6 Major Dangers of Employee Absenteeism in the Workplace

Taking frequent breaks is good for employee morale. Whether they need to attend to a family emergency or because they’re sick, accommodating these needs is good business practice and an effective retention tool. In fact, most companies have various policies concerning time off—both paid and unpaid—in line with the Family and Medical Leave Act and other applicable legal requirements.

That said, too much unplanned time off can be a major headache to a business. When some team members are frequently absent, their workload may have to be redistributed to those who consistently show up. As we will see, this can create a vicious cycle with wide-ranging ripple effects, including low employee engagement, poor morale, workplace burnout, and negative culture. The good news is that it doesn’t have to get far.

Dangers of Employee Absenteeism

Absence doesn’t always make the heart grow fonder – not when you have to pick up the slack. If anything, it causes financial, emotional, and other problems that ultimately affect organizational success. These include:

1. Productivity and Performance Impacts: When employees are absent, their work will simply not be done, or it will have to be redistributed. Either way, their absence can compromise a project’s progress.
2. Financial Consequences: Predictably, businesses lose tons of money when productivity dips. In 2015, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that American businesses lost $225.8 billion ($1,685 per employee) annually because of absenteeism.
3. Morale and Cultural Issues:  As we’ve discussed before, the workplace culture often matters more than any policy you can implement. Some may argue otherwise (think of this as the chicken-and-egg equivalent of the HR world), but there’s little evidence showing how a good policy can cure a toxic culture
4. Management Challenges: In addition to the resource allocation headache, unexpected absences can also cause customer experience problems, resulting in reputational and financial hits.
5. Performance evaluation and feedback problems: With inconsistent attendance, its difficult to fairly assess an employee’s overall performance. This means that managers may struggle to provide constructive feedback when it comes to KPI discussions. Without that, it would be even harder to set and measure meaningful performance goals for the next quarter or season.
6. Long-term organizational impacts: If left unchecked, chronic absenteeism can create a risk-averse culture where new ideas are less likely to emerge or be implemented. Over time, reduced productivity and innovation can lead to falling behind competitors. Eventually, the company’s reputation may suffer, which can make it less appealing to ambitious professionals.

Strategies to Reduce Employee Absenteeism

As noted in a Forbes article, “Simply chastising employees who miss work regularly might have been an approach that worked in the past, but the 21st century requires a more creative and understanding approach.” The 12 Forbes Human Resources Council members interviewed for the piece shared the following strategies:

Promote worksite programs and policies

According to a new ComPsych report, poor mental health was responsible for 11% of all leaves of absence in the first quarter of 2024. “In total, more Americans took mental health-related leaves of absence in the first quarter of the year than those for accidents, cancer, COVID-19, heart disease, and heart attack, combined.”

Dr. Jennifer Birdsall, Clinical Director of ComPsych, attributes that to the growing mental health crisis among female workers. “Working women – especially moms and other caregivers – often neglect their self-care until they hit the point of being so burned out they need to take a leave of absence,” noted Dr. Birdsall.

Studies show that a well-designed, comprehensive wellness programs can turn things around in several ways:

• It can support resiliency building to help employees better cope with the demands of work and personal life.
• Promote healthy behaviors like exercise, nutrition, and preventive care that help manage chronic conditions and reduce absences.
• Foster a culture of health and wellbeing that boosts employee engagement, job satisfaction, and morale – leading to increased commitment and lower absenteeism.
• Wellness screenings, biometric testing, and other preventive services can help identify health issues early, allowing for timely treatment and management before they lead to extended absences.
• Wellness benefits like flexible schedules, childcare assistance, and employee assistance programs can help employees better manage their personal and
• professional responsibilities and reduce stress-related absences.
• Wellness programs that provide coaching, education, and support for employees with chronic conditions like diabetes or depression can help them better control their health, reducing flare-ups and related absences.

It’s important to note that a workplace wellness program can’t work in isolation. As Oxford University’s William Fleming notes in his new study, these programs work best when employers also focus on “more structural aspects of work. These include improving pay, providing secure contracts, giving employees some flexibility and control over their work schedule, and providing opportunities for upskilling and mentoring.”

Deloitte’s former Chief Well-being Officer Jen Fisher said it best: “We need to evolve and modernize our thinking around work and also listen to the sentiments and expectations of the workforce.” The Forbes leaders concur, and each has something to add:

Other Strategies to Reduce Employee Absenteeism

1. Establish a well-defined attendance policy and communicate expectations clearly to all employees. To avoid favoritism, ensure consistent enforcement across the organization.
2. Implement Absence Management Systems to track absences and identify patterns. This can help generate reports to inform future decision-making.
3. Improve employee engagement strategies to motivate and inspire your team.
4. Consider options like flextime or remote work where feasible to promote work-life balance.
5. Conduct return-to-work interviews to understand reasons for absence. Where necessary, provide employee assistance programs for personal or family issues. Also, offer counseling services for mental health support.
6. Implement progressive discipline. Develop a fair and transparent system of warnings for excessive absenteeism. Provide opportunities for improvement before taking severe action.
7. Foster a culture of accountability. Lead by example with good communication and attendance at all levels.

The Way Forward

Employees are human beings, not just numbers on your spreadsheet. In short, you can’t solve their problems by merely enforcing rules. True success begins when you foster a positive workplace where attendance becomes a natural outcome of engagement, well-being, and mutual respect. When employees feel valued, supported, and accountable, absenteeism will naturally decline – everyone wins.