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ABSENTEEISM COSTS IRISH businesses about €1.5 billion a year, according to new findings published today.
Business group IBEC claims that 11 million days are lost each year because employees take unplanned time off.
However, it seems Irish people are getting better at turning up to work as the report shows a reduced rate of absenteeism since the economic downturn.
On average, employees miss almost six days of work per year, the study found. This absentee rate of 2.58 per cent is down substantially from the 3.38 per cent recorded in the last comprehensive survey in 2004.
Staff members working in firms that employ fewer than 50 people are less likely to miss work.
Minor illness is the main reason cited by both men and women for staying at home.
About 4 per cent of companies said alcohol and alcohol-related illness was the top cause of short term absence for male employees. This figure drops to just 1 per cent when talking about women.
The highest level of absence was recorded in call centres, while software companies had the best attendance record.
IBEC director of policy Brendan Butler said that absenteeism is a “serious social and economic issue”. More than a quarter of the companies questioned felt they could improve absentee rates.
The report, entitled ‘Employee Absenteeism – A Guide to Managing Absence’, was based on 2009 data provided by 635 companies operating in Ireland.
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Interestingly the rise in the phenomenon of presenteeism is just as damaging to companies. Presenteeism is when employees turn up for work when they really should stay at home. As a result they are less than productive and if they are ill spread their illness to others in the company.
I don’t know about any other business, but where I work we pick up the slack whenever anybody is out sick. The work needs to be done one way or another. Its not costing the company anything, its costing the rest of the employees in terms of increased workload. Basically this is just more BS from IBEC.
“HEAR HEAR”. Well said Jim. This is utter trash and it infuriates me.
BTW did anyone see The Apprentice with Mr Alan Sugar (hate the title)? An inventor had an idea for a chair to help workers backs and decrease absenteeism. Sugar told him he didn’t give a sh*te about absenteeism. It doesn’t, nor has it ever affected his business. It’s only petty greedy people who seem to view this as a problem.
When I see this in the news, it means there’s NO news.
I wonder how much is written off by people coming in early, working through lunch and staying late 5 days a week. perhaps IBEC would be better served commission research on how to reduce sick days / redress the work life balance.
How on earth can that be recorded with any degree of accuracy?
You’ll have to look at the methodology the researchers use. Often it is cited in industry magazines when these surveys are conducted. It is nearly always cited in robust research in respected journals. Certainly levels of absenteeism are pretty easy to capture as those responsible for HR, payroll and accounting have to record those as a matter of course. Presenteeism I agree is another story. But I believe it both can and has been done within acceptable levels of validity and reliability.
ONLY 1% of female absence due to drink? Not a hope in hell.
I certainly don’t cost my employer €818 per year in absenteeism. I don’t think that would be possible on my meager earnings. Deciding to use a figure as an average when the gulf of earnings is so unequal in many sectors is insulting and disingenuous (but this is IBEC after all). If I’m not mistaken a greater chance of true illness occurs with low earners, that is genuine absenteeism as they forgo health checkups/gp visits or drugs to pay for other necessities unless drastically concerned. Its not taking the piss, its as a result of groups such as IBEC pushing downwards on their earnings. if IBEC want to minimize that maybe they should propose free employee health schemes/checkups or just pay the slaves a bit more.
Perhaps IBEC should commission a study on how much it costs when the boss or an executive or one of their little expensive clique decides not to turn up. An overpaid fat executive paid 10 times the amount of a regular grunt would have to ensure an absenteeism rate 1/10th of said grunt so as not to inflict a higher financial loss on their company. Lets not even discuss productivity or their exec buddies. But its not about our betters is it.
Its hard to take any figure, whether based on raw statistical data or otherwise, from a group of individuals who, if given half a length of lease, would tear the flesh from every employees rights, wages or conditions, just to eek out something more for themselves. When I see IBEC, I see the HSE or Foxconn in China, no better.
I’ll stop writing and put back on my metal collar.
Each person loses 1 year out of their working life through absence
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