Absenteeism is costing businesses €1.5 billion per year, a report drawn up by employers’ body Ibec has found.
The study, which is published today, said a total of 11 million days are lost as a result of absence each year and the cost of absenteeism runs to about €818 per employee.
The report said employees missed 5.98 days from work on average, an absence rate of 2.58 per cent. It said this rate was down on the average of 3.38 per cent recorded in its last similar study carried out in 2004, however.
The report also stated that more than four out of 10 companies had invoked disciplinary action due to absenteeism, while almost one-quarter (24 per cent) had sacked an employee due to absenteeism.
The Ibec report is based on data provided by 635 companies employing more than 110,000 people. The survey was conducted in 2010 and is based on full-year 2009 absentee levels.
The estimate of the €1.5 billion cost of absenteeism is based on data provided by 10 per cent of companies in the study.
The report defines absence as “unscheduled disruption of the work process due to days lost as a result of sickness or any other cause not excused through statutory entitlements or company approval”.
It said this did not include annual leave, public holidays, other statutory leave or days lost due to industrial action or lay-offs.
A separate report carried out by the comptroller and auditor general for the Civil Service in 2007 found 5 per cent of available working time was lost due to sickness absence.
Ibec said yesterday that while the level of absenteeism was down, there was “significant scope to further reduce the rate”.
Call centres recorded the highest absence rate, 3.67 per cent, while software companies had the lowest rate at 1.56 per cent.
The report said absence levels were higher in large organisations: 3.58 per cent for companies employing more than 500 employees, compared with 2.17 per cent for companies with fewer than 50 employees.
The main cause of short-term absence cited for both men and women was minor illness.
Some 4 per cent of companies cited alcohol and alcohol-related illness as a leading cause of short-term absence for men, while the figure was 1 per cent for women.
Commenting on the findings, Ibec director of policy Brendan Butler said: “The recession appears to have led to a reduced level of absenteeism; however, it remains a serious social and economic issue.
“Besides its obvious impact on particular workplaces, absence affects the wider economy through loss of potential output and the increased spend on social security. While not all absence can be eliminated, there is significant room for improvement.”
More than one-quarter of respondents indicated it would be possible for them to reduce their absence rate further.
Mr Butler said companies that had successfully reduced absence rates had made absenteeism a strategic priority. He added that a clear absenteeism policy formalised procedures, monitored absence levels and created an attendance culture in which employers recognised that high attendance levels were important for the viability of the business.
“We encourage employers to conduct back-to-work interviews and consider introducing a fit-note policy, similar to that in the UK, where a doctor’s note can specify if an employee is fit to return fully or fit to return under certain conditions. Companies should also design their sick-pay schemes in a way that does not in any way incentivise sick leave.
“Health education and wellness programmes play an important role in managing absence. Employee assistant programmes and confidential counselling services can support employees during times of personal problems and mental illness, two of the top six reasons for long-term illness in males and females.”