Unit-4 Labour A-WPS Office
Unit-4 Labour A-WPS Office
Unit-4 Labour A-WPS Office
t-
4LabourAbsent
eei
sm
Labourabsent eeism r
eferstothedel
iberat
eorunintenti
onalactofemploy eesnotshowingup
forworkorbei ngabsentf r
om workwi t
houtanyvali
doraut hori
zedreason.Iti
saper si
stent
i
ssuef acedbyor ganizat
ionsacrossvari
oussectorsandcanhav esi
gnif
icantconsequenceson
producti
vity,
financi
alhealth,
andoverallworkenvi
ronment.Herei sadetai
leddescri
pti
onoft he
meaning, nature,
causes,consequences,andmeasur estoreducelabourabsenteei
sm:
Meani
ng:
Absent eei
sm ref
erstothehabi
tualnon-
presenceofanempl oyeeatt hei
rjob.Habitualnon-
presenceextendsbeyondwhati
sdeemedt obewi thi
nanacceptablereal
m ofday sawayfrom
theof fi
ceforlegi
ti
matecausessuchasschedul edvacat
ions,occasi
onalil
lness,andfamily
emer genci
es.
Labourabsenteeism refer
stot heunscheduledandunaut horizedabsenceofempl oyeesfr
om
work.Itcanoccurduet ovari
ousreasonssuchasi l
lness,personalissues,l
ackofmot i
vat
ion,
di
ssati
sfacti
on,low jobengagement ,ori
rresponsi
bil
it
y.Regardlessoft herootcause,awor ker
whoexhi bi
tsal ong-t
erm patt
ernofbei ngabsentmayt arnishtheirreputat
ion,whichmay
consequentl
ythreatent hei
rlong-t
erm empl oyabi
l
ity
;howev er,somef ormsofabsencef r
om
workarelegal
lypr ot
ectedandcannotbegr oundsforterminat
ion.
I
nIndi
atheprobl
em ofabsent
eei
sm i
sgreat
erthanothercountri
es.Whentheemploy
eetakes
t
imeoff,onaschedul edworki
ngdaywi thpermissi
on,itisauthor
isedabsence.Whenhe
r
emainsabsentwi
thoutper
missi
onorinf
orming,
iti
swi l
ful
absencewit
houtl
eave.
Defi
nit
ionofabsenteei
sm asgi
veninIndi
anFact
ori
esAct,1948,“
Absenceisthefai
lur
eofan
employeetoreportf
orworkondutywhenheisschedul
edtoworkonhi sdut
y.Anemployeeis
tobeconsideredasschedul
edt
owor kwhentheemployerhasworkavail
abl
e”forhi
m andthe
employeei
sawar eofit
.
Nat
ure:
Thenat ur
eofl abourabsent eei
sm canv aryf
rom occasionalandshort-
ter
m absencest ochroni
c
andlong-term absenteeism.Itcanbecl assi
fiedintol
egi
timateabsenteei
sm (suchassickleave
orfamilyemer genci
es)andnon- legi
ti
mateabsent eei
sm (
suchasunaut hori
zedl eav
eor
unwarrantedabsencewi thoutvalidr
easons).Itcanbesporadicorbecomear ecurr
enti
ssue
amongcer t
ainempl oyeesorwi thinspeci
fi
cdepar tment
s.
Ther
ear
esomepecul
i
arf
eat
uresofabsent
eei
sm amongt
hel
abourf
orcesuchas:
-
(a)Ther ateofabsent
eeism i
sthelowestonpayday ;itincr
easesconsiderabl
yont heday s
foll
owingt hepaymentofwagest obonus.Thel evelofabsent eei
sm iscompar at
ivel
yhi gh
i
mmedi at
elyaft
erpayday;whenworker
seit
herfeelslikehav i
ngagoodt i
meori nsomeot her
casesr et
ur nhometot hei
rvil
l
agetomakepur chasesf orthef amil
yort omeett hem. The
i
ncidenceofabsenteei
sm,bothbeforeandafteraHol iday,hasalsobeenf oundtobehi gher
thanthatonnormaldays.
(b)Thepercentofabsent
eeism i
sgener
all
yhigherint
henightshi
ftst
hanint
hedayshif
ts.Thi
s
i
ssobecausewor kersinthenightshi
ftexperi
encegreat
erdiscomfor
ttouneasi
nessinthe
courseoft
heirworkthentheydoduri
ngdayti
me.
(c)Thepercentageofabsent eei
sm ismuchhi gherincoalandmi ni
ngi ndust
ri
esthani n
organi
zedindustr
ies.Thi
shi ghpercentageofabsent eeism isduetot heengagementof
l
abourersi
nthefields,
marri
agesorfest
ivals,whichtoget
herareesti
matedtoaccountforabout
75percentofthecasesofwithdrawals,drunkenness,r
elaxati
onorsi
ckness.
(
d)Absent
eei
sm i
nIndiai
sseasonali
nchar
act
er.I
tisthehighestdur
ingMarch-Apr
il
-May
,when
l
andhastobeprepar
edformonsoonsowingandalsointhehar v
estseason(Sept
.-
Oct.
)when
t
herat
egoesashighas40percent.
Causes:
1.PersonalFactors:Employeesmaybeabsentduet opersonalr
easonsl
i
kei
l
lness,f
ami
l
y
i
ssues,chi
ldcar
er esponsi
bil
i
ties,
ort
ranspor
tat
ionpr
obl
ems.
2.Workpl
aceFactor
s:Dissati
sfacti
onwithworkenvi
ronment,l
ackofengagement
,poorworking
condi
ti
ons,inadequater ewards or recogni
ti
on,inadequatetrai
ning,or l
ack of career
devel
opmentopportuni
ti
escanl eadtoabsent
eeism.
3.JobDissat
isf
act
ion:Empl
oyeeswhoar
eunhappywi
tht
hei
rjobsorhav
elowj
obsat
isf
act
ion
aremoreli
kel
ytobeabsent.
4.Organi
zati
onalCul
tur
e:Absenteei
sm canoccurduetoanegat
iveor
gani
zati
onalcul
tur
e,hi
gh
str
esslev
els,poormanagementpract
ices,
lackoft
rust
,orat
oxi
cworkenvi
ronment.
5.Low Moral
e and Motiv
ati
on:Employees who f
eelunder
val
ued,unappr
eci
ated,orl
ack
moti
vat
ionmayexhi
bithi
gherr
atesofabsent
eei
sm.
Consequences:
1.ReducedProducti
vi
ty:Absenteei
sm l
eadstoadecreasei
nover
allpr
oducti
vi
tyandef
fi
ciency
asworkislef
tincompleteorneedstoberedi
str
ibut
edamongot
heremployees.
2.Incr
easedCosts:Absent
eeism canresul
tini
ncr
easedcost
sduetoovert
imepaymentsto
covertheabsentemployee'
swor kl
oad,hir
ingt
emporar
yrepl
acement
s,orlossofbusi
ness
opport
unit
ies.
3.Decreased Employee Mor
ale:Fr
equentabsenteei
sm can lead t
o a demot i
vated work
envi
ronment,
decreasedmoral
eamongot herempl
oyees,andasenseofunf
airnessifabsences
arenotpr
operl
ymanaged.
4.DisruptedWor
kflow:Absenteei
sm candi
sruptwor
kfl
ow,
creat
edel
ays,
andaf
fectt
hesmoot
h
functi
oningofpr
ojectsandprocesses.
5.CustomerDissati
sfact
ion:Whenabsentempl
oyeesareresponsi
bleforcust
omerser
vice,
absent
eei
sm canleadtoadeclinei
ncust
omersat
isf
act
ionandlossofbusi
ness.
Measur
est
oReduceLabourAbsent
eei
sm:
1.PromoteaPosit
iveWorkEnv
ironment
:Nurtur
eaposi
ti
veandsuppor
ti
vewor
kcul
tur
ethat
enhancesempl
oyeemoral
eandj
obsatisf
act
ion.
2.Fl
exi
bleWor
kArrangements:
Prov
idef
lexi
bleworkschedules,
telecommutingopt
ions,
orpar
t-
ti
meworkarr
angementstoaccommodat
eempl oyees'
personalresponsi
bil
i
ties.
3.Employ
eeEngagement:Fost
eremployeeengagementthr
oughregul
arf
eedback,r
ecogni
ti
on
progr
ams,ski
l
ldev
elopmentoppor
tuni
ti
es,andcareergr
owthpat
hs.
4.Healt
handWel l
nessPrograms:Impl
ementemploy
eewell
nessprogr
ams,i
ncl
udi
nghealth
check-
ups,counsel
ingser
vices,andstr
essmanagementi
nit
iat
ivest
oaddr
essheal
th-
rel
ated
absent
eeism.
5. Clear
ly Communicat
ed Policies: Est
abli
sh and clear
ly communicate pol
ici
es and
consequencesr
egar
dingabsent
eeism,incl
udingdocument
ingandrepor
ti
ngprocedur
es.
6.Devel
op Support
ive Superv
isor
s:Trai
n super
visor
st o effect
ivel
ymanage absent
eei
sm,
addr
essemployeeconcerns,
andcreat
easupporti
vewor kenvi
ronment.
7.Work-
Lif
eBalance:Encouragework-
li
febal
ancet
hroughpai
dti
meof
f,f
ami
l
y-f
ri
endl
ypol
i
cies,
andsupportf
orpersonalandfamil
yneeds.
8.Rewar
dsandI
ncenti
ves:Implementr
ewardsandr
ecogni
ti
onpr
ogr
amsf
orat
tendanceand
punct
ual
i
tyt
omoti
vateandincenti
vi
zeempl
oyees.
9.EmployeeAssi
stanceProgr
ams:Prov
ideemployeeassist
anceprograms(
EAPs)t
oof
fer
counsel
i
ngandsupportf
oraddr
essi
ngpersonal
andwork-
rel
atedi
ssues.
10.Retur
n-t
o-Work Progr
ams:I mpl
ementst r
uct
ured r
etur
n-t
o-wor
k pr
ogr
ams t
o suppor
t
empl
oyeesret
urni
ngfrom i
ll
ness,
inj
ury
,orper
sonalr
easons.
Byimplement
ingthesemeasures,or
ganizat
ionscaneff
ectiv
elyreducelabourabsent
eei
sm,
enhanceempl
oyeewell
-bei
ng,
andimproveoveral
lpr
oduct
ivi
tyandperfor
mance.