Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1. INTRODUCTION
EMPLOYEE ABSENTEEISM
High absenteeism in the workplace may be indicative of poor morale, but absences can
also be caused by workplace hazards or sick building syndrome. Many employers use statistics
such as the Bradford factor that do not distinguish between genuine illness and absence for
inappropriate reasons.
As a result, many employees feel obliged to come to work while ill, and transmit
communicable diseases to their co-workers. This leads to even greater absenteeism and reduced
productivity among other workers who try to work while ill. Work forces often excuse
absenteeism caused by medical reasons if the worker supplies a doctor's note or other form of
documentation. Sometimes, people choose not to show up for work and do not call in advance,
which businesses may find to be unprofessional and inconsiderate. This is called a "no call, no
show". According to Nelson & Quick (2008) people who are dissatisfied with their jobs are
absent more frequently. They went on to say that the type of dissatisfaction that most often leads
employees to miss work is dissatisfaction with the work itself.
The psychological model that discusses this is the "withdrawal model", which assumes
that absenteeism represents individual withdrawal from dissatisfying working conditions. This
finds empirical support in a negative association between absence and job satisfaction, especially
satisfaction with the work itself.
Thomas suggests that there tends to be a higher level of stress with people who work with
or interact with a narcissist, which in turn increases absenteeism and staff turnover.
Absence control can often be an important step in the process of reducing business costs.
Because of competitive pressures, companies can no longer afford to carry unnecessary absence
that they may have tolerated in the past. Therefore, many companies are focusing on the issue of
eliminating, or at least reducing, unnecessary levels of absence.
Absence affects more than just the person who is absent. The absent employees
themselves and their dependants may have a reduced income as a result of absence, besides
incurring possible additional medical expenses. Employers are affected by direct costs such as
sick pay, overtime and staff replacement costs, plus the indirect costs associated with the effects
of absence on, for example, production and quality, management time and the potential loss of
customers. The co-workers of an absent employee may have to work under increased pressure, in
order to meet deadlines. From an economic point of view, there is the loss of potential out-put,
plus the increased government spend on social security payments. For example, the cost to the
State of disability benefits (i.e. a payment made to insured persons who are unfit for work due to
illness). Invalidity pension (payable instead of disability benefit if a person has been incapable of
work for at least 12 months) cost the State €403.6 million in 2002.
But absence control is not just about cost. When absence is not addressed or addressed in
an inconsistent manner, lower morale can result. Employees can feel they have been treated
unfairly when they perceive other absent employees as ‘getting away with it’. Absence can also
be a symptom of a more serious underlying problem, such as bullying and/or harassment,
communication breakdown, stress, etc., which could, if not investigated, lead to significant costs
to the organization, as well as causing long-term damage to the employee. Employees, them-
selves, also may have personal circumstances that require them to take time off work. A recent
IBEC survey2showed that personal problems were cited as a cause of absence in a significant
Number of companies, for both males and females.
Historically, there has also been a shift away from viewing the term absenteeism solely as
a pejorative term, to also identifying and addressing the underlying causes or conditions. In the
Past the term has been associated mainly with the notion of ‘malingering’ or ‘pretending’ to be
Sick (for example Moore4in 1977 defined absenteeism as ‘the practice of workers failing to
Report for work on some slight excuse or none at all’).
Concern about absence can be triggered by high levels of absence, the necessity to find
ways of reducing costs, in addition to needing to find an ‘acceptable’ level of absence. Many
organizations appear to accept a certain level of absence i.e. where a proportion of their
employees are away on any particular day. The recent IBEC study found that over half of the
respondents did not consider they had a problem with absence. However, more than four out of
ten companies in the survey considered their absence levels to be a cause for concern. As only a
portion of absence days are subject to organization control – it is important to determine what
portion of employee absence is avoidable.
Decrease in Productivity
Employees may be required to train and orientate new or replacement workers Staff.
Financial Costs
Administrative
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.
Women are absent more frequently than men.
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
UNDERSTANDING ABSENTEEISM
The definition of absenteeism, its causes, its affects on productivity, and its costs in terms
of finances and administrative effectiveness are quite clear. What is not as clear is how to take
affirmative action to control absenteeism in such a way as not to create mistrust, costly
administration and systems avoidance (game players). Traditional methods of absenteeism
control based only on disciplinary procedures have proven to be ineffective. It is almost
impossible to create a fair disciplinary procedure because even well run disciplinary systems,
which treat similar actions in consistently similar ways, are usually seen as unfair. The reason for
this is discipline alone usually does not identify or address the root causes of absenteeism.
Every employee who takes time off in defiance of company regulations has reasons, right
or wrong, which justify to themselves the legitimacy of their actions. Unless a management
attendance program identifies and addresses the causes of employee absenteeism it will be
ineffective and unfair. Traditional disciplinary programs alone can, at best, give the illusion of
control. It is no secret that there are ways to beat even the best systems. The fear of discipline
often only increases the desire to avoid management systems. If absenteeism is to be controlled.
The physical and emotional needs of employees must be addressed. In a 1985 study on "Rates of
Absence among Nurses" it was found that 50% of absenteeism could be controlled through
attending to employees physical and emotional needs.
PURPOSE OF ATTENDANCE MANAGEMENT
The purpose of attendance management is to develop a willingness on the part of all our
employees to attend work regularly and to assist them in motivating their coworkers to attend
work regularly. This can be done through:
The greater the extent to which individuals identify their goals with the goals of the
organization and care what happens to it, the greater their motivation to be regular in
attendance.
The more people find their jobs meaningful to them, the greater their motivation to be
regular in attendance.
As employee’s workload increases due to the absence of a co-worker, peer pressure is
exerted on the absent co-worker to attend work on a regular basis.
The more people like working for the organization the higher their motivation to attend
regularly. Recognition of good employee attendance helps improve attendance.
Employees will have a lower absence ratio if they feel free to discuss their on-the-job
problems with their immediate supervisor.
Employees with a low absence ratio have attitudes of confidence and "team" spirit.
Low absence ratio employees are found to be more satisfied with their opportunity for
promotion and upgrading.
INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE COMPANY
COMPANYPROFILE
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Manufacturer and Exporter of mainly cotton Home Textiles and Furnishing Products
Texfine Exports Enterprises was established way back in 1989 under the visionary par
excellence of Mr. M . Nalasamy, who can only be commended for all his efforts in making
Awarded and recognised time and again by the Textiles and Manufacturers Associations
Texfine international has been well patronised by its loyal customers world wide each season for
its best performance not only in design but also living up to the commitments of delivering
Furnishing fabric, curtain, table cloth, cushion, chair pad, pouf, table mat, tea towel,
QUALITY POLICY
supplying Quality Home Furnishing Fabrics and Made Ups conforming to customer requireents
This is achieved by adopting latest trends in the industry, using effective communication
methods, providing regular training to our workforce and continual improvement in quality
management systems.
PRODUCTS:
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Table linen
Table cloths
Woven
Kitchen linen
Towels
Kitchen wear
Oven gloves
OBJECIVES:
Primary Objectives:
Secondary Objectives: