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Absenteeism in the workforce, Klang Valley, Malaysia--preliminary report
S K Indran1, R K Gopal, A Omar
1Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health
|January 1, 1995
Summary
Private companies experienced higher sickness absenteeism, particularly in "lost time" percentages. Female employees and overtime work were also linked to increased sickness absence across all agency types.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health
- Public Health
- Health Services Management
Background:
- Sickness absenteeism presents a significant challenge for organizations, impacting productivity and healthcare costs.
- Understanding absenteeism patterns across different organizational structures is crucial for effective workforce management.
- Previous research has highlighted variations in employee health behaviors and outcomes based on employment sector.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate and compare the prevalence and severity of sickness absenteeism across government, semi-government, and private agencies.
- To identify factors associated with sickness absenteeism, including gender and overtime work.
- To establish a baseline for comparing organizational absenteeism rates with national data.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective data collection on medical leave for the year 1990.
- Utilized questionnaires distributed to government, semi-government, and private agencies.
- Calculated various indices of sickness absenteeism from the collected data.
Main Results:
- Private agencies exhibited higher scores across all absenteeism indices.
- A statistically significant increase was observed in the "lost time" percentage for private agencies.
- Female employees demonstrated significantly higher rates of sickness absenteeism in all agency types.
- Overtime work correlated with elevated absenteeism indices, most notably in private agencies.
Conclusions:
- Sickness absenteeism prevalence and severity differ across governmental, semi-governmental, and private sectors.
- Female employees and overtime work are significant factors associated with increased sickness absenteeism.
- Organizations should develop internal absenteeism metrics for benchmarking against national rates to improve workforce health strategies.