| You might not think it, but worker absenteeism is | | | | the team are absent, leading to inefficient production. |
| actually one of the biggest expenses that an | | | | Temporary workers are usually unable to really fill the |
| organization can face. With health care costs grabbing | | | | gap, only being partially capable of acting as a stopgap. |
| all the headlines, it's easy to see how this important but | | | | Repeated absences, or a high frequency of absence |
| low profile issue ended up swept aside. According to | | | | across an entire team, can put tremendous drag on a |
| some labor reports, absent workers cost companies | | | | project. |
| billions every year. Some of this cost is built into | | | | The moral of the story is to watch employee |
| planned absences, such as vacations and sick leave, | | | | absenteeism. The average American worker has |
| while some of it is unexpected absenteeism. | | | | about 5 unplanned absences per year. Keeping a lid on |
| Unexpectedly absent workers account for around 9% | | | | this problem can go a long way to improving and |
| of all absenteeism costs, with planned absences such | | | | maintaining productivity. If unchecked, employee |
| as vacation accounting for the rest. Although this might | | | | absenteeism may become a rampant problem that |
| not seem like such a huge number, it actually adds up | | | | seriously drains productivity. |
| to billions of dollars per year. The impact on company | | | | Should absenteeism become a serious problem for |
| productivity can sometimes be hard to quantify, but the | | | | your organization, it can help to educate employees |
| disruption to the work flow cannot be underestimated. | | | | about the costs associated with the issue. Letting |
| Employers frequently measure the cost of | | | | employees know how damaging unplanned absence is |
| absenteeism strictly in the tangible sense, with the | | | | may give them second thought when they are about |
| amount of sick hours and vacation time that is paid out. | | | | to call in for reasons that might be somewhat less |
| The indirect costs often go unaccounted for, even | | | | than legitimate. |
| though they can be far more serious than anything | | | | Tracking attendance is an important task that all |
| incurred directly. Although difficult to quantify, the lost | | | | organizations must undertake, so that they are aware |
| productivity can have a serious affect on a project. | | | | of how time is managed. With effective attendance |
| When a worker is absent, it often causes other | | | | tracking, problems like absenteeism can be dealt with |
| employees to lose productivity as well. A breakdown | | | | before they get out of hand. |
| in communication can often occur if key members of | | | | |