ABSENTEEISM

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. Despite the significance of their presence, employees sometimes fail to report at the work place during the scheduled time, which is known as ‘absenteeism’. Labour Bureau, Simla, defined the term ‘absenteeism’ as “the failure of a worker to report for work when he is scheduled to work”. Labour Bureau also states that “absenteeism is the total man-shifts lost because of absence as a percentage of the total number of man- shifts 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”.

Types of Absenteeism:

Absenteeism is of four types viz: (1) authorized absenteeism, (2) unauthorized absenteeism, (3) willful absenteeism, and (4) caused by circumstances beyond one’s control.

(1) Authorized Absenteeism: If an employee absents himself from work by taking permission n from his superior and applying for leave, such absenteeism is called authorized absenteeism.

(2)Unauthorized Absenteeism: If an employee absents himself from work without informing or taking permission and without applying for leave, such absenteeism is called unauthorized absenteeism.

(3) Willful Absenteeism: If an employee absents himself from duty willfully, such absenteeism is called willful absenteeism.

(4) Absenteeism Caused by Circumstances beyond One’s Control: If an employee absents himself from duty owing to the circumstances beyond his control like involvement in accidents or sudden sickness, such absenteeism is called absenteeism caused by circumstances beyond one’s control.

Features of Absenteeism:

Research studies undertaken by different authors reveal the following features of absenteeism:

(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 the workers below 25 years of age and those above 40 years of age.

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

(4) Absenteeism in traditional industries is seasonal in character.

Calculation of Absenteeism Rate:

Absenteeism can be calculated with the help of the following formula:

Number of Mandays Lost

Absenteeism Rate =

Number of Mandays scheduled to work * 100

Absenteeism rate can be calculated for different employees and for different time periods like month and year.

The frequency rate reflects the incidence of absence and is usually expressed as the number of separate absence in a given period, irrespective of length of absences. The frequency rate represents the average number of absences per worker in a given period.

Total number of times in which the leave was availed

Frequency Rate =

Total number of mandays scheduled to work * 100

Severity Rate = Total number of days absent during a period

Total number of times absent during that period * 100

A high severity rate indicates that the employee is absent for longer durations each time. High frequency and severity rates indicate that the employee is absent more frequently and for longer durations each time resulting in high absenteeism even in absolute terms.

Causes of Absenteeism :

The following are the general causes of absenteeism:

(1) Maladjustment with the working conditions: If the working conditions of the company are poor, the workers cannot adjust themselves with the company’s working conditions. Then they prefer to stay away from the company.

(2) Social and Religious Ceremonies: Social and religious functions divert the worker’s attention from the work.

(3) Unsatisfactory Housing Conditions at the work place.

(4) Industrial Fatigue: The industrial fatigue compels the workers to remain outside the work place.

(5) Unhealthy Working Conditions: The poor and intolerable working conditions in the factories irritates the workers. Excess heat, noise, either too much or too low lighting, poor ventilation, dust, smoke etc. cause poor health of the workers. These factors cause the workers to be absent.

(6) Poor Welfare Facilities: Though a number of legislations concerning welfare facilities are enacted, many organizations fail to provide welfare facilities. This is either due to the poor financial position of the companies or due to the exploitative attitude of the employee. The poor welfare facilities include poor sanitation, washing, bathing, first-aid appliances, ambulance, rest rooms, drinking water, canteen, shelter, crèches etc. The dissatisfied workers with these facilities prefer to be away from the work place.

(7) Alcoholism: Workers mostly prefer to spend money on the consumption of the liquor and enjoyment after getting the wages. Therefore the rate of absenteeism is more during the first week of every month.

(8) Indebtness: The low level wages and unplanned expenditure of the workers force them to borrow heavily. The research studies indicate that the workers borrow more than 10 times of their net pay. Consequently, workers fail to repay the money. Then they try to escape from the place to avoid the money lenders. These leads to absenteeism.

