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Absenteeism
Absenteeism is defined as the failure of a worker to report for work when he is
scheduled to work. A worker is considered to be scheduled to work when the employer
has work available for him and the worker is aware of it. Authorized absence is also
treated as absence while presence even for a part of the shift is treated as presence for
whole shift. Absence on account of strikes, lockout, layoff, weekly rests or suspension
was not taken into account. Various authorities have variously defined absenteeism.
According to Webster’s Dictionary “ absenteeism is the practice or habit of being
an “absentee” and an “absentee” is one who habitually stays away”.
The Encyclopedia of Social Science (Vol. I, 378) define absenteeism as “the time
lost by avoidable or unavoidable absence of employees, but the time lost by strikes,
or lateness amounting to an hour or two is not included.
According to S.A.S. Murthy “ absenteeism is the failure of workers to report on
the job on any working day when they are expected to be present at work”
Alphons Indana Cyril H.Khisty has formulated a tentative definition of
absenteeism on the basis of replies received by The Indian Labour Bureau from
several employee’s and employer’s organization: “A worker is considered absent
when he is schedule to work and the employer has work available for him and he
does not turn up for work due to his own individual reason. Accordingly, the
absence of such workers as may be on privilege, sick or casual leave with or
without pay is also treated as absence”
Seligman refers absenteeism to its loss in industrial establishment by avoidable or
unavoidable absence of employees.
Mr R.F. Billimoria defined absenteeism as man-shift lost by workers due to
avoidable reason and without obtaining prior permission of the superior.
1
According to Nicholson (1976), Time Lost Index
(T.L.I) = Total days lost x 100_____________
Sample N x Week in the sample period
Labour Bureau of Simla and Annual Surveys of Industries define absenteeism as the
failure of the worker to report for work when he is scheduled to work. However, the two
agencies differ in the interpretation of the term “scheduled to work “
The Labour Bureau does not regard absence from work due to authorized vacation,
privilege, leave, strike, lockout, layoff post-facto regularized period of over-sty following
unauthorized leave as absenteeism.
The labour departments, Government of India define absenteeism as “the total man-shifts
lost because of absentees as a percentage o the total number of man shifts
scheduled”(Singh and Singh, 1966). This definition does not include absence on account
of authorized leave, layoff, retrenchment, strikes, etc.
More specifically absenteeism refers to unauthorized absence from work. Unauthorized
absence includes all cases where work is available, the worker knows about it but fails to
report for duty and the employer has no prior information on workers not reporting for
work.
In literature on absenteeism a distinction is often made between “ absence “ and “
absenteeism “ . The term absence refer to all “ stay away “ from work whether authorized
or unauthorized while absenteeism refer to only unauthorized absence (Vaid, 1966). The
two rates are calculated by using the following methods.
Absence rate = authorized leave + unauthorized leave X 100
Man shifts actually worked
Absenteeism rate = unauthorized absence X 100
2
Man-shifts actually worked
Absenteeism in States
State-wise absenteeism rate amongst the directly employed regular
workers during the year 2000 is presented in Table 1. It is observed that
the rate of absenteeism in Census Sector at all India level during the year
2000 has been recorded at 10.43 percent as compared to that of 10.79
percent during the year 1999. Out of 31 States/Union Territories, the rate
of absenteeism was higher in 9 States than that of the national average.
The highest absenteeism rate of 17.30 percent was reported in Himachal
Pradesh, followed by Maharashtra (14.48 percent) and Goa (14.30
percent), whereas the lowest absenteeism rate was recorded in Nagaland
at 1.98 percent
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Absenteeism in Sectors by State
Table 2 shows the State-wise and Sector-wise absenteeism rates during
the year 2000. For the purpose of studying absenteeism by type of
ownership, units have been divided into three sectors, viz., Public, Joint
and Private Sectors. It is observed that at all India level, the absenteeism
rate was 10.48 percent in Public Sector, 11.25 percent in Joint Sector and
10.33 percent in Private Sector. In public sector, the rate of absenteeism
varied between a highest rate of 17.40 percent in Chandigarh to lowest
rate of 0.41 percent in Nagaland. In Joint Sector, the absenteeism rate
varied between a highest rate of 14.90 percent in Delhi to a lowest rate of
2.70 percent in Dadar & Nagar Haveli. In Private Sector, the absenteeism
rate varied between a highest rate of 17.53 percent in Himachal Pradesh to
a lowest rate of 1.98 percent in Nagaland.
4
Table:– Man-days lost due to Industrial Disputes in India,
1995-2001
Number of disputes Number of man days lost (in millions)
Year Strikes Lockouts Strikes Lockouts
1995 732 334 5.7 10.6
1996 763 403 7.8 12.5
1997 793 512 6.3 10.7
1998 665 432 9.4 12.7
1999 540 387 10.6 16.2
2000 426 345 12 16.8
2001 221 222 2.5 10.8
Source: Economic Survey 1995-2000 & 2001-2002
Table:– Man-days lost due to Industrial Disputes in
West Bengal, 1995-2001
Number of disputes Number of man days lost (in millions)
Year Strikes Lockouts Strikes Lockouts
1995 33 136 1.25 5.25
1996 17 144 1.67 10.47
1997 29 161 0.62 7.64
1998 25 213 0.22 11.35
1999 34 264 3.90 17.77
2000 27 286 3.11 16.06
2001 20 305 1.37 19.80
Source : Labour in West Bengal
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From the above tables we can have clear idea of how Lockout and Strikes affecting
smooth functioning of business. Specially trend of Lockout is increasing more than
Strikes and Man Days lost due to Lockout is higher than Strikes. The proportion of
Strikes in Industrial Disputes has declined even more sharply as compared to that
of Lockouts.
But in HNG Strikes and lockouts are very rare phenomena. So as far as absenteeism
due to strikes and lockout is concerned, HNG is not having such type of problem.
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Types of Absenteeism
Economists have classified the concept of Absenteeism in many types according to
their philosophy and logic. Kerr classified Absenteeism in the following categories:
1. Total Absenteeism.
2. Excused Absenteeism.
3. Un-excused Absenteeism.
4. Vacation Absenteeism
Total Absenteeism.
It indicates absence of workers at a given time who are schedule to work but remain
absent for any reason whatsoever excluding lay-off and lock-out.
Excused Absenteeism.
Kerr stated that excused Absenteeism means absence of work for a bonafide cause. It
may be because of self-illness or due to accident in the course of employment.
Un-excused Absenteeism.
It means an absence as a habit and not as a necessary. For example, a worker
proceeded on 10 days leave out of his earned leave with prior sanction but overstayed
for a month, then this overstayed period can be classified as un-excused absenteeism.
Vacation Absenteeism.
So far as Vacation is concerned, workers normally visit to their native places during
summer vacation of their children.
The Labour Bureau, Simla classified absenteeism in two types:
1. Total Absenteeism
2. True Absenteeism
Total Absenteeism
It means total number of man-days lost due to all reason. Reason may be leave with
wages, authorized leave, unauthorized leave, sickness leave, accident, lay-off, casual
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leave, strikes and hartals and other reasons such as visit to native place and paid
holiday.
True Absenteeism
It means out of the above causes the following absences are to be excluded – absence
for which works are not directly or personally responsible. It includes lay-off, lock-
outs, strikes and hartals. The absence due to availing casual and privilege leave is also
excluded because it is the legitimate right of the workers to enjoy these leaves.
