Life happens. It’s normal for an employee to miss a day of work here or there. An employee (or their kids) could get sick. The car might break down, or a winter storm may make the road unpassable. Despite an employee’s best intentions sometimes life just gets in the way. But when an occasional day of missed work turns into a regular occurrence, employers start to pay the cost of employee absenteeism.
What is Absenteeism?
Absenteeism is a pattern of missed work and unplanned absences beyond what employers consider acceptable. Absenteeism is described as absences due to issues like illness, transportation, or family caregiving. Seventy-three percent of employees have caregiving responsibilities, which means a lack of access to care can have a significant impact on work attendance.
To be clear, absenteeism doesn’t include missed days for legitimate reasons, such as a family emergency, occasional illness, or a planned vacation. Missed work is considered absenteeism when an employee demonstrates a pattern of multiple missed days, typically with no advance notice to the employer.
An employee with frequent absences may be seen as unreliable, and might lead to an employer considering disciplinary action, up to and including firing the worker. However, it’s important to know that some absences from work are excused or legally protected absences, such as:
- The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
- Jury duty
- Disability leave
- Military service
- Observance of religious holidays
These types of employee absences cannot be used as grounds for termination.
It may be best to part ways with employees with frequent unexcused absences who don’t seem engaged at work. But for employees with health or family care issues it would benefit employers to look for ways to better support them on the job. This can help reduce employee absenteeism and also boost retention efforts.
Causes of Absenteeism
Absenteeism doesn’t mean employees are just taking a day off à la Ferris Bueller. There are several causes of absenteeism. Some of the biggest reasons behind missed work days include:
- Child care and elder care needs. If a loved one is sick, or regular care falls through, an employee may need to miss work to care for them if they don’t have access to Backup Care. This type of absence tends to have a higher impact on working mothers, who are frequently the parent that stays home to take care of a sick child or other loved one.
- Illness. Physical illnesses, such as the flu or COVID-19, may require employees to stay home and self-isolate. Mental health issues are also contributing to employee absences, as the pandemic has prompted a 25% increase in anxiety and depression.
- Stress and burnout. Pre-2020, many employees were already feeling stressed out and overworked. And then COVID-19 hit, making the problem even worse, with almost half of all employees reporting they feel at least somewhat burned out.
- Job dissatisfaction. If an employee doesn’t feel happy or fulfilled at their job, or feels picked on or bullied by coworkers, they can become disengaged—leading to missed work days. Approximately 16% of employees say they aren’t satisfied with their current job.
While all of these factors can lead to employee absenteeism, it’s no secret that issues with access to child care and elder care is one of the leading causes. Finding affordable child care remains a challenge for many working families, and the pandemic only made it worse. And when that care falls through, absenteeism rises. Employers who incorporate care into their benefits package can better support employees and decrease absenteeism. Care benefits can also boost retention numbers. Eighty-three percent of women and 81% of men with children aged five or under said that child care benefits are either very or somewhat important when it comes to deciding to stay with a company or switch jobs. That’s roughly four out of every five employees with young children who are saying they want care benefits.
As a result of lack of access to care, 45% of mothers with children five or under left the workforce during COVID-19, and an additional 24% said they considered reducing their hours or only working part time. In addition, 70% of working caregivers report suffering work-related issues due to the need to provide care, with 7% saying they received a warning about their work performance and/or attendance.
The Effects of Absenteeism in the Workplace
The cost of absenteeism can be measured in terms of both lost revenue and lost productivity. The most recently available statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (which predates the pandemic) found that productivity losses due to absenteeism cost U.S. employers $225.8 billion every year in the U.S. That works out to $1,685 per employee. Absentee rates and costs have no doubt only risen given the challenges posted by COVID-19, especially when employers are required to still pay absent employees.
Of those productivity losses, almost a quarter can be attributed to issues with child care. It’s estimated that child care issues cost the U.S. $57 billion annually in lost earnings, productivity, and revenue. That’s a number that’s hard to ignore.
Frequent absence from work has ripple effects across the organization, such as:
- Reduce productivity and missed deadlines.
- Burnout and additional stress for employees asked to cover for an absent employee.
- Additional financial costs, such as overtime pay, if another employee needs to work an absent employee’s shift.
While harder to measure, employee morale can also take a hit among those who are asked to pick up the slack for frequently absent coworkers.
How to Reduce Absenteeism in the Workplace
One way to improve employee attendance is for employers to establish guidelines and resources to help prevent and solve for absenteeism in their workforce, including:
- Create an absenteeism policy. Establish a policy that clearly outlines excused and legally acceptable absences from work, along with repercussions for employees with frequent unexcused absences. Keep this policy in an accessible place and review it with employees and managers on a regular basis.
- Train your managers. People managers are on the “front lines” of your workforce. With the tools to identify and mitigate absenteeism, they have a better chance of helping employees who may be struggling with family care, job stress, or other mental health concerns.
- Offer care benefits. As one of the primary causes of unplanned absences, supporting employees’ loved ones with regular and unplanned care needs can significantly reduce absences and increase productivity. Consider offering access to a marketplace to find child or family care, backup care, and other care services. According to a customer survey by Care, employers who offer Care.com benefits believe employee productivity has increased by 34% as a result.
- Establish flexible guidelines. While flexibility may sound counterproductive to reducing absenteeism, it’s important to create a culture that gives employees the ability to manage their responsibilities in and outside of work. In our 2022 Future of Benefits Report, 86% of HR leaders surveyed reported increasing flexibility in when and where they worked for employees caring for children or aging loved ones. Flexibility varies for every company but can include remote work options, flexible hours, a compressed work week, and unlimited PTO.
By creating and enforcing absenteeism policies, and treating caregiving employees with compassion and understanding, employers can not only reduce absenteeism, but potentially also boost retention.
