Absenteeism: causes and cures

Absenteeism can be categorized as either uncontrollable or controllable. Uncontrollable absences include family illness, accidents, jury duty and unexpected emergencies. A typical controllable absence may be dissatisfaction with the job. No matter which type, absenteeism is disruptive to the organization, reduces the quality of patient care and raises operating costs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has established a standard for comparing the rate of absenteesim with other departments or organizations. The rate is equal to the number of days absent times 100, divided by the number of days worked. Four percent or more is considered excessive. Absence policies are often not used for the purposes they were intended. Managers may want to take a critical look at their policies, rather than accept abuse as routine or over-hiring staff to make up for absent staff. If, in fact, it's time to change your policy, you'll want to run possible changes by a legal advisor. You may also want to take a look at your corporate culture. Is it encouraging absenteeism? One company that paid employees who didn't use their sick time had to eliminate this benefit for budgetary reason. Its average sick time then increased 60%. You may want to use your culture to spread corporate norms. Employees are expected to be at work: those who are there on the job are more likely to receive promotions, for example. Paid-leave banks have been introduced by many companies to allow broader time-off flexibility for employees. Such a bank includes holidays, sick and vacation time, grouped together for use by the employee. A final word: employees will rise or sink to the level of your expectations.