So from the above we can summarize different types of Absenteeism as follows:
1 Authorized Absenteeism
2 Unauthorized Absenteeism
3 Innocent Absenteeism
4 Culpable Absenteeism
Authorized Absenteeism
If a worker is absent himself from work by taking permission from his superior and
applying for leave, such Absenteeism is called as Authorized Absenteeism.
Unauthorized Absenteeism
If a worker is absent himself from work without informing or taking permission and
without applying for leave, such Absenteeism is called Unauthorized Absenteeism.
Innocent Absenteeism
Innocent absenteeism refers to employees who are absent for reasons beyond their
control; like sickness and injury. Innocent absenteeism is not culpable which means
that it is blameless. In a labour relations context this means that it cannot be remedied
or treated by disciplinary measures.
Culpable Absenteeism
Culpable absenteeism refers to employees who are absent without authorization for
reasons, which are within their control. For instance, an employee who is on sick leave
even though he/she is not sick, and it can be proven that the employee was not sick, is
guilty of culpable absenteeism. To be culpable is to be blameworthy. In a labour
relations context this means that progressive discipline can be applied.
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The Cost of Absenteeism
Decrease in Productivity
employees may be carrying an extra workload or supporting new or replacement staff
employees may be required to train and orientate new or replacement workers
staff morale and employee service may suffer
Financial Costs
payment of overtime may result
cost of self-insured income protection plans must be borne plus the wage costs of
replacement cost
premium costs may rise for insured plans
Administrative Costs
staff time is required to secure replacement employees or to re-assign the remaining
employees
staff time is required to maintain and control absenteeism
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The Chronic Absentee Worker
A person who is a habitual absentee worker is called a chronic absentee worker. Such
a person as compared to regular employee is absent from work not so much because of
job or environment factors. Chronic absenteeism is a state of behavior and needs
special kind if treatment. Vaid (1967) in a classic study of the behavior manifestation
of chronic workers studied 50 cases histories of such workers from textile mills and
developed a typology of them. He classified the 50 cases into five following categories
and described the typical behavior characteristics of these types.
1. Entrepreneurs . Such chronic absentees were found to be engaged in several
social and cultural activities for status, power, recognition and money and the
millwork was too meager to satisfy al these interests. Yet most of them wanted to
preserve their job because if provided security, fringe benefits, like housing, purchases
at mill shop, loans and provident fund contribution. They had no complaints against
work, company or supervisors and were found to belong to landowner and artisan
families. They also changed jobs frequency to improve their status and occasionally
gambled and drank.
2. Status Seeker: They enjoyed the ascribed status and were keen to achieve and
maintain it. Since they undertook many social activities they were mostly absent from
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work. They were vocal and provided counseling and guidance to others. Hence, they
carried more weight with other employees.
3. Epicureans: The primary objective of epicureans was comfort and pleasure. They
were characterized by excessive concern for physical comforts at the cost of money,
did not change job yet had no involvement with the work. Except for the present job
they did not involve themselves in any other economic activity. They were generally
passive and took no responsibility.
4. Family oriented . They desired to be good family providers, regular employees
and respectable citizens. However, over involvement with family distracted them from
the very good of being a regular employee and good citizen. They were found to be
withdrawn and disorganized.
5. Sick and old .: Some chronic absentees stayed away from work because of ill
health, weak constitution, chronic illness and just old age. Yet they were compelled to
hold on to work for economic reasons. However, their physical conditions made them
less responsive to work.
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The Causes of Absenteeism
The causes of absenteeism are many and include:
Serious accidents and illness
Low morale
Poor working conditions
Boredom on the job
Lack of job satisfaction
Inadequate leadership and poor supervision
Personal problems (financial, marital, substance abuse, child care etc.)
Poor physical fitness
Inadequate nutrition
Transportation problems
The existence of income protection plans (collective agreement)
Provisions, which continue income during periods of illness or accident.
Stress
Workload
Employee discontent with a collective bargaining process and/or its results
Low level of education.
Alcoholism
Lack of recreational facility.
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Guidelines for Absenteeism Control
There are two types of absenteeism, each of which requires a different type of approach.
1. Innocent Absenteeism
Innocent absenteeism refers to employees who are absent for reasons beyond their
control; like sickness and injury. Innocent absenteeism is not culpable which means that
it is blameless. In a labour relations context this means that it can not be remedied or
treated by disciplinary measures.
2. Culpable Absenteeism
Culpable absenteeism refers to employees who are absent without authorization for
reasons, which are within their control. For instance, an employee who is on sick leave
even though he/she is not sick, and it can be proven that the employee was not sick, is
guilty of culpable absenteeism. To be culpable is to be blameworthy. In a labour relations
context this means that progressive discipline can be applied.
For the large majority of employees, absenteeism is legitimate, innocent absenteeism,
which occurs infrequently. Procedures for disciplinary action apply only to culpable
absenteeism. Many organizations take the view that through the process of individual
absentee counselling and treatment, the majority of employees will overcome their
problems and return to an acceptable level of regular attendance.
Identifying Excessive Absenteeism
Attendance records should be reviewed regularly to be sure that an employee's sick-leave
days are excessive compared to other employees. If a supervisor suspects that an
employee is excessively absent, this can be confirmed through reviewing the attendance
records.
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If all indications show that an employee is excessively absent, the next step is to gather as
much information as possible in order to get a clearer picture of the situation. The
employees' files should be reviewed and the employee’s immediate supervisor should
document all available information on the particular employee's history.
Individual Communication
After all available information has been gathered, the administrator or supervisor should
individually meet with each employee whom has been identified as having higher than
average or questionable (or pattern) absences. This first meeting should be used to bring
concerns regarding attendance to the employee's attention. It is also an opportunity to
discuss with the employee, in some depth, the causes of his or her attendance problem
and possible steps he or she can take to remedy or control the absences. Listen carefully
to the employee's responses.
The tone of the meeting should not be adversarial, but a major purpose of the interview is
to let the employee know that management treats attendance as a very important
component of overall work performance. Keep your comments non-threatening and
work-oriented. Stick to the facts (i.e. patters, profiles, rates etc.). The employee should be
given a copy of there attendance report with absences highlighted for discussion.
This interview will give you the opportunity to explore in depth with the employee the
reasons for his or her absence. Gather facts - do not make any assumptions. Provide
support and counselling and offer guidance as the occasion demands to assist the
employee to deal with the specific cause of the absence.
Often, after the initial meeting employees reduce their absenteeism. The meeting shows
that you are concerned and that absenteeism is taken seriously. The employee's
attendance should be closely monitored until it has been reduced to acceptable levels.
Appropriate counselling should take place as is thought necessary. If a marked
improvement has been shown, commend the employee. The meeting should be
documented and a copy placed in the employee's file.
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Proof of Illness
Sometimes it is helpful in counselling employees with excessive innocent or culpable
absenteeism to inquire or verify the nature and reasons of their absence.
The extent to which an employer may inquire into the nature of and reasons for an
employee's absence from the workplace is a delicate issue. The concepts of an employee's
privacy and an employer's need for information affecting the workplace often come into
conflict. Seldom is the conflict more difficult to resolve than where personal medical
information is involved.
Unions will often strongly object to any efforts by management to inquire more deeply
into the nature of an employee's illness. You will need to consider the restraints of any
language in collective agreements in relation to this issue.
