How to calculate work absenteeism?

The work absenteeism have negative consequences for a company that not only has a productive impact, but also supposes economic losses. This term refers to those cases in which the absence of an employee from his job occurs during the hours corresponding to his working day.

There are different circumstances whereby a worker may be absent from his job, for personal, medical, illness, etc.. It is important that you manage these absences and verify that they are excused. It is not about distrusting your employees, but about making sure that the reasons are clear since, those failures, translate into losses for your business.

Steps to calculate the cost of absenteeism

To check how it affects your employees are missing, it is important that you know the internal structure of your company. From there you can analyze the specific circumstances of your team and the effects that their absences have on your productive capacity and on the time and dedication necessary to achieve objectives.

1. Define the period of time in which you will carry out your analysis

To exemplify the assumptions and measure these effects we will focus on a period that includes a quarter. But you can choose the period that suits you best and adapt what you will learn.

2. How many employees do you have?

make a count of the number of employees that are part of your company and the work modality it performs: face-to-face, semi-face or remote work.

3. Add the total number of employees each month …

… And divide it by three since we are doing this example based on the data for a quarter.

4. Calculate the number of work days of each month

The working days of a month they change and you must take into account the holidays that exist to calculate in a correct way the days that have been worked. You must also count those days that due to the company’s own circumstances you have not opened and no activity has been developed.

  • Count the holidays and weeks That has had the quarter.
  • Count the additional days found at the beginning and end of the quarter when it starts or ends in the middle of a week.
  • Multiply the number of weeks by five.
  • Add the number of irregular days to the result that you posted in the previous step and subtract holidays.
  • Write down the final result.

5. Calculate the number of business days of the company

To do this you must multiply the average number of employees by the number of work days of the quarter.

6. Count lost work days

Considering one workday 8 hours: multiply the number of employees by days of absenteeism (here it counts all the days that have been registered: sick leave and other absences)

7. Final data

When you have the total days lost due to absenteeism, divide them by the total working days of the company and you will get a percentage of the absenteeism of your company.

You can assign economic values ​​to these figures considering the price of each day lost: either for hours of work that you have paid and have not been carried out, projects that have not been completed, delivery delays, etc. The important thing is that you analyze them and have them clear since, if those figures are very high, something within your team does not work and you will have to start working it.

Start by talking with your employees, tell them about the absenteeism problem you have identified, the consequences it has for the company and the alternatives you are considering to fight it. Try to find consensus and find the best solutions for all.