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Canadian organizations generally do not track employee absenteeism
well, even though rates-already high by international standards-are on
the rise, according to findings from the Conference Board of Canada's
survey of employer-sponsored benefits, released this week.
"Absenteeism rates reached their highest point in several years in
2008-09. The implications of absenteeism for organizations are
significant - both in terms of lost wages and productivity, and in the
potential to substantially reduce costs through better management of
their programs," said Karla Thorpe, Associate Director, Compensation and Industrial Relations.
"Canadian organizations offer fairly standard programs - notably sick
leave, short-term disability and long-term disability - to deal with
employee absences. But less than half of surveyed organizations track
absenteeism rates and only a fraction of respondents track costs."
The first step to controlling absenteeism is to measures rates and
direct costs. Organizations have traditionally focused on watching
their long-term disability programs more closely than sick leave or
short-term disability programs. Yet, the survey found that an average
of nine per cent of full-time employees were on short-term disability
in 2008.
Only 40 per cent of the 255 survey respondents indicated that they
track absenteeism rates. These organizations reported that they lost
6.6 days per full-time equivalent position, an increase from previous
Conference Board Compensation Planning Outlook surveys. The direct cost
of absenteeism averaged 2.6 per cent of payroll in these organizations
in 2008. Education and health (8.9 days) and government (7.9 days)
reported the highest absenteeism rates.
The absenteeism rate reported by Canadian organizations is higher than the rate found in both the United States and United Kingdom. According to data from Mercer, organizations in the United States
had an absenteeism rate of 5.3 days per year in a survey conducted in
mid-2008. According to data from SimplyHealth, organizations in the United Kingdom had an absenteeism rate of "less than 5 days per year" in a survey conducted in early 2009.
The report, Beyond Benefits II: Disability Plans and Absence Management
in Canadian Workplaces, outlines steps that organizations can take to
better manage their programs, which include:
- Identifying the root causes of absenteeism;
- Taking proactive steps to improve the health and well-being of
employees;
- Having a return-to-work program in place;
- Focusing on communication and education;
- Getting involved early when employees are absent; and
- Keeping in constant contact with employees on leave.
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