Generally speaking, however, the following "rules of thumb" can be derived from the
existing jurisprudence:
1. There is a prevailing right to privacy on the part of an employee unless the
employer can demonstrate that its legitimate business interests necessitate some
intrusion into the employee's personal affairs.
2. When such intrusion is justified it should be strictly limited to the degree of
intrusion necessitated by the employer's interests.
3. An employee has a duty to notify his employer of an intended absence, the cause
of the absence and its expected duration. This information is required by the
employer to meet its legitimate concerns to have at its disposal facts which will
enable it to schedule work and organize its operation.
4. An absent employee has an obligation to provide his employer with information
regarding any change to his condition or circumstances relating to it which may
affect the employer's needs as described in item #3 above. As such, the interests
of the employer in having this information outweighs the individual employee's
right to privacy.
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5. An employer rule requiring proof for every absence is unreasonable if an
absenteeism problem does not exist.
6. A mere assertion by the person claiming to be sick is not satisfactory proof.
7. The obligation to prove sickness, where the employer requires proof, rests with
the employee.
8. An employer is entitled upon reasonable and probable grounds to refuse to accept
a physician's certificate until it contains sufficient information to satisfy the
employer's reservations. (i.e. seen by physician, some indication of return to
work, etc.). Non-production of a required medical certificate could result in loss
of pay until the certificate is produced.
9. Where a medical certificate is rejected by an employer (as in #8 above) the
employer must state the grounds for rejection and must point out to the employee
what it requires to satisfy the onus of proof.
10. An employer may require an employee to prove fitness for work where it has
reasonable grounds to do so. In a health care setting the nature of the employer's
business gives it a reasonably irresistible interest in this personal information for
the purpose of assessing fitness.
11. Where any unusual circumstances raise reasonable suspicion that an employee
might have committed an abuse of an income protection program an employer
may require an employee to explain such circumstances. For example, an
employer may require responses as to whether the illness confined an employee to
his/her bed or home; whether an employee engaged in any outside activity and the
reasons for the activity.
In summary then, any intrusion into the employee's privacy must be shown to be
reasonable, based on the individual circumstances and in relation to the operation of the
employer's business. If income protection abuse is suspected the extent to which such
intrusion is "reasonable" would be far greater than in the case where it is not. If you are
not clear on whether an inquiry is legally justified it is advisable to consult your superior.
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After the Initial Interview
If after the initial interview, enough time and counselling efforts, as appropriate, have
passed and the employee's absenteeism has not improved, it may be necessary to take
further action. Further action must be handled with extreme caution - a mistake in
approach, timing or severity can be crippling from both an administration and labour
relation's point of view.
Determining whether counselling or disciplinary action is appropriate, depends on
whether the employee's absences are innocent or culpable. If the employee's absenteeism
is made up of both innocent and culpable absences, then each type must be dealt with as a
separate issue. In a labour relation's context innocent absenteeism and culpable
absenteeism are mutually exclusive. One in no way affects the other.
Counselling Innocent Absenteeism
Innocent absenteeism is not blameworthy and therefore disciplinary action is not
justified. It is obviously unfair to punish someone for conduct which is beyond his/her
control. Absenteeism, no matter what the cause, imposes losses on the employer who is
also not at fault. The damage suffered by the employer must be weighed against the
employee's right to be sick. There is a point at which the employer's right to expect the
employee to attend regularly and fulfill the employment contract will outweigh the
employee's right to be sick. At such a point the termination of the employee may be
justified, as will be discussed.
The procedure an employer may take for innocent absenteeism is as follows:
1. Initial counselling(s)
2. Written counselling(s)
3. Reduction(s) of hours and/or job reclassification
4. Suspend
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InitialCounselling
Presuming you have communicated attendance expectations generally and have already
identified an employee as a problem, you will have met with him or her as part of your
attendance program and you should now continue to monitor the effect of these efforts on
his or her attendance.
If the absences are intermittent, meet with the employee each time he/she returns to work.
If absence is prolonged, keep in touch with the employee regularly and stay updated on
the status of his/her condition. (Indicate your willingness to assist.)
You may require the employee to provide you with regular medical assessments. This
will enable you to judge whether or not there is any likelihood of the employee providing
regular attendance in future. Regular medical assessments will also give you an idea of
what steps the employee is taking to seek medical or other assistance. Formal meetings in
which verbal warnings are given should be given as appropriate and documented. If no
improvement occurs written warning may be necessary.
Written Counselling
If the absences persist, you should meet with the employee formally and provide him/her
with a letter of concern. If the absenteeism still continues to persist then the employee
should be given a second letter of concern during another formal meeting. This letter
would be stronger worded in that it would warn the employee that unless attendance
improves, termination may be necessary.
Reduction(s) of hours and or job reclassification
In between the first and second letters the employee may be given the option to reduce
his/her hours to better fit his/her personal circumstances. This option must be voluntarily
accepted by the employee and can not be offered as an ultimatum, as a reduction in hours
is a reduction in pay and therefore can be looked upon as discipline.
If the nature of the illness or injury is such that the employee is unable to fulfill the
requirements of his/her job, but could for example benefit from modified work, counsel
the employee to bid on jobs of such type if they become available. (N.B. It is inadvisable
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to "build" a job around an employee's incapacitates particularly in a unionized
environment. The onus should be on the employee to apply for an existing position
within his/her capabilities.)
Suspend
Only when all the previously noted needs and conditions have been met and everything
has been done to accommodate the employee can suspension be considered. An
Arbitrator would consider the following in ruling on an innocent absenteeism suspension
case.
1. Has the employee done everything possible to regain their health and return to work?
2. Has the employer provided every assistance possible? (i.e. counselling, support, time off.)
3. Has the employer informed the employee of the unworkable situation resulting from their
sickness?
4. Has the employer attempted to accommodate the employee by offering a more suitable
position (if available) or a reduction of hours?
5. Has enough time elapsed to allow for every possible chance of recovery?
6. Has the employer treated the employee prejudicially in any way?
As is evident, a great deal of time and effort must elapse before suspesion can take place.
These points would be used to substantiate or disprove the following two-fold test.
1. The absences must be shown to be clearly excessive.
2. It must be proven that the employee will be unable to attend work on a regular basis in
the future.
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Corrective Action for Culpable Absenteeism
As already indicated, culpable absenteeism consists of absences where it can be
demonstrated that the employee is not actually ill and is able to improve his/her
attendance.
Presuming you have communicated attendance expectations generally, have identified the
employee as a problem, have met with him/her as part of your attendance program, made
your concerns on his specific absenteeism known and have offered counselling as
appropriate, with no improvement despite your positive efforts, disciplinary procedures
may be appropriate.
The procedures for corrective/progressive discipline for culpable absenteeism are
generally the same as for other progressive discipline problems. The discipline should not
be prejudicial in any way. The general procedure is as follows: [Utilizing counselling
memorandum]
1. Initial Warning(s)
2. Written Warning(s)
3. Suspension(s)
4. Discharge
Verbal Warning
Formally meet with the employee and explain that income protection is to be used only
when an employee is legitimately ill. Advise the employee that his/her attendance record
must improve and be maintained at an improved level or further disciplinary action will
result. Offer any counselling or guidance as is appropriate. Give further verbal warnings
as required. Review the employee's income protection records at regular intervals. Where
a marked improvement has been shown, commend the employee. Where there is no
improvement a written warning should be issued.
