Absenteeism is a widely observed phenomenon that has received a great deal of attention from academics who argue that it is an excellent proxy for individuals' attitude to work and commitment to their jobs. Unfortunately, very little of this work has been done by economists. The little economics that has been done has tended to view absenteeism as a measure of the supply of effort. Given the paucity of economic analysis on absenteeism, the psychology, sociology and management literature is reviewed to examine the extent to which their approach and that of an economist have common ground. Upon careful reading, it becomes evident these disciplines offer similar perspectives. Probably the most researched area of absenteeism is the relationship between absence and turnover. Although there is much contention as to what the relationship between these two phenomena should be, most researchers view this as a means to test the hypothesis of withdrawal. This thesis examines the problem somewhat differently and suggests that the approach of much of the empirical work is misguided. An alternative methodology to examine these phenomena is suggested and tested using a very large and detailed database. The results suggest there is a positive correlation between absence and turnover, although the relationship is more complex than described in the literature. One area where economists have made a great deal of theoretical progress is in the examination of why absence might vary across firms. The key insight is that production technology may affect the shadow cost of absence and if the costs of absence differ across firms, then there will be different levels of motivation to reduce it. It is argued that not only will the shadow cost of absence vary across firms, it will also vary over time and a theoretical model is developed to demonstrate this. There is a presumption in the literature that absenteeism is inversely related with the business cycle. However, the empirical work on the subject only models absence as a supply side phenomenon. This introduces a significant identification problem. At the very time when individuals are least likely to go absent, firms' demand for reliable labour will be at its lowest. The empirical work in the chapter models absence from both the supply and the demand side and the findings confirm that both play a significant role in determining absence. The finding that firms' demand for reliable labour may vary through the business cycle is novel and receives further investigation. The data is dissaggregated to determine the robustness of the relationship between demand side factors and the business cycle. At broad levels of disaggregation, the results remain quite strong, although there does appear to be a difference between unionised and nonunionised workers. At finer levels of dissaggregation the results are not as conclusive. This is attributed to the relatively small samples used to derive the individual absence series and the resulting increased volatility that emerges due increased variability from the use of small samples.

The purpose of this study was to examine factors used by arbitrators in deciding the outcome of disciplinary labor arbitration cases involving excessive employee absenteeism. The seven key tests of just cause identified by Carroll Daugherty in the 1966 Enterprise Wire Co. arbitration case were used as the basis for examining the cases in the study.

Employee absenteeism results in billions of dollars in revenue losses and lost productivity annually. Given the consequences that organizations could face resulting from high levels of work absences, executives should develop strategies to manage absenteeism to support organizational growth and sustainability. Grounded in the theory of planned behavior, the purpose of the single case study was to explore strategies managers in the private insurance industry used to reduce employee absenteeism. The population consisted of 3 managers located in Bermuda who implemented strategies to decrease employee absenteeism from a Bermuda perspective. Data included semistructured interviews, results of the company's 2016 engagement survey, and annual reports from 2014 to 2016 that highlighted the company's commitment to providing strategies to enhance employees' engagement and dedication to its strategic objectives. Through thematic analysis, 4 themes emerged: employee engagement, managerial communication, employee wellness and health promotion programs, and achieving work-life balance. Business managers could use these findings to understand how specific human resources strategies with a focus towards reducing employee absenteeism minimize work absences. Minimizing work absences could contribute to positive social change through increased economic growth in local communities and higher quality of life for its residents.

Absenteeism in the workplace is a longstanding challenge practised by employees for various reasons. It persists despite the numerous efforts undertaken to curb it. The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality is concerned with excessive employee absenteeism. Present research evaluates the City of Tshwane’s human resources policy for managing absenteeism. Causes of absenteeism are critically examined, particular attention being paid to the different leave-types that impinge on service delivery within the City of Tshwane. Within a qualitative research framework, personal semi-structured interviews were used to gather data from staff members of the Leave Capturing Office of the City of Tshwane. The targeted office is responsible for leave management, which includes capturing, recording and encashment of leave. In addition to the questionnaire, the leave management policy as well as sick-leave statistics were brought to bear on this study of absenteeism at the City of Tshwane. Study findings highlighted factors such as job dissatisfaction, unpleasant working relations, favouritism, low wages, lack of resources, stress at the workplace alongside boredom with routine unchallenging tasks as significant causes of absenteeism. The study also found sick-leave to be the form of reported absence most misused by employees. In general, employees take two days sick leave, which is the maximum an employee can take without requiring a medical certificate. Recommendations include that management should invest in a total process that can control and mitigate absenteeism related risks that may adversely affect operations at the City of Tshwane. / Public Administration / M. Admin. (Public Administration)

