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Daylight and absenteeism--evidence from Norway
1The Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research, Norway.
Economics and Human Biology
|February 18, 2014
Summary
More daylight hours reduce worker sick leave, with longer days decreasing absenteeism and increasing return-to-work rates. Weather also impacts sick leave, with snow increasing absences and warm weather reducing them.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health
- Environmental Health
- Labor Economics
Background:
- Sick-leave absenteeism represents a significant cost to businesses and society.
- Understanding factors influencing absenteeism, such as environmental conditions, is crucial for workforce management.
- Previous research has explored various determinants of sick leave, but the specific impact of daylight hours requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the relationship between daily hours of daylight and worker sick-leave absenteeism.
- To investigate the influence of weather conditions on both the incidence and recovery rates of sick leave.
- To provide empirical evidence for optimizing workplace policies related to employee well-being and productivity.
Main Methods:
- Utilized administrative register data from Norway, encompassing a large worker population.
- Employed statistical models to analyze the correlation between daily daylight hours and sick-leave entry and recovery rates.
- Controlled for potential confounding factors to isolate the effect of daylight and weather.
Main Results:
- An additional hour of daylight was associated with a 0.5% increase in the daily sick-leave entry rate and a 0.8% increase in the recovery rate.
- A significant negative overall relationship was observed between absenteeism and daylight hours.
- Heavy snowfall was linked to increased winter absences, while warm summer weather reduced the likelihood of returning to work.
Conclusions:
- Daylight hours exhibit a complex, predominantly negative association with worker absenteeism.
- Weather conditions, including snowfall and temperature, significantly modulate sick-leave patterns.
- Findings suggest that environmental factors play a notable role in workforce health and attendance, warranting consideration in occupational health strategies.
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