(9) Maladjustment with the Job Demands: The fast changing technology demands higher level skills from the workers. Some workers fail to meet these demands due to their lower level education and / or absence of training.

(10) Inadequate Leave Facilities: The inadequate leave facilities provided by the employer forces him to depend on E.S.I. leave which allows the workers to be away from the work for 56 days in a year on half pay.

(11) Unsound Personnel Policies: The improper and unrealistic personnel policies result in employee dissatisfaction. The dissatisfied employee’s inturn prefers to be away from work.

(12) Low Level of Wages: Wages in some organizations are very poor and they are quite inadequate to meet the basic needs of the employees. Therefore, employees go for other employment during their busy seasons and earn more money. Further, some employees take up part- time jobs. Thus, the employees resort to moon lighting and absent themselves from work.

Categories of Absenteeism:

K.N. Vaid classifies chronic absentees into five categories viz.,

(1) Entrepreneurs

(2) Status seekers

(3) Epicureans

(4) Family-oriented

(5) The Sick and the Old

(1) Entrepreneurs: This class of absentees considers that their jobs are very small for their total interest and personal goals. They engage themselves in other social and economic activities to fulfill their goals.

(2) The Status Seekers: These types of absentees enjoy or perceive a higher ascribed social status and are keen on maintaining it.

(3) The Epicureans: These classes of absentees do not like to take up jobs which demand initiative, responsibility, discipline and discomfort. They wish to have money, power, and status but are unwilling to work for their achievement.

(4) Family-oriented: This type of absentees is often identified with the family activities.

(5) The Sick and the Old: This category of absentees is mostly unhealthy with a weak constitution or old people.

Measures to Minimize Absenteeism:

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. The following measures are useful in controlling or minimizing absenteeism.

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

2) Adopting a humanistic approach in dealing with the personal problems.

3) Following a proactive approach in identifying and redressing employee grievances.

4) Providing hygienic working conditions.

5) Providing welfare measures and fringe benefits, balancing the need for the employees and the ability of organization.

6) Providing high wages and allowances based on the organizational financial position.

7) Improving the communication network, particularly the upward communication.

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

9) Providing safety and health measures.

10) Providing cordial human relations and industrial relations.

11) Educating the workers.

12) Counseling the workers about their career, income and expenditure, habits and culture.

13) Free flow of information, exchanging of ideas, problems etc.between subordinate and superior.

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

15) Offering attendance bonus and inducements.

16) Providing extensive training, encouragement, special allowances in cash for technological advancements.

LABOUR TURNOVER:

Employees who are not satisfied with their career in the present organization may seek suitable employment in other organizations. Similarly organizations may also prefer candidates from external sources, if the internal candidates are not found suitable. This situation in career development of both the individuals and the organizations result in external mobility or employee turnover. External mobility is also known as “external career”.

Meaning:

External mobility means shifting of employees into and out of an organization. It is defined as the rate of change in the employees of an organization during a a definite period. It measures the extent to which old employees leave and new employees enter into an organization.

Types of labor turnover:

External mobility is of two types viz: accessions and separations

(1) Accessions: Accessions are additions of new candidates to the existing employees. It includes employment of new candidates, reemployment of former employees, employees called back to work after layoff etc.

(2) Separations: separations mean termination of employment. They are also called employee turnover. They include:

· Voluntary quitting or resignations by employees when they are dissatisfied with the present job and/or organization, or when they get better employment in other organizations.

· Layoff or lack of work: organizations terminate the services of employees when the jobs are eliminated or reduced to adoption to technology or adverse business conditions or lack of power, materials, breakdown of machinery etc. globalization and consequent competition reduced the size of most of the companies and turned many sound companies into sick companies. These factors led to job cuts in many organizations.

· Disciplinary lay off or discharge: organizations terminate the services of employees if they are dissatisfied with the performance or conduct of employees.