Employee absenteeism costs organizations billions of dollars annually in losses in revenue and productivity, temporary labor costs, and low morale. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore the strategies information technology (IT) managers in the manufacturing industry used to reduce employee absenteeism. The theory of planned behavior provided the conceptual framework for the study. Data collection included semistructured interviews with 5 IT managers in Maryland and a review of organizational documents addressing nutritional education information, employee participation rates in health programs, and physical activity. Data were analyzed using compilation, disassembly, reassembly, interpretation, and development of conclusions. Through thematic analysis, 4 themes emerged: workplace wellness and health programs, employee engagement, work-life balance programs, and organizational culture. Findings of this study may be used by IT managers to bring about positive change by reducing employee absences, encouraging employment opportunities, contributing to organizational sustainability, and improving quality of life for community members.

Thesis (MPA)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Human beings are constantly confronted with change because their current situation is continually being questioned. In order to change the way humans behave, it is necessary to change the mindset of those who will be influenced by new ideas. Stellenbosch Municipality faces a dilemma because the current management of its employee attendance is having a negative impact on its daily operations – service delivery is becoming an increasingly serious concern because the inability to manage employees’ daily attendance results in inefficient and ineffective rendering of services to citizens. This research addresses the question of whether the change from a manual attendance register to a biometric time and attendance system would more effectively ensure the availability of Municipal employees to improve basic service delivery. Moreover, the dilemma Stellenbosch Municipality faces concerns the monitoring of employees on a daily basis, including the availability of an attendance register for audit purposes. A questionnaire was used to examine the situation and obtain responses from employees who make use of both the manual attendance register and the biometric time and attendance device. It was established that the use of the manual attendance register caused certain problems, although it has served a monitoring purpose for more than 30 years. At the time of answering the questionnaire, some respondents requested the implementation of an electronic system with real-time capability to remove any doubt concerning the confirmation of employee attendance. The feedback from the questionnaire confirms: - the unreliability of a human-dependent employee attendance register; - that delivery of basic services can only be done on condition of the availability of employees who report for duty; and - that the use of the manual attendance system creates unrecoverable losses. The inability of employees to maintain their manual attendance registers led to the recommendation that: - a mechanised system needs to be implemented to reduce administration procedures and to secure compliance and an unqualified audit. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Mense word voortdurend met verandering gekonfronteer omdat hul huidige situasie gedurig bevraagteken word. Ten einde die manier waarop mense optree te verander, is dit nodig om die geestesingesteldheid van diegene wat deur nuwe idees beïnvloed sal word te verander. Die Munisipaliteit Stellenbosch staan voor ’n dilemma omdat die huidige bestuur van sy werknemerbywoning ’n negatiewe uitwerking op sy daaglikse werksaamhede het – dienslewering word ’n al ernstiger saak weens die onvermoë om werknemers se daaglikse bywoningsresultate by onbekwame en ondoeltreffende lewering van dienste aan dorpsbewoners te bestuur. Hierdie navorsing ondersoek die vraagstuk of die omskakeling van ’n bywoningsregister per hand na ’n biometriese tyd- en bywoningstelsel die beskikbaarheid van munisipale werknemers meer effektief sal verseker om basiese dienslewering te verbeter. Hierbenewens het die dilemma van die Munisipaliteit Stellenbosch te doen met die daaglikse monitering van werknemers, waaronder die beskikbaarheid van ’n bywoningsregister vir ouditeringsdoeleindes. ’n Vraelys is gebruik om die situasie te ondersoek en reaksies te verkry van werknemers wat van die bywoningsregister per hand sowel as die biometriese tyd- en bywoningsinstrument gebruik maak. Daar is vasgestel dat die bywoningsregister per hand sekere probleme veroorsaak het, hoewel dit langer as 30 jaar ’n moniteringsdoel gedien het. Met die beantwoording van die vraelys het party respondente die implementering van ’n elektroniese stelsel met intydse vermoë versoek om enige twyfel omtrent die bevestiging van werknemerbywoning te verwyder. Die terugvoering van die vraelys bevestig: - die onbetroubaarheid van ’n menslik afhanklike werknemerbywoningsregister; - dat lewering van basiese dienste slegs kan plaasvind op voorwaarde van die beskikbaarheid van werknemers wat vir diens aanmeld; en - dat die gebruik van die bywoningstelsel per hand onverhaalbare verliese skep. Die onvermoë van werknemers om hul bywoningsregisters per hand by te hou het gelei tot die aanbeveling dat: - ’n gemeganiseerde stelsel geïmplementeer moet word om administratiewe prosedures te verminder; en om ’n ongekwalifiseerde ouditering te verseker.

