The Importance Of Absenteeism In The Workplace

In today’s work life, the culture at the workplace is very different and complex from what it used to be especially with the entrance of Generation Y. The society has the tendency to be lazy and lack of motivation to be present in the workplace on a daily basis. This is why companies which tend to focus on workplace absence will indirectly affect their employee’s performance and decrease the corporate productivity. Generally, there is planned absence where both employer plus employee are aware that they will be absent from work while the unplanned absence takes place when the employer expects their presence but employee does not show up at work (Belita, Mbindyo & English, 2013). In most cases, the employer will have a hard time to handle the workload derived from the employees especially when it is an unplanned absence. Absence is further illustrated by Irish Business and Employers Confederation (2011) where they define it as unprepared interruption of the work process due to days lost as a result of sickness or any other cause not exempted through legal entitlements or company agreement. Belita, Mbindyo and English (2013, p.2) acknowledged that absenteeism can be categorized as involuntary absence which is beyond the employees’ control and voluntary absence happens when the employee decides not to attend work intentionally. A recent survey conducted by Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (2015) found out that the average level of absence rises slightly from