Ai Group research has found that one out of five businesses do not have a system of measuring and reporting their employee absence.
Measurement of absence is fundamental to identifying problems, developing solutions and monitoring the success of absence minimisation programs.
Measuring attendance in the workplace allows organisations to identify:
The information collected can be used to flag trigger points or the need to investigate attendance patterns further. This information can allow an organisation to take appropriate action to address and improve the situation.
It can also help to identify and deal with different types of absence appropriately. For example, the management of an employee on long-term sick leave would be different to that of one who has a drug or alcohol problem, and different again to an employee who often calls in sick the day after a public holiday.
Finally, by calculating an absenteeism rate (for example, as a percentage or days of lost time) an organisation knows exactly how much personal leave is being taken by their employees and allows them to also being to properly benchmark their results.
Once an organisation has an accurate recording system in place to ensure all absences are tracked, the data can be used to calculate absenteeism. This rate can then assist in calculating the cost of absenteeism to the organisation and to measure the value of any programs or workplace changes that are introduced.
Some of the ways to calculate an absenteeism rate and measures of attendance are described below:
A common method of measuring absenteeism is as a percentage of time lost:
For the purposes of the above formula an organisation may define the variable as:
Unscheduled absence
Total work days rostered
This is the result of multiplying the number of employees in the workforce by the number of days they are rostered to work per year. For example, 100 full-time employees each working 230 days per year would be a total of 23,000 work days rostered.
On average a full-time employee will work around 230 days each year after taking into consideration four weeks annual leave and public holidays. An organisation, however, may wish to work out an absenteeism rate for a different period and therefore use another 'Total work days rostered' figure.
Let's look at measuring the annual absenteeism rate for an individual using the above formula. Kate has worked full-time during 2023 and was absent for 10 days during that year. Kate took 20 days of annual leave which leaves her with 229 days worked (after public holidays there were 249 working days in 2023).
This means that Kate’s absenteeism rate would be 10/229 * 100 = 4.36%.
Another common way to measure absenteeism is by using the lost time rate – that is the average number of days lost per full-time employee (FTE):
Data can be broken down further, for example, by separating absences for family related reasons from those that are unauthorised or unexplained. The rate, pattern and distribution of lost time from unscheduled absences can give an insight into the possible causes of absenteeism.
Company XYZ has 30 full time equivalent employees. During 2023, employees took 148 days of personal or unpaid leave.
Therefore the lost time rate for Company XYX in 2023 is 148/30 = 4.93. Or each FTE employee had an average of 4.93 days of absence in 2023.
The Bradford Factor is a popular and simple formula used by organisations to manage short-term absences and determine when these are excessive or a pattern exists. Created in the 1980s, the Bradford Factor is based on the theory that short, frequent and unplanned absences are more disruptive to an organisation than extended absences.
It seeks to form a composition of an individual employee’s absences by combining the number of absences during a set period by the total length of those absences and applying a score to these.
Higher instances of short-term absences are given an increased weighting as they are perceived to be more disruptive. The end result is an employee’s ‘attendance score’ (or Bradford Factor), which is then compared to an organisation’s internal thresholds to identify action required. As well as its usefulness in identifying early concerns the Bradford Factor can also be used as a tracking tool.
The Bradford Factor does not take into consideration factors such as disability or illness and is best used as a tool supporting an overall absence or attendance management strategy.
The attendance score (or Bradford Factor) is calculated as follows:
where:
An employee who has had four spells of absence of 2, 3, 2 and 1 days during the past six months would have a Bradford Score of (4)2 x 8 = 128 for the period. If an employee had two spells of one day over the same period then the Bradford Score would be (2)2 x 2 = 8.
It is up to individual organisations to set guidelines of when a Bradford Score is of concern and for what periods these thresholds apply. Different thresholds leading to different actions could also be created; for example, a score of 30 during a set period may flag an employee as having absences of some concern whilst a score of 50 would lead to action being taken.
Knowing your obligations as an employer, as well as communicating employee responsibilities, is essential in ensuring that the various forms of leave available to employees is managed effectively.
Our Managing Leave Handbook provides helpful and practical information on how to manage all the different forms of leave in the workplace and explains the interaction of the NES with modern awards, enterprise agreements, contracts and any relevant state legislation
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Past research by Ai Group showed that employers with appropriate leave policies showed lower rates of absenteeism.
A leave policy should make it clear to employees that they are entitled to take leave when they are ill, so that they do not feel pressure to come to work when they are not well. Clear policies and procedures should, at a minimum, set out entitlements to leave, the procedure for applying for leave, any evidence requirements (such as a medical certificate) and notification requirements and expectations about the regular taking of leave.
Encouraging employees to use their annual leave to take regular breaks from work, will promote a healthy workplace and could improve productivity and attendance. Make sure that employees are aware of leave and absence policies, regular reminders are issued and copies of the policies are readily available to all employees.
Dealing with absence is often put in the “too hard basket” by managers, and understandably so. Asking an employee the reasons for their absence can be uncomfortable and lead to further unrest. For example, an employee may respond negatively to such discussion and believe that their manager has no right to ask them about their absence, which may involve medical or personal issues.
Those in leadership and supervisory positions need the full support of senior management and the organisation to deal with attendance issues. Employers should ensure that they provide their managers with the tools and training to adequately equip them to tackle attendance issues sensitively, and to make sure that legislation is adhered to.
Be flexible with how employees are advised to let the organisation know of their absence. Asking employees to call their manager instead of emailing or texting may create barriers, and a daily or frequent check-in with the employee can assist in shortening an absence. Managers should be encouraged to take responsibility for monitoring attendance of their employees and identifying any trends in absences and investigate any reason for excessive absences or patterns of unscheduled absences. In particular, managers should ensure that any breaches of leave policies are followed up as soon as possible.
Mangers should ensure that all absences are recorded accurately and in a timely and fashion to facilitate the collection of data and help see if any patterns emerge.
Absenteeism can be higher in workplaces where there is less flexibility exercised around work. Offering flexible working hours or practices which meet the needs of the workplace and employees can help reduce unscheduled absences.
Where possible, employers should try to be flexible over the occasional and inevitable need for someone to be away from work, for example taking a friend to hospital or seeing a child’s teacher. Encouraging employees to use annual leave, work from home, utilise a rostered day off or arrange for the time to be made up some other way is recommended.
It is unreasonable to expect employees to consider the organisation’s interests, and show concern and care, if there is no flexibility on the employer’s part. Employees may be forced into taking “sickies” to attend to personal issues and the consequent loss of trust on both sides can cause harm.
This could include programs involving workplace health checks, nutrition, exercise, quitting smoking, relaxation and stress management. Also, where appropriate, addressing absences from a health and wellbeing perspective. For example, if an employee is experiencing a high level of absences due to illness, the organisation may be able assist by considering whether the job is contributing to the absences and/ or whether are there any programs that the employee could be referred to, for example an Employee Assistance Program.
Work-related stress combined with internal pressure can result in employees being absent or coming to work when unwell (which results in lower levels of performance, and adds to already mounting stress levels).
Managers play an important part in facilitating management of work content and workload. Communicating with employees and providing support can help reduce the amount of work-related stress employees experience.
Leaders should:
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Clinton is the Publications Manager at Ai Group. He is responsible for a number of key services including Annotated Modern Awards, Workplace Relations Handbooks and the management of Ai Group’s HR and Health & Safety Resource Centres. Clinton has a Masters in Employment Relations and previously held advisory roles with the Workplace Authority and Fair Work Ombudsman.
