Managing Employee Absenteeism

This text is written for busy managers - both HR and general - who are concerned about the rates of absenteeism in their organization. It explores dimensions of absence and looks at strategies and tactics that can be used to reduce the problems, also examining the methods many employers find to be most effective.

Essay from the year 2007 in the subject Business economics - Personnel and Organisation, grade: 1,7, University of Trento, course: Gestione delle risorse humane, language: English, abstract: The term of absenteeism is generally used to describe unscheduled employee absences from the workplace. But there are two different categories. Either - valid absenteeism: refers to employees who are absent for reasons beyond their control; like sickness and injury. In a labour relations context this means that it can not be remedied or treated by disciplinary measures. - invalid absenteeism:refers to employees who are absent without authorization for reasons which are within their control. For instance, an employee who is on sick leave even though he/she is not sick, and it can be proven that the employee was not sick, is guilty of culpable absenteeism. In a labour relations context this means that progressive discipline can be applied. or more elaborated - white absenteeism: In the case of white absenteeism, the employee is obviously ill. For example if he or she has high fever or a broken leg. - grey absenteeism: Illnesses which are psychological or psychosomatic, such as headache, stomachache or tiredness can lead to grey absenteeism because in these cases, diagnoses are hard to make. - black absenteeism: it is spoken about black absenteeism if someone who is not ill has reported himself/herself as sick. This black variant of absenteeism is often also called illegal absenteeism. In the cases of black and grey absenteeism exists a degree of freedom to absenteeism.

Sixty practical suggestions for reducing absenteeism are detailed in this title, followed by a look at the legal aspects of employment and advice on how to introduce an absence control policy. The author - management psychologist Max A. Eggert - also looks at the costs of absenteeism (monetary and psychological) and five ways of measuring absence. This is a new edition of "The Controlling Absenteeism Pocketbook" (978 1 870471 64 0), first published in 2000. Other pocketbooks by the same author include: "Assertiveness"; "Managing your Appraisal"; "Motivation"; and, "Resolving Conflict".

Abstract: Information about employee absenteeism is presented in this book for managers. Each of the 10 chapters was written by professionals in the fields of management and psychology. Chapters detail: theoretical specification of absenteeism; methods of defining and measuring absenteeism; methodological problems and strategeies in predicting absence; statistical models for analyzing the behavior of absenteeism; the relationship between absenteeism and other employee behavior; knowledge and speculation about absenteeism; effects of absenteeism on individuals and organizations; ways to increase employee attendance; unresolved issues in the study and management of absence from work; and suggested directions for defining, measuring, and controlling absenteeism. Reference list after each chapter, flowcharts, and graphs are included. (mp).