Sickness absence in private sector establishments in Singapore

A study was conducted in June 1995 to determine the current level of sickness absence in Singapore.

The questionnaire survey was part of a larger labour market survey conducted quarterly by the Ministry of Labour, and covered 3,553 private sector establishments employing 25 or more employees.

Overall, 14.4% of the 628,477 employees took sick leave, while the percentage of working days lost due to sick leave, excluding maternity leave, was 1.1%. An average of 3.2 days of medical leave were taken per person per year. Industry specific characteristics seemed to have more influence on sickness absence than establishment size, employee's sex and occupation (viz, professional versus clerical versus production staff), number of hours worked and overtime work. Over 60% of the establishments, particularly larger companies and those in manufacturing, implemented measures to control sickness absence, most commonly counselling, disciplinary procedures and attendance allowance or bonus. Over 13% monitored sickness absence using computerised records.

Comparing with overseas sickness absence (lost time) rates, the rates observed in this study do not appear high.