This document discusses sickness absence and its relationship to illness and disease. It defines illness, disease, and sickness and notes that sickness absence rates in India have increased from 8-13% in the early 1950s to 15-20% in recent years. Individual, work-related, and non-work factors can influence sickness absence. Absenteeism can be voluntary or involuntary and has several causes. High absenteeism negatively impacts productivity and costs. Various approaches can be used to control absenteeism, including disciplinary action, positive reinforcement, and paid time-off programs. Effective absence management aims to create work environments where employees feel less inclined to miss work.

1. SICKNESS
ABSENTEEISM
Presented by- Dr.
Kunal
Guided by-Dr.
Abhay Mudey
119/05/2015

2. Relation between illness, disease, and
sickness Abscence
Sickness
Absence
Disease
Illness
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3. Definitions
◊ Disease: is defined in terms of objective biological
abnormalities in the structure and/or functions of bodily
organs and systems
◊ Illness : is the personal subjective perception of
unwellness. Therefore, if a person feels ill, they are ill
◊ Sickness: is derived from the concept of the “sick role”,
a role that carries certain privileges (to stay away from
work), as well as obligations (to seek medical help and
to ‘get well’).
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4. Incidence
◊ India has a working force of 5 million in registered
factories.
◊ Research undertaken by the National Productivity
Council (N.P.C) into absenteeism showed a marked
increase from around 8 to 13 per cent in early 1950s to
around 15 to 20 per cent or even more in recent years.
◊ The rate of absenteeism was reported to be 8 to 10 days
per head per year.
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5. Drivers of sickness absence
◊ Individual factors – personality and motivation; past
behaviour; sick role
◊ The ‘system’ – organizational culture and tolerability,
what is legitimate; sickness certification
◊ Non-work factors – life events and family pressures
◊ Work factors – absence as ‘coping’, job satisfaction,
chronic adverse features of work
◊ Commitment and involvement
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6. Absenteeism
◊ Absenteeism is a habitual pattern of absence from a duty
or obligation
◊ The practice of regularly staying away from work or
school without good reason
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7. Types of Absenteeism
◊ Voluntary
◊ Involuntary
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8. Voluntary
◊ An employee's
deliberate or habitual
absence from work
(Sickie)
◊ Absence from
the work,
without valid reason.
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9. Involuntary
Employees can be absent from work for several
reasons such as illness, death in the
family ,and the personal reasons for
absences are unavoidable and
understandable, many employers
have sick-leave policies that allow
employees a certain number of paid
absent days per year for these.
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10. Causes
◊ Long hours of work.
◊ Bad working conditions.
◊ Lack of co-operation and
understanding between
management and workers.
◊ Sickness.
◊ Accidents.
◊ Occupational disease.
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11. Continued….
◊ Low wages.
◊ Lack of proper medical aid and health programs.
◊ Lack of canteen services, rest rooms, etc.
◊ Bad housing conditions.
◊ Evil of drinking.
◊ Lack of marketing facilities.
◊ Social or religious festivals.
◊ Marriages.
◊ Education of children.
◊ Problem of transport facilities.
◊ Workers from rural areas go back to villages, for short or
long periods, during sowing & harvest season.
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12. EFFECT OF ABSENTEEISM
Labour absenteeism is a harmful to both the employee
and the worker as follow:
◊ Normal work – flow in the factory is disturbed.
◊ Overall production in the factory goes down.
◊ Causal workers may have to be employed to meet
production schedules such worker is not trained
properly.
◊ Forceful unwilling replacement of employee.
◊ Impede production with serious cost repercussions.
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13. CONTINUE….
◊ Overtime allowance will increases considerably because
of higher absenteeism.
◊ When a number of workers absent themselves, there is
extra pressure of work on their colleagues who are
present.
◊ Workers lose wages for the unauthorized absence from
work.
◊ Habitual absentees may be removed from service
causing them great hardship.
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14. Controlling Absenteeism
Approaches can be used to reduce voluntary
absenteeism:-
◊ Good factory management & Practices
◊ Disciplinary approach
◊ Positive reinforcement
◊ Combination approach
◊ No fault absenteeism
◊ Paid time-off(PTO) programs
◊ Adequate pre-placement examination
◊ Good human Relations
◊ Application of ergonomics
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15. Disciplinary approach
Many employees use a
disciplinary approach
.People who are absent
the first time receive an
oral warning, but
subsequent absences
bring written warnings ,
suspensions and finally
dismissal.
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16. Positive reinforcement
Positive reinforcement includes such methods as giving
cash, recognition, time off or other rewards for meeting
attendance standards.
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17. Combination approach
Combination approaches ideally reward desired
behaviors and punish undesired behaviors. This
approach uses policies and discipline to punish
offenders and develops various programs and rewards
for employees with outstanding attendance.
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18. Paid time-off(PTO) Programs:
◊ Some employers have a paid time-off (PTO) program in which
vacation time, holidays, and sick leave for each employee are
combined into a PTO account .Employee use days from their
accounts at their discretion for illness, personal time, or
vacation.
◊ If employees run out of days in their accounts, then they are
not paid to for any additional days missed.
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19. Method to evaluate Sickness
absenteeism
Bradford Factor or Similar Trigger Mechanisms
◊ B = (SxS) x D
◊ B = Bradford Score
◊ S = number of instances of absence in set period
◊ D = number of days absence in set period
◊ Eg. one instance of 10 days absence = 10 points / 10
instances of 1 day absences = 1000 points
◊ Strength:- Can be at level where employer deems
absence levels unacceptable
◊ Weakness:- Can not be effectively used at causes like;
disability, dependant care leave
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20. Summary
◊ The workplace offers the opportunity to promote and
improve the health of employees and their families
◊ The drivers for ill-health are not always the same as the
drivers for absence
◊ We need a better understanding of the causes of
sickness absence so these can be managed in a
proactive manner
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21. References
◊ http://www. hse.gov.uk/aboutus/occupational-desease/the facts
◊ Jay’s Text Book of Occupational Diseases
◊ AFMC TEXTBOOK OF PSM
◊ Anders Wikman, Staffan Marklun d, Kristina Alexanderson, et al.
Illness, disease, and sickness absence: an empirical test of
differences between concepts of ill health
◊ Muntaner C, Borrell C, Vanroelen C, et al. Employment
relations, social class and health: a review and analysis of
conceptual and measurement alternatives. Soc Sci Med
2010
◊ Jill Blagden, Mowlem Aqumen, et al. Dealing with Employee
Absenteeism & Poor Performance
◊ Sickness Absence Management – Policy and Procedure by University Of
Essex
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22. Effective absence management is
about creating work environments
where employees are less likely to
wake up and think
'I don't feel like going in to work
today'
- David Grech MD
Medicare
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23. THANK
YOU
2319/05/2015