Combatting Absenteeism in the Workplace

There is evidence to show that human capital represents “our greatest competitive potential…”, hence, absenteeism removes our primary competitive weapon. The tangible cost of absenteeism in the US is estimated to be over $40 billion per year. This figure does not include intangible costs such as reduced efficiency, loss of morale, supervisor's overload, and missed opportunities. There is clearly a need for effective methods of reducing employee absenteeism. The present article reviews the literature on absenteeism, with the aim of answering the following three questions: (1) How should an organisation define and measure absenteeism?; (2) What are the underlying causes of absence?; (3) Which are the best methods that an organisation might adopt to reduce absenteeism?