introduction absenteeism
TRANSCRIPT
Chapter I Introduction
1.1 Meaning:
Today the success of industrial development in a country is largely
determined by the efficiency and experience of its labour force. In this
regard, the problems of absenteeism and labour turnover are of great
significance. It is the efficiency and experience of workers that would
ultimately decide the success of an industry, while the experience and ability
of workers largely depend on the elimination of the problem of absenteeism
of workers in the industry.
Absenteeism is a major problem that uproots the economic prosperity
of any industry or an organization. It can be reduced but not completely
eradicated. It is an ever-existing problem of the industrial sector. Throughout
the world absence from work has generally been considered on the increase,
even though many companies have positive programmes attempting control
absenteeism. In spite of the absence control programmes absentees continue
to hurt corporate profits severely. In general, the absent rate indicates the
relative cost to a given company, because production worker simply cannot
produce as much annually when absent rates are high as they can when
absent rates are low.
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Chapter I Introduction
Absenteeism is a huge, but largely neglected, problem for employees.
Labour costs spring first to mind when a company wants to reduce
overheads. But while initial attempts to control these almost always focus on
direct costs such as wages and benefits or employee numbers, other costs
remain hidden. One of those is absenteeism; companies lose hundreds of
rupees each year through absenteeism.
Absenteeism is one of the most widespread obstacles to productivity,
profitability and competitiveness. It causes overtime, late deliveries,
dissatisfied customers and a decline in morale among workers expected to
cover for absent colleagues. The indirect costs often exceed the direct while
the absenteeism cause considerable losses to the company. It also affects its
operations in terms of achieving its ultimate objectives.
No organization can afford to neglect such costs due to worker
unnecessarily abstaining from work. The company has to tackle not only
production problem but at the same time they have to keep a vigil on the
causes of absenteeism and introduce a system to effectively control this
problem.
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If all factors of production, human factor plays a decisive role in
achieving the end results. But when this human factor in itself is not
functioning properly, the adverse effects will be felt in every other aspect.
Thus the problem of absenteeism assumes importance as a subject of priority
for discussion.
Absenteeism is also found to be sensitive to a number of economic variables
including earnings and work length. Absenteeism also is found to be more
pronounced in workplaces with large proportions of blue-collar workers and
when there is a large amount of discontent with working conditions;
Absence levels are affected by the age profile of the workforce. The highest
levels are found amongst the youngest and oldest workers. The absence
pattern for young employees showed a predominance of single-day
absences. Older employees tended to have fewer absence spells, but spells of
longer duration, suggesting serious illness as an outcome of aging;
Small minorities of employees are responsible for a substantial proportion of
absence in any organization (the chronic absentees); and Absenteeism is
influenced by management practices. Such practices begin with monitoring
the problem followed by feedback, employee counselling, maintenance of
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rigorous safety procedures, and incentive systems. More generally,
absenteeism was lowest in environments where employee morale was high.
1.2 Definitions:
Absenteeism has been variously defined by different authorities.
According to Webster’s dictionary, “absenteeism is the practice or
habit of being an ‘absentee,’ and an ‘absentee’ is one who habitually stays
away.”
According to Sri J.D. Hackett, “Absenteeism means temporary
cessation of work, for not less than one whole working day, on the initiative
of the worker, when his presence is expected.”
According Labour Bureau, Simla, “absenteeism is the total man shifts
lost because of absences as a percentage of the total number of man shifts
scheduled to work.”
So, we can define absenteeism as to be the manifestation of a decision
by an employee not to present himself at his place of work at a time when it
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is planned by the management that he should be in attendance and when he
has been notified of such expectation.
1.3 Measurement of Absenteeism
Absenteeism is a workers trend to stay away from work, when
he is scheduled to work. As a matter of fact, it is unauthorized, unexplained,
avoidable and willful absence from work. Lack of uniform method and
precise definition of absenteeism have created measurement and
interpretational problem. Each method of measurement and definition of
absenteeism adopted by different agencies will cater to their individual
purpose and requirements.
1.4 Rate of Absenteeism
The absenteeism rate is defined as the total man-shifts lost because of
absences as a percentage of the total number of man-shifts scheduled. For
calculating rate of absenteeism we require the number of persons scheduled
to work and the number actually present. Thus, we can estimate the rate of
absenteeism in the following manner.
Rate of Absenteeism = No. of total man-shifts lost X 100
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No. of man-shift scheduled
It has also been made clear in the circular of the Labour Department,
Government of India that, if a worker reports for any part of a shift, he
should be considered as present. An employee is to be considered scheduled
to work when the employer has work available and the employee is aware of
it, and when employer has no reason to expect, well in advance, that the
employer will not be available for at the specified time. The circular further
clarified the application of the above principle with the help of the following
example. A worker on a regularly scheduled vacation should not be
considered as scheduled lay-off. On the other hand, an employee who
request time-off, at other than a regular vacation period , should be
considered as absent from the scheduled work until the returns, or until it is
determined that the absence will be of such a duration that his name
removed from the least of active employees. After this date he should be
considered as neither scheduled to work nor absent. Similarly an employee
who quits without notice should be considered as absent from scheduled
work until his name is dropped from the active list, but preferably this period
should not exceed one week in either case. If a strike is in progress workers
on strike should be considered as neither scheduled to work nor absent, since
data on time lost because of strikes are collected by other means.
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Thus for the purpose of calculating the rate of absenteeism, the term
“absence” has been defined as, “the failure of a worker to report for work
when he was scheduled to work. A worker is considered to be scheduled to
work when the employer has work available for him and the worker is aware
of it. Authorized the absence is also treated as absence while presence for a
part of the day or shift is treated as presence for the whole day or the shift.
Absence on account of strike, lock out or lay of is excluded.”1
1.5 Absenteeism Trends in Indian Industry
The trends and patterns of absenteeism in Indian industries can be
studied by collecting, analyzing and interpreting absenteeism statistics.
Certain state government and employees association of Northern India
collects these statistics from the various units on important industries on a
monthly basis. The Director General of Mine Safety (DGMS) also collects
these statistics statutorily from all coalmines.
For calculating the rate of absenteeism we require the number of
persons scheduled to work and the number of actually present and “absence
rate” as indicating total time-loss due to all reasons whether authorized or
unauthorized.
1B. P. Tyagi, Labour Economics and Social Welfare, Jai Prakash Nath & Co., Educational Publishers,
Meerut (UP), Eighth Edition 1999/2000, pp. 63-64
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The studies on absenteeism in India integrated some important trends
such as;
1. The rate of absenteeism is the lowest on pay day; it increases
considerably on the days following the payment of wages and bonus.
2. Absenteeism is generally high among workers below25 years of age
and those above 40.
3. The rate of absenteeism varies from department to department within
a unit.
4. The percentage of absenteeism is generally higher in the night shifts
than in the day shifts.
5. The percentage of absenteeism is much higher in coal and mica
mining industries than in organized industries.
6. Absenteeism in India is seasonal in character. It is the highest during
March-April-May, when land has to be prepared for monsoon sowing,
and also in the harvest season (September-October), when the rate
goes as high as 40 percent.
7. Female workers tend to remain absent more than male workers.
8. As the size of the group increases, rate of absenteeism also increases.2
2 Dr. C. B. Memoria and S. V. Gankar, Personnel Management – Text & Cases, Himalaya
Publishing House, New Delhi, Reprint Edition: 2002, pp. 264-265
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1.6 Types of Absenteeism:
There are mainly two types of absence. They are;
1. Innocent Absenteeism: Innocent absenteeism refers to employees
who are absent for reasons beyond their control; like sickness and injury.
Innocent absenteeism is not culpable which means that it is blameless. In a
labour relations context this means that it cannot be remedied or treated by
disciplinary measures.
2. Culpable Absenteeism: Culpable absenteeism refers to employees
who are absent without authorization for reasons, which are within their
control. For instance, an employee who is on sick leave even though he/she
is not sick, and it can be proven that the employee was not sick, is guilty of
culpable absenteeism. To be culpable is to be blameworthy. In a labour
relations context this means that progressive discipline can be applied.
Dr. K. N. Vaid classifies chronic absentees into five categories:
Entrepreneurs;
Status-seekers;
Epicureans;
Family-oriented; and
The sick and the old.
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The entrepreneurs are those absentees who consider their jobs to be very
small for their total interests. They are simultaneously engaged in several
economic and social activities. The motive force behind all such activities is
the desire for more money, status, power, and the satisfaction arising out of
achievement and social recognition.
The status-seeking absentees are those who enjoy or perceive a higher
ascribed social status and are keen on maintaining it. The shop floor status
achieved by them is much lower than the one they enjoy outside. The
discrepancy between the ascribed and the achieved status is the primary
cause of deviant work behavior.
The epicureans are disinclined to undertake activities which call for
initiative, responsibility, discipline, and physical discomfort. They desire
money, status, and power, but are unwilling to work for their achievement.