Written Warning
Interview the employee again. Show him/her the statistics and point out that there has
20
been no noticeable (or sufficient) improvement. Listen to the employee to see if there is a
valid reason and offer any assistance you can. If no satisfactory explanation is given,
advise the employee that he/she will be given a written warning. Be specific in your
discussion with him/her and in the counselling memorandum as to the type of action to be
taken and when it will be taken if the record does not improve. As soon as possible after
this meeting provide the employee personally with the written warning and place a copy
of his/her file. The written warning should identify any noticeable pattern
If the amount and/or pattern continue, the next step in progressive discipline may be a
second, stronger written warning. Your decision to provide a second written warning as
an alternative to proceeding to a higher level of discipline (i.e. suspension) will depend
on a number of factors. Such factors are, the severity of the problem, the credibility of the
employee's explanations, the employee's general work performance and length of service.
Suspension (only after consultation with the appropriate superiors)
If the problem of culpable absenteeism persists, following the next interview period and
immediately following an absence, the employee should be interviewed and advised that
he/she is to
be suspended. The length of the suspension will depend again on the severity of the
problem, the credibility of the employee's explanation, the employee's general work
performance and length of service. Subsequent suspensions are optional depending on the
above condition.
Dismissal (only after consultation with the appropriate superiors)
Dismissals should only be considered when all of the above conditions and procedures
have been met. The employee, upon displaying no satisfactory improvement, would be
dismissed on the grounds of his/her unwillingness to correct his/her absence record.
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There are some others steps that should be taken from Management
side to minimize absenteeism.
Change Management Style: We are all aware of the fact that when
employees call in ill, it does not mean they are truly too physically ill to work. One
reason, outside of illness, that employees are absent is stress, and the number one
reason employees are stressed has to do with their relationship with their
manager/supervisor. Management styles that are too authoritarian tend to promote
high levels of absenteeism among employees. Authoritarian managers are managers
who have poor listening skills, set unreachable goals, have poor communication skills,
and are inflexible. In other words, they yell too much, blame others for problems, and
make others feel that it must be their way or the "highway." Authoritarian managers
tend to produce high absenteeism rates. By identifying managers who use an
authoritarian style, and providing them with management training, you will be taking a
positive step not only toward reducing absenteeism, but also reducing turnover, job
burnout, and employee health problems such as
backaches and headaches.
Change Working Conditions: The employees in your company probably
work in a well-lighted climate controlled building. The working conditions I am
referring to relate to coworker relationships. Not only does relationship stress occur
between the employee and manager, but it also exists between employees. Frequently
I hear employees say they did not go to work because they are fearful of or angry with
another employee. These employees usually report they just could not deal with "so
and so" today, so they called in ill. Companies that adopted policies and values that
promote employee respect and professionalism, and promote an internal conflict
resolution procedure, are companies that reduce employee stress. A reduction in
employee stress reduce employee Absenteeism.
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Provide Incentives: Giving employees incentives for reduced absenteeism is
not the same as rewarding or giving employees bonuses for reduced absenteeism. An
incentive provides an employee with a boost to their motivation to avoid unnecessary
absenteeism. It simply helps the employee decide to go to work versus staying home
and watching Jerry Springer. The types of incentive programs used by companies are
numerous. Some companies allow employees to cash-in unused sick days at the end of
every quarter, others give an employee two hours of bonus pay for every month of
perfect attendance; and still others provide employees with a buffet lunch, a certificate
of achievement, or even a scratch-off card concealing prizes. The type of incentive
program that your company uses should be one created especially for your company.
You can create an incentive program tailored to your unique company by allowing
employees to help you develop the incentive program. For example, your employees
may not care about receiving a $25.00 U.S. saving bond for perfect attendance, but
they might respond very well to being able to leave one hour early on Friday if they
have perfect attendance all week. The duration of the incentive program is also very
important. Once again allow your employees to help guide you to determine the length
of time between incentives. Some companies find that they can simply reward
employees with perfect attendance once a year, while others decide once a month is
best, and still others decide once a week works best. The general rule of thumb is to
reward workers more frequently the younger they are and the more difficult the work
is to perform. Also, it is best to start with small incentives and work up to larger ones
if necessary.
Develop an Attendance Policy: Every Company should have an
attendance policy. An attendance policy allows a manager to intervene with an
employee who is frequently absent. Besides stress as a primary reason for employee
absenteeism, other causes relate to alcoholism, domestic violence, and family
problems. If you confront an employee about his or her frequent absenteeism, and they
inform you it is due to personal problems, consider referring the employee to an
Employee Assistance Program (EAP). If the employee's absenteeism relates to a
medical problem or a family member with a medical problem, you may have to
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consider allowing the employee to use the benefits allowed to them under the
American's with Disability Act (ADA) or the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Early identification of these employees will get them back to work as fast as possible.
Lastly, make sure that you have an attorney review your attendance policy to make
sure it does not violate any State or Federal labor laws. By incorporating the above
four strategies into your company you will not only reduce absenteeism you will
reduce employee burnout, turnover, poor morale, and workplace negativism.
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Trends in Absenteeism
Recent surveys in different organization indicate the following trends in
absenteeism.
The higher the rate of pay and the greater the length of service of the employee,
the fewer the absences.
As an organization grows, there is a tendency towards higher rates of absenteeism
Absenteeism is generally higher in the night shift than in the day shift.
The rate of Absenteeism is the lowest on pay day; it increases considerably on the
following the payment of wages and bonus.
Single employees are absent more frequently than married employees
Younger employees are absent more frequently than older employees but the latter
are absent for longer periods of time.
Unionized organizations have higher absenteeism rates than non-union
organizations
Absenteeism is higher during the sowing (March – April – May) and harvesting
season.
25
Job Satisfaction and Absenteeism
Job Satisfaction means the degree to which a person is satisfied with his/her job. Or it
can be defined as a person’s felling of satisfaction on the job or as a pleasurable
emotional satisfaction resulting from the appraisal of one’s job as achieving or
facilitating the achievement of one’s job values.
So from above definition we can say that job satisfaction means one’s
perception/expectation regarding the factors, which they feel is necessary to achieve
the fulfillment of unsatisfied needs. So from this we can say that the factor, which
motivates or de-motivates an employee are also the factors which plays a very vital
role in determining the satisfaction level of an employee’s job.
There is negative relationship between Job Satisfaction and Absenteeism. An
employee who is dissatisfied with his/her job likely to miss work very regularly but an
employee with satisfaction regarding his/her job will avoid neglecting the work. And
absenteeism will create bad impact to the organizational goal achievement due to idle
time cost. And simultaneously the duration to achieve the goal extends.
26
Productivity and Absenteeism
Absenteeism caused in additional manpower or its leads to decrease in production.
The study group of productivity and incentive set up by the National Commission on
lab our defined productivity in this terms;
“ Productivity is the measure of the extent to which the recourses are utilized to
produce goods and services it measures this through determining the ration between
the output of wealth or net result and the input of resources .It can be measured
between any two stages in a production processes. In other words we can measure
productivity for a single operation in a process or the entire process or the entire plant,
or the industry or the economy as a whole. It can be measured for each resource, i.e.
for a man, for a group of men, a major material, capital, power, etc. Two productivity
values will, however, be comparable if both of them are for the same resource, are in
terms of the same unit, and are for the same stages of a productive process “
If we look at every organization that are very much successful in production
department, are having large number of employees with high Job Satisfaction and low
absenteeism rate because productivity of an employee depends upon their satisfaction
and if a worker is satisfied then he will be less absent from work. An organization is
productive if it achieves its goals and does so by transferring inputs to outputs at the
lowest cost. As such, productivity implies a concern for both effectiveness and
efficiency and this will arise when the maximum number of employees will be present
and simultaneously satisfied with his work. . If a worker remains absent due to self-
sickness or for some family problems, there would be a slackness and carelessness in
the work. It breeds instability and frittering away of energy. The productivity of that
worker will be reduced. Low productivity affects industrial production, which is the
base of development and growth of the industry. Thus absenteeism reduces the
productivity of labour that ultimately hampers the growth and development of the
industry.
