{"id":3517,"date":"2023-02-08T23:03:17","date_gmt":"2023-02-08T23:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/business\/?p=3517"},"modified":"2023-02-08T23:03:17","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T23:03:17","slug":"absenteeism-in-the-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.care.com\/business\/absenteeism-in-the-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"Absenteeism in the Workplace: What It Is and How to Reduce Unplanned Absences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Life happens. It\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Absenteeism?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Absenteeism is a pattern of missed work and unplanned absences beyond what employers consider acceptable. Absenteeism<\/a> is described as absences due to issues like illness, transportation, or family caregiving. Seventy-three percent of employees<\/a> have caregiving responsibilities, which means a lack of access to care can have a significant impact on work attendance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be clear, absenteeism doesn\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s important to know that some absences from work are excused or legally protected absences<\/a>, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n