The family-oriented become chronic absentees because of their over-
identification with family affairs. The lack of balance between family
involvement and job responsibility is the principal cause of their deviant
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work behavior. Chronic illness of one or other family member, litigation,
delinquency, working wife, etc, impels them to be absent from work.
The sick and old type remains absent from work by reason of ill health,
weak constitution, chronic disease or old age.
1.7 Causes of Absenteeism
There are several factors responsible for workers to remain absent
from work. It varies from department to department within an organization,
industry to industry within the economy. Place to place and also time to
time.
i. Maladjustment with Factory Conditions: As a worker
continues to live in the city, urban life becomes distasteful to him because of
the insanitary conditions prevailing there. He finds himself caught within
great factory walls; he is bewildered by heavy traffic, by jostling, by
strangers speaking different languages; he is confused by different religions
and tastes; and he is weary of the misery of slums and of toiling for long
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hours. He is subject to strict discipline and is ordered by complete strangers
to do the things which he cannot understand.
ii. Social and Religious Ceremonies: Social and religious
functions divert workers from work to social activities. In a large number of
cases, the proportion of absenteeism due to sickness, accident or maternity is
not as high as it is due to other causes, including social and religious causes.
iii. Unsatisfactory Housing Conditions: The workers who
come to towns usually find that they are not wanted and they swell the
number of unemployed and casual workers. They also experience housing
difficulties.
iv. Industrial Fatigue: Low wages compel a worker to
seek some part-time job to earn some side income. But this often results in
constant fatigue, which compels him to remain absent for the next day; and
if fatigue affects him seriously, his absence may continue for quite some
time.
v. Unhealthy Working Conditions: Irritating and
intolerable working conditions exist in factories. Heat and moisture (which
rapidly exhaust the worker), noise and vibrations in the factory (which affect
his hearing), bad lighting conditions (which cause eye-strain), dust, fumes
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and over-crowding all of these affect the workers health, causing him to
remain absent for a long time.
vi. Absence of Adequate Welfare Facilities: Absenteeism
is also due to the inadequate welfare facilities available to workers, for a vast
majority if industrialists in India still look upon welfare work as a barren
liability rather than a wise investment.
vii. Alcoholism: The habit of alcoholism among workers is
a significant cause of absenteeism, which is high in the first week of each
month, when workers receive their wages. They rush to liquor shops and
drink to forget their immediate worries. Once indulged in drink, the habit
continues. Hangover the next day leads to absenteeism.
viii. Indebtedness: Most of the workers suffer from high
degree of indebtedness.
ix. Improper and Unrealistic Personnel Policies: In most
cases, unskilled, untrained, illiterate and inexperienced workers are recruited
who fail to cope with, and adapt themselves to their jobs and to their
industrial environment.
x. Inadequate Leave Facilities: Negligence on the part of
the employer to provide adequate leave facilities compels the workers to fall
back on E.S.I. leave.
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The forgoing analysis influencing absenteeism concludes that almost
all the causes of absenteeism behavior are directly from socio-
economic, demographic, cultural and behavioral profile of employees
and the prevailing organizational climate in each individual
establishment.
1.8 Effects of Absenteeism
The effects of absenteeism are too many to be listed. We can describe
them under four broad categories.
A. Losses in productivity & production:
It causes production losses in terms of quantity and quality.
Earnings of the organization are reduced.
Work schedule is disturbed, dislocation of work is caused
due to machine idleness, and production capacity is lost or
under utilized due to under-staffing.
Absenteeism could at critical points put the whole
machinery out of gear, due to inter-dependence systems in
modern industry. It creates bottlenecks in production.
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B. Increased loss to the Industry:
It results in loss of manpower, a day lost is resource lost.
Labour lost is increased by employing additional labour and
providing of leave reserve etc.
Overtime payment may become necessary for the worker,
who is doing the job for the missing worker.
As machines remain idle in highly capital
intensive industries, it results in low degree of capital
utilization.
Absenteeism results in increase in direct
over-heads such as training of employees in other trades
clerical efforts in recording, absentee increased cost of
administration in finding substitutes etc.
It causes an additional strain on those who
are present.
The loss in terms of difference between potential and actual
profile may be considerable.
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C. Losses to workers:
It also results in losses to workers i.e., financial loss in terms of
reduced wages, bonus, lesser incentives payment and consequent
hardships to the families of the employees.
Loss in skill and efficiency of the absentee worker.
To habitual absentees it causes general morale degeneration.
Stability of work performance at high place is affected.