The purpose of this research is to conduct an evaluation of the return on investment value of Employee Assistance Programmes within the South African context. Assistance to employees originated from the 19th century. The term Employee Assistance Programmes was however formulated in the 1970’s in the United States. The Employee Assistance field has since seen a paradigm shift in its focus, significant growth in its market value (amount of corporate clients internationally investing in EAPs for their employees), the establishment of a regulatory and ethical body through EAPA and its formalization as an academic discipline. This study takes the concept of return on investment value of EAPs further than the ratio of benefit-to-cost. The utilization of different data sources, inclusive of quantitative and qualitative instruments creates an opportunity to explore areas of value perception of different role players in the field. It furthermore maps the subjective and objective experience of behaviour change resulting from personal problems and the journey of change as a result of focused interventions. The consistency of views across different datasources as well as between different industries strengthens the value add claims of EAPs as contributing to the financial bottom line of companies. This study advocates for the importance of programme evaluation as a central part of EAP contracting. It furthermore also highlights the importance of documentation of employee performance for evaluation purposes. It illustrates a journey that can be complicated by the failure to agree to evaluative terms at program inception as well as unstructured data-capturing within companies. Employee behaviour consists of both computable and incomputable elements. Generally the focus of a return on investment study would be the computable components of human behaviour. This investigation however highlights significant elements of risk relating to employee performance challenges that is not easy to include in a ROI but holds significant financial and reputational risks for corporate clients. The influence of individual performance challenges on teams and the challenges it holds for line managers is also highlighted through the qualitative journey of this study. Employee behaviour seems vulnerable to internal and external forces and as a result companies’ productivity can be affected by how individual employees respond to these forces. It could be accepted that interventions that is aimed at stabilising and improving employee behaviour, will inevitably impact work performance and as a result the financial bottom-line of the company. Employee Assistance Programmes often operates in an arena where other programmes aimed at impacting employee behaviour are also present. It is thus difficult to isolate it’s intervention as being one of the main behaviour changing facilitators of the company. This study acknowledges this challenge and changes focus to different data-sources reporting on employee behaviour before and after EAP intervention. The consistency of data across these different data-sources becomes one of the main reporting areas for this study. Eventually the challenges encountered in this study guides the advocacy in the recommendations for a thorough agreement of programme evaluation at inception, the areas that will be included in such evaluations, the availability of Human Resource data to ensure effective evaluation inclusive of ROI assessments, targeted assessments at service provider level with effective software support. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

Absenteeism in the workplace is a longstanding challenge practised by employees for various reasons. It persists despite the numerous efforts undertaken to curb it. The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality is concerned with excessive employee absenteeism. Present research evaluates the City of Tshwane’s human resources policy for managing absenteeism. Causes of absenteeism are critically examined, particular attention being paid to the different leave-types that impinge on service delivery within the City of Tshwane. Within a qualitative research framework, personal semi-structured interviews were used to gather data from staff members of the Leave Capturing Office of the City of Tshwane. The targeted office is responsible for leave management, which includes capturing, recording and encashment of leave. In addition to the questionnaire, the leave management policy as well as sick-leave statistics were brought to bear on this study of absenteeism at the City of Tshwane. Study findings highlighted factors such as job dissatisfaction, unpleasant working relations, favouritism, low wages, lack of resources, stress at the workplace alongside boredom with routine unchallenging tasks as significant causes of absenteeism. The study also found sick-leave to be the form of reported absence most misused by employees. In general, employees take two days sick leave, which is the maximum an employee can take without requiring a medical certificate. Recommendations include that management should invest in a total process that can control and mitigate absenteeism related risks that may adversely affect operations at the City of Tshwane. / Public Administration / M. Admin. (Public Administration)