27
Prokopenko of the I.L.O. converts the total productivity of a firm into the following
formula;
Ot
Pt = -----------------
L+C+R+O
Where Pt = total productivity
L = Labour input factor
C = Capital input factor
R = Raw material and purchased parts input.
O = Other miscellaneous goods and services input factor (including
management)
Ot= Total output
“A proper productivity index for management use, however is dependent not only on
considering all factors, but also on how the factors are defined and used”
The system concept is very important in the area of productivity, how the various
factors of production interact and make up an integrated whole.
28
29
Chapter - 3
Statement of Absenteeism in the Hindustan National Glass and Industries Limited, Rishra for the period starting from 2002 to 2005
(I)Year
(ii)Authorized
AbsenteeismRate (%)
(iii)Unauthorized Absenteeism
Rate (%)
(iv)Total Absenteeism
Rate (%)
2002-2003
7.15 5.68 13.51
2003-2004
7.15 4.58 11.74
2004-2005
6.04 4.42 10.47
30
MONTH 2004-2005
UNAUTHORIZED ABSENTEEISM
RATE (%)
AUTHORIZED ABSENTEEISM
RATE (%)
TOTAL ABSENTEEISM
RATE (%)
APRIL 2004 4.61 7.72 12.33
MAY 2004 6.08 8.38 14.47
JUNE 2004 5.99 7.46 13.59
JULY 2004 4.52 4.53 9.05
AUGUST 2004 4.08 3.37 7.45
SEPTEMBER 2004 3.46 5.95 9.41
31
OCTOBER 2004 3.43 4.09 7.52
NOVEMBER 2004 5.45 6.66 12.11
DECEMBER 2004 5.18 6.23 11.41
JANUARY 2005 3.53 5.55 9.08
FEBRUARY 2005 3.52 6.83 10.35
MARCH 2005 3.94 5.74 9.68
Pictorial representation of the above table can be shown as follows:
32
Figure: Absenteeism rate for the year 2004-2005Average rate of Absenteeism = 13.51
MONTH 2003-2004
UNAUTHORIZED ABSENTEEISM
RATE (%)
AUTHORIZED ABSENTEEISM
RATE (%)
TOTAL ABSENTEEISM
RATE (%)
33
APRIL 2003 5.07 9.20 14.27
MAY 2003 11.56 12.79 24.35
JUNE 2003 7.32 7.76 15.08
JULY 2003 3.58 6.41 9.99
AUGUST 2003 2.92 4.09 7.01
SEPTEMBER 2003 2.22 4.44 6.66
OCTOBER 2003 3.83 5.61 9.44
NOVEMBER 2003 3.86 6.39 10.25
DECEMBER 2003 2.84 7.60 10.44
JANUARY 2004 2.62 6.23 8.85
FEBRUARY 2004 5.45 7.79 13.24
MARCH 2004 4.61 8.05 12.66
Pictorial representation of the above table can be shown as follows:
34
Figure: Absenteeism rate for the year 2003-2004Average rate of Absenteeism = 11.74
35
MONTH 2002-2003
UNAUTHORIZED ABSENTEEISM
RATE (%)
AUTHORIZED ABSENTEEISM
RATE (%)
TOTAL ABSENTEEISM
RATE (%)
APRIL 2002 9.21 8.52 17.73
MAY 2002 10.44 12.34 22.78
JUNE 2002 9.47 12.04 21.51
JULY 2002 4.70 7.04 11.74
AUGUST 2002 4.62 5.63 10.25
SEPTEMBER 2002 4.26 4.79 9.05
OCTOBER 2002 4.62 4.88 9.5
NOVEMBER 2002 4.98 8.54 13.52
DECEMBER 2002 4.32 8.37 12.69
JANUARY 2003 3.85 6.83 10.68
FEBRUARY 2003 3.55 7.13 10.67
MARCH 2003 4.4 8.46 12.86
Pictorial representation of the above table can be shown as follows
36
Figure: Absenteeism rate for the year 2003-2004Average rate of Absenteeism = 10.47
By going through the record of different years it has been found that during some
month the rate of absenteeism is as high as 22 % to 24 % while in some month it is
low as 6 % to 7 %.
Comparatively high rate of absenteeism in the month of May and June is due to
leave taken by the workers for visiting their native place (agriculture works and
marriage occasion) and don’t come back in schedule date.
LEAVE POSITION FOR THE YEAR 2004
37
P.L C.L E.S.I M.L ABSENT L.W.P
5163 1282 3222 1257 5270 895
PL: Pleasure LeaveCL: Casual LeaveESI: Employees State Insurance LWP: Leave without PayML: Medical Leave
EMPLOYEES JOINED AND LEFT STATE WISE FOR YEAR 2004
38
STATE JOINED LEFT % LEFTANDHRA PARDESH
3 0 0.00
BIHAR 16 3 18.75
CHHATTISHGARH
3 2 66.67
JHARKHAND 7 2 28.57
ORISSA 40 25 62.50
PONDICHERY 5 3 60.00
UTTAR PARDESH
29 3 10.34
WEST BENGAL 79 19 24.05
MADHYA PARDESH
1 0 0.00
N.B 5 0 0.00
Pictorial representation of the above table can be shown as follows
39
Percentages of respondent respond to factors:
40
1: ESI coverage?
Total respondent = 50
Under ESI =50
Not under ESI =0
2: Chronically ill?
Total respondent = 50
Yes = 32
No = 18
3: Loan taken from any agency?
41
Total respondent = 50
Yes = 37
No = 13
4: Like job or not?
Total respondent = 50
Yes = 32
No = 18
5: Local resident?
Total respondent = 50
Yes = 19
42
No = 31
6: Visit native place?
Total respondent =50
Monthly = 6
Quarterly = 7
Half yearly = 18
Yearly = 19
7: Agricultural land?
Total respondent = 50
Yes = 33
No = 17
43
8: How often do they apply for leave?
Total respondent = 50
a) In a week = 1
b) In a fortnight = 6
c) In a month = 16
d) In a six month = 14
e) In a year = 13
9: Require leave for which of the following reason?
Total respondent = 50
1) Marriage = 24
2) Agricultural works = 6
44
3) Sickness = 25
4) Going around with friends = 8
5) Fear from internal people = 5
6) No interest in work = 9
7) Not good relation with
departmental colleague
and supervisor = 4
8) Fear from accident = 3
10) Special food habits?
Total respondent = 50
1) Pan = 4
2) Gutka = 3
45
3) Biri / Cigarette = 20
4) Khaini = 15
5) Wine(Sharab) = 6
11: Other source of income?