The effects of habitual absentees on the average attendance
and general discipline are very bad.
D. General:
Any absence weakens the company’s goals and productivity.
The loss due to absenteeism is two fold. To start with, there is a
distinct loss to workers because the irregularity in absence –
reduces their income when no work, no pay is the general rule.
On the other hand the loss to the employers is still greater as on
both discipline and efficiency suffers and production goes down.
Moreover, either additional complement has to be maintained
throughout the year to meet the emergency or the industries have
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to depend solely on workers who present themselves at the gates
and who are generally not up to the mark.
The maintenance of an extra complement of workers leads to
serious complications and evils. Hence absenteeism is an evil
both for the employers and the employees as well.
1.9 Measures for Control of Absenteeism
Absenteeism is a serious problem for a management because it
involves heavy additional expenses. The management is generally uncertain
about the probable duration of an employee’s absence and cannot take
appropriate measures to fill the gap.
1. Adoption of well defined recruitment procedure:
The selection of employees on the basis of communal,
linguistic and family considerations should be discouraged. The
management should look for aptitude and ability in the prospective
employees and should not easily to yield to pressure or personal likes
or dislikes. The personnel officer should play a more effective role as
a co-ordinator of Information, provided the he has acquired job
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Chapter I Introduction
knowledge in the function of selection. Selection should be for
employees development, their reliance, therefore, on intermediaries
for the recruitment of employees should be entirely done away with
they should as far as possible, rely on employment exchanges.
2. Provision of Healthful and Hygienic Working Conditions:
In India, where the climate is warm and most of the work involves
manual labour, it is essential that workers should be provided with
proper and healthy working conditions. The facilities of drinking
water, canteens lavatories, rest rooms, lighting and ventilation, need to
be improved. Where any one of these facilities is not available, it
should be provided.
3. Provision of Reasonable Wages and Allowances and job
Security for Workers:
Some of the wages of an employee determine his as well as his
family’s standard of living, this single factory is important for him
than any other. The management should, therefore, pay reasonable
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wages and allowances, taking into account the capacity of the industry
to pay, the level of wages prevailing in different units of the same
industry in the same area in neighbouring areas, the productivity of
labour and the general effect of rising wages in neighbouring
industries.
4. Welfare and Social Measures:
The management should recognize the needs of workers and
offer them adequate and cheap housing facilities, free or subsidized
food, free medical aid and transportation facilities to and from their
residence, free educational facilities for their children, and other
monetary and non-monetary benefits.
5. Improved Communication and Prompt Redressal of
Grievances:
Since a majority of the workers are illiterate, bulletins and
written notices, journals and booklets are not understood by them.
Therefore, timely illustrations and instructions, meetings and
counseling, are called for. As for grievance settlement, the
management should recognize that a delayed grievance might become
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a complicated case. A procedure for fair and prompt redressal of
grievances is, therefore, essential.
6. Liberal Grant or Leave:
The management’s strict attitude in granting leave and holidays,
even when the need for them is genuine, tempts workers to go on
E.S.I. leave,
7. Safety and Accident Prevention:
Safety at work can be maintained and accidents can be
prevented if the management tries to eliminate such personal factors
as negligence, over-confidence, carelessness, vanity, etc., and such
material factors as unguarded machinery and explosives, defective
equipment and hand tools.
8. Cordial Relations Between Supervisors and Workers:
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The supervisor should recognize that industrial work is a group
task and cannot be properly done unless discipline is enforced and
maintained. The problem of industrial discipline become serious when
“the end is not accepted as necessary or desirable, when there is no
common aim between the discipliners and the disciplined; and
discipline then becomes a mere frustration of the human purpose,
stunts the development of the human personality and embitters human
relations, for it is then a denial of freedom to the individual.”
9. Development of Worker’s Education:
The system of workers education should be so designed as to
take into account their educational needs as individuals for their
personal evaluation; as operatives for their efficiency and
advancement; as citizens for a happy integrated life in the community.
10. Other Measures:
a. There should be clear and definite rules and regulations on
authorized and unauthorized leave.
b. The rules and regulations relating to attendance must be
explained to workers.
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c. A proper record of each worker’s attendance should be
maintained n a special daily attendance card.
d. A supervisor should not be regarded as “another worker” and
should be given definite authority to take action in all cases of
absenteeism.
The employer, the employee and the State have a definite role to play.
If each performs it properly and harmoniously, the problems of
inefficiency, undesired conflict, low productivity, dissatisfaction on
the part of workers and their low morale resulting in frequent
absenteeism can be largely eliminated.
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