· Retirement and deaths: stages in external mobility: there are four stages in external mobility, viz. exploration, establishment including mutual recruitment conditions, entry, having first job assignment settlement, transfer, promotion and granting of tenure, maintenance stage and decline stage.

Computation of external mobility:

Rate of external mobility is generally computed in terms of accession rate, separation rate and composite rate. Their computation formulae are given here under:

Accession rate = Total accessions per year

___________________________________ *100

Average number of employees for the year

Separation rate = Total separations per year

___________________________________ *100

Average number of employees for the year

Composite rate= (Total accessions per year+ Total separations per year)/2

______________________________________________*100

Average number of employees for the year

Similarly the rates can be computed separately for different types of separations like voluntary quit or lay off. The difference between accession rate and separation rates indicates the strength of employees and the need for fresh employment. These formulae are important to compute and compare the rates with those of other organizations for the same period and of the same organization for the past years. This comparison shows the trends in the mobility rates and the place of the organization in the community in respect of turnover. Further it shows magnitude of the problem and indicates the effects of external mobility.

Effects of external mobility:

Certain degree of external mobility is inevitable due to death, retirement, and layoff and is also desirable it enables the flow of efficient human resources into the organization. But mobility behind the level confronts managers with many interrelated and knotty problems like deployment and redeployment of human resources among various departments and jobs, increasing cost of reemployment, induction and placement, increasing rate of accidents and wastage, declining efficiency of employees and overall productivity etc. though external mobility is for the betterment of the employee in some cases it causes problem to employees in many cases.

These problems include discontinuation in service, loss of salary, disadvantages in getting various fringe benefits which are tied to the length of service like quarters, privilege leave, bonus, loss in retirement benefits etc.

Personnel managers have to analyze the cause of mobility before suggesting measures to reduce it. The data about external mobility can be collected through exit interviews and questionnaires. The data and information should include the reasons for voluntary quits like better job elsewhere, problems in the personal job and organization transportation, working conditions, shifts, unsound relations with superiors, lack of promotional opportunities, lack of facilities to attend family issues etc. they should also cover the jobs, pay scales, working conditions, superiors, department plants, regions where the voluntary separations occur. They also cover sex, length of service, functions and place in the organizational hierarchy of employees who leave voluntarily. Data regarding separation due to lay off and discharge can also be collected on similar lines.

Personal managers have to analyze the data and suggest measures to control external mobility.

Measures to contain excessive mobility include improving the pay structures and level on part with those of similar organizations, providing the opportunities for self development and promotional avenues, maintain sound industrial and human relations, adopting effective techniques of recruitment, selection, induction and placement, providing congenial working conditions, creating the facilities and environment to satisfy the employees needs for pride, security, recognition, challenging work autonomy, achievement, appreciation, status, power to control etc.

The management has to forecast the vulnerable areas of external mobility and apply appropriate measures. In other words management need not apply all these measures to all the situations built has to use the most suitable measures to the situation.

Reduction of excessive employee mobility by identifying the areas and applying measures is the responsibility of line executives at all levels in organization. The management at top the top level formulates the policies regarding minimization of mobility with the help of top level personnel management. Personal managers help counsel with the line managers at the middle and lower levels in respect of forecasting the mobility, identifying the vulnerable areas in applying measures.

Conclusion

Absenteeism is the total mans-shifts lost because of absence as a percentage of total number of man-shifts scheduled to work. It is calculated using various rates such as Absenteeism rate, Frequency rate, and Severity rate. Absenteeism also affects the organization from multiple angles for which various measures are taken for controlling and minimizing absenteeism.

The situation in the career development of both the individuals and the organization results in Employee Turnover.

The rate of change in the employees of an organization during a definite period is External Mobility. It is also known as ‘External Career’. Thus it is the shifting of the employees into and out of the organization.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

· Personnel and Human Resource Management By P.Subba.Rao

· Human Resource Management, Text and Cases, By V.S.P.Rao.