Absenteesism

Absenteeism in theNordic Countries

OB Group ProjectOB Group Project

A 3 Stooges Presentation

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Authors:

1. Anna- Kristina Lokke2. Jacob K. Eskildsen3. Troels Wendelboe Jensen

All authors are from The Aarhus School of Business, Aarhus, Denmark.



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Volume 29 Number 1 2007 pp. 16-29,Emerald Publishing LimitedISSN 0412-5455



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Name of journal:


Introduction

1. The paper aims to study present literature on absence research and to test:

a. different levels of absenteeism in the public and private sector and b. differences related to personal characteristics of both employees and managers. in 4 Nordic countries namely Denmark, Norway,

Finland and Sweden.



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Introduction

A. Concept of absenceIs the lack of physical presence at a given location

and time when there is a social expectation for the employee to be there.



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A. The Sector Effect

A. Public Sector1. Vandenheuvel says, public sector employee is 1.6

times more likely to be absent from work in the course of a year and so is the average number of days off compared to private sector.

2. Among the influencing reasons are: a. Standardized employment practice -implies that workers performing the same task have the same terms & conditions. - Provides a certain level of job security.



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The Sector Effect

b. Dismissal for underperforming is inconceivable

- less afraid of losing their job if caught taking a ‘ sickie”c. Public sector not profit driven - decrease the pressure placed on workers to turn

up at work everyday.d. Sectors in public sector - Health sector, more physically demanding. - Municipality – maintain high service standard.



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B. Private Sector1. Lesser absenteeism as private sector

more likely to use disciplinary measures to control unacceptable levels of absence.

2. Employees more afraid to loose their job.

3. Private sector profit driven. Management less tolerant on slackness.



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Empirical result



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Empirical result1. In Sweden there is no significant differences and maybe a

result of reform in national health insurance and income tax system which eliminates differences between those sectors.

Example, an individual can be absent from work without a doctor’s certificate for 7 days, which is more than other Nordic countries.



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B. The Effect of Personal Characteristics

1. Process Model of Employee Absence by Steers & Rhodes, says there is a relationship between personal characteristics and absence. The author suggest that an employee’s attendance is a function of two important variable:

a. Employee’s motivation to attend and b. Employee's ability to attend.

2. It is the decision to attend or not, influenced by the employees’ personal characteristics.



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A. Gender1. Research shows that absenteeism is higher among woman

than men even when two genders are holding the same job.

2. The results and findings are consistent and shows that a. Woman are more aware of their physical condition and consult health services more than men do. Men often deny health problems. b. The number of young children in the family, significant effect on absenteeism. c. Tendency as a secondary income earner in many household.



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A. Gender3. Effects on gender constellation of manager and employee

analysis shows that a high level of absenteeism if the manager is a woman and the employee a man.

- Anecdotal evidence suggest that male employees feel uncomfortable taking instruction from woman managers leading to lower job satisfaction.

- Empirical results also shows that woman managers with woman employees are more absent compared to male managers with male employees. One explanation could be that there is a higher degree of copycat behavior if the gender is the same for manager and employee.



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B. Age1. Many research have empirically suggested a relationship

between age and absenteeism, but the results have been mixed and remain unclear.

2. There are two researches which suggest all together different result:

a. Absence increases with age Explanation given are: i. Health tends to deteriorate with age ii. Older employee’s are more vulnerable during stressful changes in their work and private lives.



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B. Ageb. Inverse relationship

Frequency of absence and the number of days absence decrease with age. This inverse relationship is supported from a job satisfaction perspective. Explanations given are: i. Older employees were better person-situation/organization fit developed over time. Conversely, young employee’s absence may be higher due to role conflict resulting in lower degree of commitment and sense of responsibility.



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B. Ageb. Inverse relationship (cont)

ii. Young employees tend to be highly job mobile and consequently are less committed to the job and organization. iii. Young employee’s opportunity cost of forgone leisure is higher compared to older employees. iv. For young woman, number of young children in the family has strong effect.



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B. AgeThe test result and finding for Nordic countries suggest that:1. Sweden, Denmark and Norway have an almost perfect linear relationship between age and satisfaction, which points to an inverted relationship between age and absenteeism.2. In Finland, test results show that older employees are more absence than the young ones. Explanation given was older employees in Finland being more absent due to long term disorders.



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Thank You.

Absenteesism

Business

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