Absenteeism

Introduction

• Employee’s presence at work place during the scheduled time is highly essential for the smooth running of the production process in particular and the organization in general. Absenteeism has long been considered a significant and pervasive problem in the organizations. Despite the significance of their presence, employees sometimes fail to report at the work place during the scheduled time, which is known as ‘absenteeism’. Absenteeism is the term generally used to refer to unscheduled employee absences from the workplace or workers absent from his regular work when he is normally scheduled to work.

Meaning Absenteeism is an employee's intentional or habitual absence from work. While employers expect workers to miss a certain number of workdays each year, excessive absences can equate to decreased productivity and can have a major effect on company finances, morale and other factors.

Definition• According to labour bureau Simla defines absenteeism as the failure of

worker to report for work when he is scheduled to work.

• According to Webster’s Dictionary, “absenteeism is the practice or habit of being an ‘absence’ and an absentee is one who habitually stays away”.

• Fillipo defines absenteeism as a condition that exists when a person fails to come to work when he is properly scheduled to work.

Types of Absenteeism

• Authorized absenteeism• Unauthorized absenteeism• Willful absenteeism• Caused by circumstances beyond one’s control

characteristics

• The rate of absenteeism is the lowest on pay day; it increases considerably on the days following the payment of wages and bonus.

• Absenteeism is generally high among the workers below 25 years of age and those above 40 years of age.

• The rate of absenteeism varies from department to department within an organization. Generally, it is high in the production department.

• Absenteeism in traditional industries is seasonal in character.

Causes for absenteeism

•  Serious accidents, illnesses

• Low morale of the employee

• Poor working conditions

• Boredom on the job

• Lack of job satisfaction

• Inadequate leadership on the part of the supervisor

Cont..

• Personal problems(financial, marital, child care)

• Poor physical fitness

• Inadequate nutrition

• Low level of wages and unsound personal policies

• Transport problems

• Stress and heavy work load

Role of counselling• Absenteeism affects the organization from multiple angles. It severely affects the

production process and the business process. The effect of unauthorized absenteeism is more compared other types of absenteeism. However it would be difficult to completely avoid absenteeism more than half of those stressed at work would have to take time off without counselling, new research from Capita Health and Wellbeing has found. Through proper counselling employees helps to know what the problem they facing and to know how to overcome from the problem. counselling helps employees to reduces confusion, allowing the client to make effective decisions leading to positive changes in their attitude and/or behavior. The ultimate aim of counselling is to enable the client to make their own choices, reach their own decisions and to act upon them accordingly.

Case study

• Suman a employee working in a private company and he got salary of 8000 p.m and he has to work for 10 hours in a day and also he as to work extra time for a same salary and also there is heavy work allot to him and he have old age parents in his family and they are suffering from diabetic problem he has to take them to hospital in every week and in the organization if he absent for a day salary as cutoff of rupees 200 per day . He absent for work for the treatment of his parents and if he fail to take them to hospital his parents caught in problems he as to absent for his work in a week and also he as severe work allot to him for to work and he also facing the problem of illness and mentally he face problems so he as to reduce his work and match the work what he as to do. One of his friend inform to take counselling to overcome from the problem and he took counselling and he tell all about problems he facing and counsellor as a part of his job to give guidance to the problem faced by the employee and he said you inform to your employer when you want to taken your parents to hospital and make the shift change instead of make absent from work and do the work what you assigned to you in a proper time allocate to you and make attention about your health and consult a doctor what the problem you are facing and get well. By doing the work continuously you got trouble in future so as possible look at other jobs make you feel comfort and counsellor told him to work in environment you feel well and if you fell well your potential to work increases it yields more work and work hard.

•  Selecting the employees by testing them thoroughly regarding their aspirations, value systems, responsibility and sensitiveness.

•  Adopting a humanistic approach in dealing with the personal problems.•  Following a proactive approach in identifying and redressing employee

grievances.•  Providing hygienic working conditions.•  Providing welfare measures and fringe benefits, balancing the need for the

employees and the ability of organization.• Providing high wages and allowances based on the organizational financial

position.

•  Improving the communication network, particularly the upward communication.

•  Providing leave facility based on the needs of the employees and organizational requirement.

•  Providing safety and health measures.•  Providing cordial human relations and industrial relations.•  Educating the workers.•  Counseling the workers about their career, income and expenditure,

habits and culture.

•  Free flow of information, exchanging of ideas, problems etc… between subordinate and superior.

• Granting leave and financial assistance liberally in case of sickness of employee and his family members.

•  Offering attendance bonus and inducements.•  Providing extensive training, encouragement, special

allowances in cash for technological advancements.