Total respondent = 50
Yes = 21
No = 24
How Absenteeism affects Over Time payment in HNG
Rishra
46
Figure:Total wages including Over Time and Total Leaves
during 2004-2005
YearTotal Wages
(Rs/-)Over Time
(Rs/-)
Total leave(man days
lost)
OT % of Total Wages
April (2004)-March (2005)
28172309 5338483 17380 18.93
47
MonthTotal Wages
(Rs/-)Over Time
(Rs/-)
Total leave(man days
lost)
OT % of Total Wages
April 2004 2142512.81 356213.01 1632 16.63
May 2004 2255613.97 604010.41 1903 26.78
June 2004 2070155.82 521133.46 1753 25.17
July 2004 2214656.63 523066.79 1236 23.62
August 2004 2388144.21 449952.02 1075 18.84
September 2004 2355614.96 391083.90 1342 16.60
October 2004 2623101.92 560904.08 1075 21.38
November 2004 2355496.06 561497.48 1643 23.84
December 2004 2355614.96 391083.90 1628 16.60
January 2005 2611737.50 376803.45 1325 14.43
February 2005 2275928.74 252582.59 1357 11.10
March 2005 2523739.17 350157.30 1411 13.87
48
Pictorial representation of the above table can be shown as follows
After going through the table of over time payment, it is very much clear that
during those months when absenteeism rate is very high (May & June), the over
time payment is also very high (25% to 26%). And in those months when
absenteeism rate is low, over time payment is also low (definitely there are some
other factors also involved). But in HNG Rishra Absenteeism has an affect on Over
Time Payment.
49
Method 1
Let X denotes total absenteeism rate (in percentage) and Y the loss of production.
Let, us change the origin of X and Y to 13.59 and 1,00,000 respectively and also
the scale of Y to 10,000 and let us write
xi = X i–13.59 and yi = (Y I –100000) / 10000
Calculation for Correlation Coefficient
50
xiyi
- 17
.262
- 13
.112
0
27.6
94
354.
892
∑xi
yi =
35
2.21
2
Yi2
187.
69
222.
01
1600
.00
37.2
1
3340
.84
∑yi
2 =
53
87.7
5
yi=
Yi-
1000
00/
1000
0
13.7
- 14
.9
- 40
.0
6.1
- 57
.8
∑yi
=-
92.9
Xi2
1.58
76
0.77
44
0
20.6
116
37.6
996
∑xi
2 =
60
.673
2
xi=
Xi-
13.5
9
-1.2
6
0.88 0
- 4.
54
- 6.
14
∑xi
=
-
11.0
6
Lo
ss o
f P
rod
n.
(Yi)
1137
0136
8505
456
5991
694
1061
0930
4212
775
Act
ual
P
rod
n.
7841
4736
8679
0376
7584
4299
9069
1711
8776
6165
Bu
dg
eted
P
rod
n.
6704
4600
7828
4920
6985
2600
8008
0781
8355
3390
To
tal
Ab
sen
tee
ism
R
ate
(%)
(Xi)
12.3
3
14.4
7
13.5
9
9.05
7.95
Mo
nth
(2
005)
Apr
il
May
June
July
Aug
ust
51
.n=no of pairs of observation.
∑xiyi - (∑xi ∑yi)/nrxy =
(√ (∑xi2 - (∑xi/n)2 ) (√(∑yi2 - (∑yi/n)2 )
352.212 - (-11.06 * - 92.06)=
7.47 * 71.01146.717
=530.4447
= 0.276
Since the correlation co-efficient between two variables is not affected with the
choice of origin and scale, thus
rxy = rxy = 0.276
It indicates that there is a very low degree of positive relationship between two
variables.
In other words loss of production ( Y ) tends to not influenced by increase or
decrease in absenteeism rate ( X ) in H.N.G.
To find out whether our computed value of r=0.276 is significant value or not, a
Null Hypothesis as H0, and an alternative Hypothesis as H1 , as a device of Testing
of Hypothesis have been applied to the pursuit.
To test, H0 : ρ=0
H1 : ρ>0 where ρ= population co-efficient.
Here we use test statistics
52
.r √n-2t.=
√ 1-r2
Here t follows t distribution with (n-2) degree of freedom (d.f)
0.276 √ (5-2)t.=
√1 – (0.276) 2
0.4780t.=
0.4880
= 0.979 < t.05 , 3
Tabulated Value ( T.V) of t.05, 3 =2.35
Calculated Value (C.V) < T.V
We reject H0 at 5% level of significance and conclude that r=0.276 is
not a significant value. So the effect of absenteeism on production loss
is statically not significant.
53
Development of Proposed Model 2
The following steps are necessary to develop the Model:
1 Identify all personal factors affecting absenteeism.
2 Choose ‘ good’ and ‘bad’ group from among the existing employees against
the criterion of absenteeism.
3 Design and conduct a suitable interview to know the ‘values’ of the various
personal factors for the employees from the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ group.
4 Using some statistical methods develop an empirical relation to know the
relative importance of each personal factors affecting absenteeism.
5 Use the empirical relation to predict absenteeism profile of prospective
employees.
The details of all these steps are given below.
1.Identify all personal factors affecting absenteeism
After having had discussion with various related senior persons, the following list
of personal factors, which may affect absenteeism in HNG Rishra, is prepared:
Age
Native place
Family size
Financial status
Side activities
Health
Agricultural land
54
Further in order to keep the analysis simple, I defined all these factors as Binary
Variables (having values either ‘0’ or ‘1’ as shown in the next table).
Sl_No Factors Binary ‘0’ Binary ‘1’
1 Age Young (below 30)Not-so-young
(above 30)
2 Native Place Outside State Within the State
3 Family Size 5 or more Below 5
4 Financial Status GoodBad (recurring
borrowing & debt)
5 Side ActivitiesYes (family
business)No
6 HealthGood (no chronic
diseases)
Bad (some chronic
diseases)
7 Agricultural Land Yes No
2 Select ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ groups from among the existing employees
From the past three years absenteeism record, I selected the 30 workers, who were absent
for maximum number of days during this period. I used the personnel office record for
this purpose where authorized and unauthorized leave taken every month by each
employee were recorded. Most of these employees had taken many unauthorized leaves.
Similarly 20 best cases were selected, who had taken minimum number of leaves or no
leaves at all.
55
3 Designing and conducting a personal interview for the
selected employees
I prepared the questionnaire eliciting the required information with the help of my Project
Guide (Dr. A. k. Ghose and Sr. HRD manager of HNG Rishra). Appendix (1) lists the
type of information asked. The workers were explained briefly about the objective of the
study and were assured that their feedback will not be used against them. On the contrary,
they were assured that the company might be able to take some measures (not related
with this project) to help them some of their problem, based on the information collected
from them. Based on interview, the factors were assigned Binary values for each of the
workers interviewed. Appendix (3) shows the result of these interviews.
4 Development of empirical relationship Reduce the size of the problem using Heuristic method. Table lists seven variables
thought to affect absenteeism. But these were found a bit too many, to apply a statistical
method (like Discriminant Analysis). To reduce the number of variables without losing
any significant accuracy, a Heuristic method was developed.
The idea was to measure for each variable (factor), its magnitude of positive correlation
for the ‘Good Group’ of workers and corresponding negative correlation for the ‘Bad
Group’. For this purpose an index for each variable was defined as below.
Correlation Index for ith variable =FIb
=
FIB --- Freq of I’s in Bad Group (for variable i)
F0B---Freq of 0’s in Bad Group (for variable i)m---- number of cases in Bad Group
FIG --- Freq of I’s in Good Group (for variable i)F0G---Freq of 0’s in Good Group (for variable i)k---- number of cases in Good Group(for variable i)
56
The absolute value of correlation index will indicate about the contribution of the factors
to absenteeism. The higher the absolute value of correlation index the more is the
contribution of the factor to absenteeism.
