While this approach has been useful, it is also incomplete, as it doesn\u2019t take into consideration important indirect costs that often are directly connected to presenteeism<\/a><\/strong>, such as reduced productivity, low morale among employees who have to work more, and management time wasted on disciplinary actions and finding replacements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Considering the above, it is easy to find significant differences among some of the data on the costs of absenteeism and presenteeism. For instance, a recent report elaborated by the Employer Assistance and Resource Network<\/em> (EARN) states that \u201ceach year workers in the U.S. miss more than half a billion work days,\u201d which according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics<\/em> results in financial losses of 40 billion USD per year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n More comprehensive approaches that dig deeper into the costs generated by absenteeism and presenteeism reflect higher numbers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/em> (CDC) reports that \u201cproductivity losses linked to absenteeism cost employers 225.8 billion USD annually in the United States, or 1,685 USD per employee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In spite of the fluctuations seen in available data, there is one thing everyone seems to agree on: the costs of presenteeism are much higher than the costs posed by absenteeism<\/strong>. According to Karen Higginbottom, a freelance journalist who covers workplace topics, the cost of presenteeism can be ten times greater than the cost of absenteeism<\/a>. Similarly, Professor Cary Cooper<\/a>, President of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development<\/em> (CIPD) states that in the UK \u201cpresenteeism has an impact on organizations with a cost per employer per annum of \u00a3605 (presenteeism) and \u00a3335 (absenteeism).\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Needless to say, the price to pay for presenteeism is extremely high. From Professor Hesan\u2019s book on the subject, the following are the annual costs that companies have to bear in the US, Australia, and Singapore as a result of sickness presenteeism:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Along those lines, one of the surveys carried out by Professor Hesan found that in Singapore, an employee (50 years old or under) earning an annual salary of 27,000 SGD would cost the employer nearly 920 SGD per year if he or she reported to work despite having a headache. \u201cThis means that approximately 3.4% of the employee\u2019s annual salary will be unearned due to this health condition.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly, a survey carried out in 2017 by VitalityHealth<\/em>, a UK-based medical insurance company, highlighted the growing concern over presenteeism in the workplace. The survey estimates the average rate of presenteeism at 27.7 days per year, arguing that \u201cthe combined economic impact of this ill-health related absence and presenteeism currently sits at a \u00a377.5 billion a year for the UK economy.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Neo meets Morpheus for the first time in the movie The Matrix<\/em>, he needs to make a crucial choice: he either stays in his fake world and believes whatever he wants, or he takes a ride to wonderland to find out how deep the rabbit hole goes. Choosing to stay at home or attend work when feeling ill isn\u2019t that dramatic, of course. However, once your alarm is off, you need to deal with the matrix of assiduity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taking the definition from Eric Gosselin<\/a>, assiduity is a person\u2019s desire and ability to go to a location where he\/she is expected to be<\/em><\/strong>. When applied to the work environment, that concept traditionally involves going to a workstation according to an established schedule. However, the idea that presence ensures performance is as fake as Neo\u2019s world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Gosselin, management of assiduity at work would not force presence at all costs, but rather the worker\u2019s presence or absence when the parameters of the situation call for it. And what are those parameters? Let\u2019s take a look at some of the variables that cause absenteeism and presenteeism in the workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unplanned absenteeism<\/strong> is a behavior attributed to two main factors: the ability<\/em> to attend and the motivation<\/em> to attend. With that in mind, let\u2019s take a look at some of the most common causes of absenteeism, taking the U.S. as an example according to the EARN report mentioned above:<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the UK, the following are the findings of the 2018 CIPD’s Health and well-being<\/em> report<\/a> regarding short and long-term absences in the workplace: The most common causes of long-term absences are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n While minor illnesses and acute medical conditions remain leading causes of absenteeism, the impact that common mental health conditions and stress is having on this phenomenon has significantly increased in the last years<\/strong>. In fact, 55% of companies in the UK reported common mental health conditions in 2018 (compared to 41% in 2016). Likewise, 37% of companies have seen an increase in stress-related absences (compared to 31%). <\/p>\n\n\n\n UK-based robotics firm Createc<\/strong> didn\u2019t stop at tracking project hours. They expanded Beebole to include leave, sickness, and reimbursable projects<\/strong>, turning it into a core part of their management reporting.