More employees throwing creative sickies, employers need to monitor the cost of absenteeism

Almost three in 10 workers have "chucked a sickie" at least once this year, according to CareerBuilder’s annual survey on workplace absenteeism. More than a quarter of employers attribute the bogus sick days to increasing job stress and burnout.

Of the employers who checked up on an employee, 70 percent asked the employee to provide a doctor’s note upon return to work, half called the “sick” employee at home, and 18 percent had someone else make the phone call. Interestingly, 15 percent of bosses admitted that they actually drove by the employee’s house or apartment.

Chucking that sickie however could lead to further stress with sixteen percent of bosses advising that they have fired staff for missing a day on the job without a proven excuse.

Some of the more creative excuses that bosses have heard include; an employee’s mother was attacked by a chicken, a finger was stuck in a bowling ball, and a foot was caught in a garbage disposal.

CareerBuilder surveyed 3,100 workers and 2,400 employers for the purposes of the report. Read the full article in Chicago Breaking Business.

Last year in the UK alone, absenteeism cost the economy an estimated £13.2 billion. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) concluded that ‘a key element in managing absence effectively is accurate measurement and monitoring,’ as ‘monitoring absence allows the employer to identify trends and to explore underlying causes’.

Apparently, ‘in the latest CIPD absence survey fewer than half of employers monitor the cost of absence, just under half of organisations have set a target for reducing absence and just over one third of organisations benchmark themselves against other employers’.

The Mitrefinch Time Management System (TMS) is a proven tool for the recording, monitoring and reduction of absenteeism in the workplace. Amongst other tools at the user’s disposal is the Bradford Factor report. The ‘Bradford Factor’ is a widely-recognised Human Resources mechanism for measuring employee absence. In short, a computerised time and attendance system is a must-have for companies looking to minimise costs and crack down on absenteeism throughout the hard years ahead.

To find out more about how Mitrefinch can help reduce absenteeism in your organisation visit Mitrefinch Online, email sales@mitrefinch.com.au or call 1300 884831

Employee Absenteeism amounts to 3.9 million lost days

A report released by the Small Firms Association (SFA) in Ireland has found that small businesses lost 3.9 million days in 2009 due to employee absenteeism, costing them up to €563m (AU$800m).

Avine McNally, Acting Director of the SFA said the research showed some marked differences across sectors and regions, with employees in smaller firms less likely to miss work than their counterparts in larger enterprises.

The national average for absenteeism is 8 working days but this rises to 10 working days when considering companies with more than 50 employees. For small firms, the average actually falls to 2.6pc or 5 working days.

In monetary terms, based on average earnings of €143 per day (AU$203) absenteeism costs small businesses with sick pay schemes an estimated €563m ($AU800m) per annum.

However, this does not take other costs such as the requirement to replace absent staff with other workers or overtime payments into account. If the indirect costs such as the effect on productivity and quality, the increased work pressure on other colleagues and the administration time in managing absence were all considered, the actual overall cost could be closer to €900m (AU$1.3b), commented McNally.

According to the report, stress was cited as one of the primary reasons for absenteeism. Stress can not only lead to lost days, but also a less productive workforce, faulty decision-making, and ultimately the possibility of legal action being taken against the company for negligence or constructive dismissal, she added.

Similarly, a recent study by VicHealth and Melbourne University found that depression resulting from job stress costs the Australian economy an estimated $730 million every year.

McNally concluded that, “employers should be aware that there are a wide range of factors that can influence employees’ attendance patterns and levels. These include good communication, training and development, working conditions, job design, team working and the creation and fostering of a culture and organisational morale, which encourages and recognises excellent attendance."

"Promoting employee health and welfare, tackling the issues surrounding stress in the workplace and management training for handling absenteeism, should assist in reducing absenteeism.”

Read the full press release from the SFA here.

Jamie Fitzsimons, Marketing Manager for Mitrefinch Australia advises, "Organisations need to have an effective means of measuring staff absence in place, enabling them to assess the extent of the issue and decide the best means of tackling the problem.”

The Bradford Factor is a widely-used formula for measuring an employee’s irregularity of attendance and the effects of absenteeism on a company. The formula draws on the assumption that regular, short spells of absence can cause more disruption to a business and result in higher costs than fewer, but longer spells of absence.

Mitrefinch’s Employee Time Management System (TMS) is built around The Bradford Factor, allowing employers to profile their staff by absence tracking. It measures how the work absences of individual employees are impacting your business - by recording the number of absences and the duration of each incidence and providing a ‘score’ for each employee. With this information readily and quickly available, management can deal with problem areas before they do any more damage to the organisation’s bottom line.

For more information on the Bradford Factor and how Mitrefinch’s Employee Time Management System (TMS) can assist with effective Absence Management contact Mitrefinch Sales on 1300 884 831 or visit us online.