Appendix (4) shows the computation of correlation index as shown below, clearly indicated that
out of total eight variables only four were really significant (marked with *)
Factors Correlation Index
* 1 Age 41
* 2 Financial Status 37
* 3 Health 22
*4 Agricultural Activities 28
5 Native Place -32
6 Side Activities -30
7 Family Size -23
Therefore, these four factors, namely, age; financial status, health and agricultural
activities were selected to carry out further analysis.
57
Use of ‘ discriminant analysis’ to develop empirical relationship. Now, we have a set of
four predictor variables.
AGE
FINANCIAL STATUS
HEALTH
AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES
We knew the values of these predictor variables (in Binary terms ‘0’ and ‘1’) for two
mutually exclusive groups of workers (the ‘Good’ and the ‘Bad’ ones). We wanted to
quantify the impact of each of these predictor variables on absenteeism (i.e. which
variables make a worker more absenteeism-prone, and vice-versa). We also wanted to
establish an Empirical Equation, which would help to predict to which of the two group
(‘GOOD’ or ‘BAD’) a new worker is more likely to belong. In other words, we wanted to
discriminate him from a possible good group to a possible bad one.
This was a classical of Two-Group Discriminant Analysis and could therefore, be solved
using this statistical technique. In general, the objectives of a Discriminant Analysis are:
Determining which predictor variables account most for inter-group difference
(i.e. determining variables which help in discriminating most).
Finding Linear Equation of predictor variables that maximizes the discrimination
between two groups.
Establishing procedures for assigning new individual to one or two groups
(assuming they come from one of the two predefined groups)
Statistically testing, whether the two groups are really significantly different and
exclusive.
Discriminante Analysis is done using SPSS package. Here we will discuss only the
results.
58
Step 1We found the Discriminant coefficient for the four variables as given below:
Variable Variable name Discriminant Coefficient (L1)
X1 Age 4.33 (L1)
X2 Financial Status 3.27 (L2)
X3 Health 2.94 (L3)
X4 Agriculture Activity 4.69 (L4)
Here, Lt ‘s are the weightage of the corresponding variables and are the measure of the
importance of that factor to absenteeism. The discriminant function, D arrived at is:
D = 4.33 X1 + 3.27 X2 + 2.94 X3 + 4.69 X4
With cut-off point D* = 8.15
Thus, if D > 8.15, for a worker, he is a Bad Case.
And D ≤ 8.15, for a worker, he is Good Case.
Conclusion 1. It can be observed from the above analysis, that the following 4 factors affect
absenteeism:
AGE
FINANCIAL STATUS
HEALTH
AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES
59
2. There are others remaining factors which hardly affects absenteeism in HNG
3. The criteria for selection of new worker could be to calculate his Discriminant
Function value
D = 4.33 X1 + 3.27 X2 + 2.94 X3 + 4.69 X4
(The details of X1, X2, X3, X4 are already given.)
With cut-off point D* = 8.15
If D > 8.15, for a worker, he is a Bad Case.
And D ≤ 8.15, for a worker, he is Good Case.
Appendix 1Good
Sl_no Age Native
Place
Family
Size
Financial
Status
Side
ActivitiesHealth Agriculture
1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1
2 1 1 0 1 0 0 1
3 0 0 0 0 1 0 1
4 1 1 0 0 1 1 1
5 0 1 1 0 1 0 0
6 1 1 1 0 1 0 1
7 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
8 1 0 0 0 1 0 1
9 0 0 1 0 1 0 1
10 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
11 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
60
12 1 0 0 0 1 1 0
13 0 1 1 0 1 0 1
14 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
15 0 1 1 0 1 1 0
16 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
17 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
18 0 1 1 0 1 0 1
19 0 1 1 0 1 0 1
20 0 1 1 1 0 0 1
Total 9 11 12 2 16 3 11
Bad
Sl_no Age Native
Place
Family
Size
Financial
Status
Side
ActivitiesHealth Agriculture
1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1
2 1 0 1 1 1 1 1
3 1 0 1 1 0 0 1
4 1 1 0 1 1 1 1
5 1 0 0 1 0 0 1
6 1 0 0 0 0 1 1
7 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
8 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
9 1 1 1 1 0 0 1
61
10 1 0 0 1 1 0 1
11 1 1 0 1 1 1 1
12 1 0 1 1 0 1 0
13 1 0 0 1 0 0 0
14 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
15 1 0 1 1 1 0 1
16 1 0 0 0 0 1 0
17 1 1 0 0 1 0 1
18 1 0 0 0 1 1 0
19 1 0 0 0 1 0 1
20 0 0 1 0 1 0 0
21 1 1 1 0 1 0 1
22 1 0 0 0 0 1 0
23 1 1 1 1 0 0 1
24 1 0 1 1 1 1 0
25 1 0 1 1 1 1 1
26 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
27 0 0 0 0 1 1 0
28 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
29 1 0 0 0 1 0 1
30 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
Total 26 7 11 14 15 11 19
62
Appendix 2
Correlation Index for Personal factors:
Age Native
Place
Family
Size
Financial
Status
Side
ActivitiesHealth Agriculture
Correlation
Index 41 -32 -23 37 30 22 28
Rank Of
Importance 1 7 6 2 3 5 4
63
Observation and recommendation
Performance emanate from the inter-action of physical, financial and human
resources. Physical and financial resources will be of no use unless human
resources help them to utilize in an efficient and effective manner. In fact, the level
of performance of an employee is a function of his ability and his willingness to
perform because human performance is the product of “ Ability to perform” and
“will to perform”. Therefore, human resources should be developed and utilized in
such a way that they will be able to use physical and financial resources in an
effective and efficient manner and help the organization to achieve its long-term
and short-term objective.
Absenteeism is one of the action-oriented parameters that not only caused due to
workers initiation but also organization, some way or other, are also help to flourish
this unwanted evil. Absenteeism restricts proper utilization of all resources. So
proper utilization of physical and financial resource requires human resource.
Therefore, for effective utilisation of human resource, management should make its
absenteeism policy in such a way that it would help the organization to utilize
human resource’s ability and potential effectively.
In the light of observation and findings, some recommendations have been
suggested for the improvement of workers attendance and production in H.N.G.
1) The management should take proper steps in order to control absenteeism among
workers. In this factory, absenteeism is caused particularly due to leave taken by
employees according to the rules and regulation. The should introduce attendance
bonus for the unavailed or surrendered portion of casual leave so that a part casual
leave can be converted into working days.
64
The management should also introduce “Monetary and non-monetary
benefits scheme that will be linked with attendance so that workers feel reluctant
to take leave and become conspicuous regarding their regular attendance and as a
result absenteeism rate can be reduced.
2) The management should introduce a scheme where “The Best Employee” with
respect to absenteeism, performance and discipline will be rewarded with
cash( Rs 500/- or Rs 1000/-) at the end of the year by top management and their
respective photograph (big size painted ) will be pasted at the entry and exit gate
of the factory premises. The joint committee of workers and management will
take the decision and judgment of winner. This will work, as motivators and
every employee will want their photograph to be pasted at the gate.