<\/p>\n Follow their lead if you want to:<\/strong> Don\u2019t just track time\u2014understand the full picture of your team\u2019s availability and well-being.<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n To understand the causes of presenteeism one should ask a very simple question: why do employees choose to go work when they don\u2019t feel well?<\/em> Part of the answer to that question is simple: people are fearful and feel insecurity and uncertainty about the future. The other part is a bit more complex, and is \u201ccontinually being shaped by individual and organizational factors such as peak periods, pressure from colleagues and managers, and an individual\u2019s own motivation and assessments of the impact of their absence on clients and colleagues.\u201d Even though these reasons are quite different, all of them flourish under the same roof: an unhealthy corporate culture<\/strong>. This topic is more prevalent than ever, especially as a focus on workplace health and safety continues to grow<\/a>. As stated by Dr. Roxane L. Gervais, a Senior Psychologist at the Health & Safety Laboratory<\/em> in the UK, the choice that unfit employees make of going to work \u201cwould be reduced or eliminated if they knew that the required support from the organizations and their managers\/supervisors was available in managing not only their workload, but their health and wellbeing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This infographic illustrates the real damage absenteeism and presenteeism can cause within an organization.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Feel free to use this infographic on your own site. Please use the following code:<\/p>\n\n\n\n As mentioned before, absenteeism takes place when an employee doesn\u2019t have either the ability or the motivation to attend work. While companies have limited influence on the employee\u2019s ability to attend, they can certainly have a tremendous impact in the motivation of their employees. <\/strong>Kaiser Permanente<\/a> argues that companies can still minimize absenteeism by implementing a health-related strategy with the following variables:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regarding the motivational factor, The Encyclopedia of Business<\/em> in Today\u2019s World<\/em> states that \u201cthere is an important link between absence and factors such as poor interpersonal communication, job boredom, and poor supervisory skills.\u201d Because of that, the following are some of the strategies that companies have been implementing to reduce absenteeism in the workplace:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also prevent absenteeism by keeping track of absenteeism KPIs<\/a> and encouraging attendance<\/a>. According to HR and management consultant Susan M. Heathfield, companies can implement the following steps to encourage attendance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
What is absenteeism in the workplace and why does presenteeism occur? What does “assiduity at work” mean?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"What](\"https:\/\/beebole.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/absenteeism-costs-for-companies-700x393.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhat causes employee absenteeism in the US or in the UK?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The most common causes of short-term absences are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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\u2705Spot absenteeism patterns before they hurt productivity
\u2705Balance workloads to prevent burnout
\u2705Keep leadership informed with clear, actionable reports<\/p>\nWhat causes presenteeism?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
According to Professor Cary Cooper, presenteeism arises from a feeling of fear and uncertainty about the future.<\/strong> While from 2010 to 2016, that fear was produced by the economic recession, nowadays people are constantly asking questions like \u201cwill I have a job?\u201d<\/em> or \u201cwill Brexit lead to job loss?\u201d<\/em>
All of those questions and fears, as well as the individual and organizational factors<\/a> mentioned, push people to a behavior defined by the following logic: \u201cI better turn up, it\u2019s better that my HR record shows that I am there, I am present… whether I am delivering or not, that\u2019s irrelevant, I\u2019m there,\u201d explains Professor Cooper.
While fear and uncertainty can be considered the main drives behind presenteeism, the following are some of the most common reasons and excuses people use to go to work when they are unwell<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
![\"Absenteeism](\"https:\/\/beebole.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Absenteeism_infographic-new-logo-700x3343.png\" "\\"\\""){kind=logo}
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/beebole.com\/blog\/cost-absenteeism-presenteeism\/\"><img style=\"width:100%;\" src=\"https:\/\/beebole.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Absenteeism_infographic-new-logo.png\"><\/a><br>Infographic on Employee Absenteeism By Beebole <a href=\"https:\/\/beebole.com\/blog\/cost-absenteeism-presenteeism\/\">Employee Absenteeism and Presenteeism Costs<\/a><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\nHow can absenteeism be prevented? A focus on motivation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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