act
er.I
tisthehighestdur
ingMarch-Apr
il
-May
,when
l
andhastobeprepar
edformonsoonsowingandalsointhehar v
estseason(Sept
.-
Oct.
)when
t
herat
egoesashighas40percent.

Causes:

1.PersonalFactors:Employeesmaybeabsentduet opersonalr
easonsl
i
kei
l
lness,f
ami
l
y
i
ssues,chi
ldcar
er esponsi
bil
i
ties,
ort
ranspor
tat
ionpr
obl
ems.

2.Workpl
aceFactor
s:Dissati
sfacti
onwithworkenvi
ronment,l
ackofengagement
,poorworking
condi
ti
ons,inadequater ewards or recogni
ti
on,inadequatetrai
ning,or l
ack of career
devel
opmentopportuni
ti
escanl eadtoabsent
eeism.

3.JobDissat
isf
act
ion:Empl
oyeeswhoar
eunhappywi
tht
hei
rjobsorhav
elowj
obsat
isf
act
ion
aremoreli
kel
ytobeabsent.

4.Organi
zati
onalCul
tur
e:Absenteei
sm canoccurduetoanegat
iveor
gani
zati
onalcul
tur
e,hi
gh
str
esslev
els,poormanagementpract
ices,
lackoft
rust
,orat
oxi
cworkenvi
ronment.

5.Low Moral
e and Motiv
ati
on:Employees who f
eelunder
val
ued,unappr
eci
ated,orl
ack
moti
vat
ionmayexhi
bithi
gherr
atesofabsent
eei
sm.

Consequences:

1.ReducedProducti
vi
ty:Absenteei
sm l
eadstoadecreasei
nover
allpr
oducti
vi
tyandef
fi
ciency
asworkislef
tincompleteorneedstoberedi
str
ibut
edamongot
heremployees.

2.Incr
easedCosts:Absent
eeism canresul
tini
ncr
easedcost
sduetoovert
imepaymentsto
covertheabsentemployee'
swor kl
oad,hir
ingt
emporar
yrepl
acement
s,orlossofbusi
ness
opport
unit
ies.
3.Decreased Employee Mor
ale:Fr
equentabsenteei
sm can lead t
o a demot i
vated work
envi
ronment,
decreasedmoral
eamongot herempl
oyees,andasenseofunf
airnessifabsences
arenotpr
operl
ymanaged.

4.DisruptedWor
kflow:Absenteei
sm candi
sruptwor
kfl
ow,
creat
edel
ays,
andaf
fectt
hesmoot
h
functi
oningofpr
ojectsandprocesses.

5.CustomerDissati
sfact
ion:Whenabsentempl
oyeesareresponsi
bleforcust
omerser
vice,
absent
eei
sm canleadtoadeclinei
ncust
omersat
isf
act
ionandlossofbusi
ness.

Measur
est
oReduceLabourAbsent
eei
sm:

1.PromoteaPosit
iveWorkEnv
ironment
:Nurtur
eaposi
ti
veandsuppor
ti
vewor
kcul
tur
ethat
enhancesempl
oyeemoral
eandj
obsatisf
act
ion.

2.Fl
exi
bleWor
kArrangements:
Prov
idef
lexi
bleworkschedules,
telecommutingopt
ions,
orpar
t-
ti
meworkarr
angementstoaccommodat
eempl oyees'
personalresponsi
bil
i
ties.

3.Employ
eeEngagement:Fost
eremployeeengagementthr
oughregul
arf
eedback,r
ecogni
ti
on
progr
ams,ski
l
ldev
elopmentoppor
tuni
ti
es,andcareergr
owthpat
hs.

4.Healt
handWel l
nessPrograms:Impl
ementemploy
eewell
nessprogr
ams,i
ncl
udi
nghealth
check-
ups,counsel
ingser
vices,andstr
essmanagementi
nit
iat
ivest
oaddr
essheal
th-
rel
ated
absent
eeism.

5. Clear
ly Communicat
ed Policies: Est
abli
sh and clear
ly communicate pol
ici
es and
consequencesr
egar
dingabsent
eeism,incl
udingdocument
ingandrepor
ti
ngprocedur
es.

6.Devel
op Support
ive Superv
isor
s:Trai
n super
visor
st o effect
ivel
ymanage absent
eei
sm,
addr
essemployeeconcerns,
andcreat
easupporti
vewor kenvi
ronment.

7.Work-
Lif
eBalance:Encouragework-
li
febal
ancet
hroughpai
dti
meof
f,f
ami
l
y-f
ri
endl
ypol
i
cies,
andsupportf
orpersonalandfamil
yneeds.

8.Rewar
dsandI
ncenti
ves:Implementr
ewardsandr
ecogni
ti
onpr
ogr
amsf
orat
tendanceand
punct
ual
i
tyt
omoti
vateandincenti
vi
zeempl
oyees.

9.EmployeeAssi
stanceProgr
ams:Prov
ideemployeeassist
anceprograms(
EAPs)t
oof
fer
counsel
i
ngandsupportf
oraddr
essi
ngpersonal
andwork-
rel
atedi
ssues.

10.Retur
n-t
o-Work Progr
ams:I mpl
ementst r
uct
ured r
etur
n-t
o-wor
k pr
ogr
ams t
o suppor
t
empl
oyeesret
urni
ngfrom i
ll
ness,
inj
ury
,orper
sonalr
easons.

Byimplement
ingthesemeasures,or
ganizat
ionscaneff
ectiv
elyreducelabourabsent
eei
sm,
enhanceempl
oyeewell
-bei
ng,
andimproveoveral
lpr
oduct
ivi
tyandperfor
mance.