3) The condition of worker’s canteen is very unhygienic and food supplied in the
canteen is very low graded and without subsidized rate. Due to this unhygienic
condition and low graded food, workers need to go home for their lunch and
some time they don’t return back for work. This leads to decrease in productivity
and simultaneously increase workload to other workers. This whole process
leads to increase in cost of production.
In past when the company had a workers canteen, which used to supply
food at a subsidized rate to every worker, the productivity at that time of piece
workers was very high. And as soon as the company did withdraw the subsidized
food, the productivity decreased to a large extent. So management should
reintroduce the subsidized canteen and better hygienic condition of the canteen
also taken care off for all workers. This can work as motivator and may
simultaneously save Rs 2 Lakh p.a (according to past record).
4) Workload in some department is very high and in some of the department is
very low, so management should take necessary steps to balance the
65
number of workers in all departments. Management should take some steps
so that workload of workers can be reduced.
5) Training and development programmes held regularly in H.N.G. Training
and orientation programmes helps to attain self-development, should not
only be arranged but also evaluation of these programmes should be made
from time to time to know the effect of training on the performance so that
useful feedback can be available from the evaluation of the training and
development programmes. Further, in order to provide relief to the workers
engaged in monotonous job, job rotation should be arranged.
6) The rate of absenteeism during the month May-June and November-
December remains very high because during these month workers used to
go to native place either for the purpose of marriage or agriculture works.
The management should introduce special incentives during these months
so that workers will feel reluctant to go to native place. Hot weather during
the month of May and June is also reason for high absenteeism rate in
H.N.G. So management should provide clean water, lemon water, glucose
water and cooling facility to workers.
7) Side business of workers is also a reason for absenteeism in H.N.G.
Workers have their own side business along with work in H.N.G.
Management should take strict action against those proven workers who
remains absent from work because of their side business.
8) Finally, to develop work culture in H.N.G, it is imperative to nurture and
motivate team spirit to perform the assigned jobs confidently and
efficiently. The attitude of cooperation to join hands is essential for
improving performance. It is also necessary to improve the “ sense of
belongingness” among the employees so as to improve the morale of the
workers.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sl.No Name of Author Books
1 Gupta, C.BManagement theory and
Practice
2 Saiyadain, Mirza. S
Human Resource Management
3 Mamoria, C.B Personnel Management
4Mamoria-
Mamoria GankarDynamics of Industrial
relations5 S.P Robbins Organisationl Behaviour
6N.K Singh & G.K
Suri Personnel management
7 Internet
67
Questionnaire
NAME :
AGE : DEPARTMENT:
WORKING SINCE :
MARITAL STATUS : MARRIED/UNMARRIED
1) HOW MANY DEPENDENTS YOU ARE HAVING?
2) WHAT IS THE AGE GROUP OF YOUR DEPENDENTS?
a) FATHER :____________
b) MOTHER :____________
c) SISTER :____________
d) BROTHER :____________
e) WIFE :____________
f) DAUGHTER:___________
g) SON :____________
3) ARE YOU COVERED UNDER ESI?
4) IS ANY MEMBER OF YOUR FAMILY CHRONICALLY ILL?
5) IF YES, WHAT IS THE DISEASE?
6) HOW MANY YEARS IS HE/SHE SUFFERING FROM?
7) WHAT IS THE METHOD OF TREATMENT?
8) DO HAVE ELIGIBLE DAUGHTER FOR MARRIAGE?
9) IS SHE GOING TO BE MARRIED?
10) HAVE YOU TAKEN ANY LOAN FROM ANY AGENCY?
11) WHAT IS THE APPROXIMATE MOUNT?
12) HOW DO YOU PAY-OFF YOUR LOAN?
13) WHAT IS YOUR DESIGNATION?
68
14) WHEN DID YOU GET YOUR LAST PROMOTION?
15) DOES YOUR SUPERVISOR DEPEND ON YOU?
16) A) DO YOU LIKE YOUR JOB?
B) IF YES, THEN GIVE TWO REASON WHY DO LIKE
YOUR JOB?
¡)
¡¡)
C) IF YES, THEN GIVE TWO REASON WHY DO
LIKE YOUR JOB?
¡)
¡¡)
17) DO YOU LIVE IN AROUND “RISHRA”?
18) DO YOU STAY ALONE?
19) IF YES, WHO COOKS YOUR FOOD?
20) HOW OFTEN DO YOU GO TO YOUR NATIVE PLACE?
a) MONTHLY :___________
b) QUARTERLY:___________
c) HALF YEARLY:___________
d) YEARLY :___________
21) DO YOU HAVE ANY AGRICULTURAL LAND IN YOUR
NATIVE PLACE?
22) IF YES, THEN HOW MANY BIGHAS?
23) DO YOU TILL YOUR OWN LAND OR EMPLOY LANDED
LABOUR?
24) DO YOU HAVE ANY RELATIVE TO LOOK AFTER YOUR
LAND?
69
25) WHAT ARE THE CEREAL FOODS GRAINS YOU GET
FROM YOUR NATIVE PLACE?
26) IF SO, THEN IN WHAT QUANTITY?
27) DO YOU LIKE YOUR DEPARTMENT HEADS?
28) DO YOU LIKE YOUR DEPARTMENTAL SUPERVISOR?
29) HOW OFTEN DO YOU APPLY FOR LEAVE?
A) IN A WEEK :__________
B) IN A FORTNIGHT :__________
C) IN A MONTH :__________
D) IN A SIX MONTH :__________
E) IN A YEAR :__________
30) DO YOU REQUIRE LEAVE FOR WHICH OF THE
FOLLOWING REASON?
A) MARRIAGE : ____________
B) AGRICULTURAL WORKS :_____________
C) SICKNESS :_____________
D) GOING AROUND WITH FRIENDS:____________
E) FEAR FROM INTERNAL PEOPLE:_____________
F) NO INTEREST IN WORK :______________
G) NOT GOOD RELATION WITH DEPARTMENTAL
COLLEAGUE AND SUPERVISOR:_____________
H) FEAR FROM ACCIDENT :______________
31) ARE YOU AWARE OF ANY LOSS ARISING OUT OF
YOUR ABSENCE FROM WORK? IF YES, THEN TICK THE
MOST IMPORTANT REASON FROM THE GIVEN
ALTERNATIVES?
A) LOSS OF PAY :_________
70
B) LOSS OF JOB :_________
C) WILL NOT BE APPRECIATED BY FRIENDS:__________
D) WILL NOT BE ABLE TO LEARN THE SKILLS OF JOB:___
E) CAN NOT GET THE CONFIDENCE OF SUPERIOR:_______
F) ANY OTHER REASON :___________
32) DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL FOOD HABITS?
A) PAN :__________
B) GUTKA :__________
C) BIRI/CIGERATTE:________
D) KHAINI :___________
E) WINE(SHARAB):_________
33) DO YOU THINK ABSENCE FROM DUTY IS HELPING
YOU IN ANY AREA OF YOUR PERSONAL LIFE? IF YES,
THEN TICK THE ARES AMONG THE FOLLOWING?
A) FAMILY COMMITMENT?
B) SOCIAL COMMITMENT?
C) FRIENDS COMMITMENT?
D) OUT OF PERSONAL COMPULSION?
34) DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER SOURCE OF INCOME?
YES/NO
35) WHAT TYPE OF ACTIVITY YOU DO?
36) ANY THREE SUGGESTIONS TO MINIMISE
ABSENTEEISM?
A)
B)
C)
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