Absenteeism

What Is Absenteeism?

Absenteeism refers to the habitual non-presence of an employee at their job. Habitual non-presence extends beyond what is deemed to be within an acceptable realm of days away from the office for legitimate causes such as scheduled vacations, occasional illness, and family emergencies.

Possible causes of over-absenteeism include job dissatisfaction, ongoing personal issues, and chronic medical problems. Regardless of the root cause, a worker who exhibits a long-term pattern of being absent may tarnish their reputation, which may consequently threaten their long-term employability. However, some forms of absence from work are legally protected and cannot be grounds for termination.

Understanding Absenteeism

Absenteeism refers to absence from work that extends beyond what would be considered reasonable and customary due to vacation, personal time, or occasional illness. Companies expect their employees to miss some work each year for legitimate reasons.

However, missing work becomes a problem for the company when the employee is absent repeatedly and or unexpectedly, especially if that employee must be paid while they are absent. Absenteeism is also a particular problem if an employee is missing in action during busy times of the year or when deadlines for major projects are approaching.

While disability leave, jury duty obligations, and the observance of religious holidays are all legally protected reasons for an employee to miss work, some workers abuse these laws, saddling their employers with unfair costs in the process.

Employers may discourage absenteeism by taking several proactive steps — such as rewarding good attendance, providing emotional support to employees, setting clear attendance expectations, and formalizing the organization's attendance policy in written documents — that all new employees must review and sign.

Below are some detailed explanations of the top reasons absenteeism may occur:

Example of Absenteeism

For example, River is dissatisfied with her working environment and job responsibilities. River regularly calls in sick to work for days at a time, often missing five days each month, even though there are no actual chronic health problems.