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  • 1.  costs of absenteeism

    Posted 07-14-2011 18:41

    Hello,

    Can anyone suggest a chapter/review/book that discusses issues to take into account when looking at the cost of absenteeism?

    For some context, I'm reviewing studies of the putative productivity outcomes of employee substance use, one being absenteeism (including tardiness or leaving early).  Clearly, absenteeism can cost employers.  However, it seems that some substance use studies may overestimate the potential relation involving and cost due to substance use in terms of absenteeism.  There are a number of reasons for this, but two seem particularly insidious.  The first is predictor-criterion confounding.  For example, the DV represents responses to a question like "How often are you absent from work due to your drinking?" and the predictor represents responses to a question like "How often do you drink?"  Both the DV and IV are measures of the frequency of drinking, thereby inflating the putative relation between alcohol use and absenteeism and presumed employer costs due to alcohol use that are attributable to absenteeism. This also occurs for other outcomes, such as injuries or job performance.  Second, little attention is paid to heterogeneity across companies in terms of compensation for time off, and I am no expert here.  Yet it seems there are situations where unscheduled absences simply will have little cost, even if they are due to alcohol use.  For example, there might be a situation where employees are provided with a fixed (e.g., 10) number of days off per year.  They are then paid for any unused days at the end of the year, which presumably might motivate nonuse.  But, in any case, absenteeism in this situation is not going to increase cost to the employer because payment will be made regardless of whether the days are taken off or not, and any days absent above this quota will be time off without pay.  Moreover, even if the time off is unscheduled, with the exception of large spells, the work sometimes can wait or a coworker will be expected to pick up the slack.

    Any references that discussion such general issues would be greatly appreciated.

    Mike Frone

    ****************************************************************
    Michael R. Frone, Ph.D.
    Senior Research Scientist
    Research Institute on Addictions
    State University of New York at Buffalo
    1021 Main Street
    Buffalo, New York 14203

    Office:    716-887-2519
    Fax:        716-887-2477
    E-mail:     frone@ria.buffalo.edu
    Internet:
    http://www.ria.buffalo.edu/profiles/frone.html
    ***************************************************************


  • 2.  costs of absenteeism

    Posted 07-14-2011 22:26
    check these references:

    http://www.google.com/search?q=mirvis+cost+of+absenteeism&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

    best
    m


    Martin G. Evans
    Professor Emeritus
    Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto



    URL: www.rotman.utoronto.ca/~evans

    ,,, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American People
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    those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have
    too little.
    Franklin D. Roosevelt

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    appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized
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    [When will Barack H. Obama quote this?]

    On 7/14/2011 6:41 PM, Michael Frone wrote:
    >
    > Hello,
    >
    > Can anyone suggest a chapter/review/book that discusses issues to take
    > into account when looking at the cost of absenteeism?
    >
    > For some context, I'm reviewing studies of the putative productivity
    > outcomes of employee substance use, one being absenteeism (including
    > tardiness or leaving early). Clearly, absenteeism can cost employers.
    > However, it seems that some substance use studies may overestimate the
    > potential relation involving and cost due to substance use in terms of
    > absenteeism. There are a number of reasons for this, but two seem
    > particularly insidious. The first is predictor-criterion confounding.
    > For example, the DV represents responses to a question like "How often
    > are you absent from work due to your drinking?" and the predictor
    > represents responses to a question like "How often do you drink?" Both
    > the DV and IV are measures of the frequency of drinking, thereby
    > inflating the putative relation between alcohol use and absenteeism and
    > presumed employer costs due to alcohol use that are attributable to
    > absenteeism. This also occurs for other outcomes, such as injuries or
    > job performance. Second, little attention is paid to heterogeneity
    > across companies in terms of compensation for time off, and I am no
    > expert here. Yet it seems there are situations where unscheduled
    > absences simply will have little cost, even if they are due to alcohol
    > use. For example, there might be a situation where employees are
    > provided with a fixed (e.g., 10) number of days off per year. They are
    > then paid for any unused days at the end of the year, which presumably
    > might motivate nonuse. But, in any case, absenteeism in this situation
    > is not going to increase cost to the employer because payment will be
    > made regardless of whether the days are taken off or not, and any days
    > absent above this quota will be time off without pay. Moreover, even if
    > the time off is unscheduled, with the exception of large spells, the
    > work sometimes can wait or a coworker will be expected to pick up the
    > slack.
    >
    > Any references that discussion such general issues would be greatly
    > appreciated.
    >
    > Mike Frone
    >
    > ****************************************************************
    > Michael R. Frone, Ph.D.
    > Senior Research Scientist
    > Research Institute on Addictions
    > State University of New York at Buffalo
    > 1021 Main Street
    > Buffalo, New York 14203
    >
    > Office: 716-887-2519
    > Fax: 716-887-2477
    > E-mail: frone@ria.buffalo.edu
    > Internet: http://www.ria.buffalo.edu/profiles/frone.html
    > ***************************************************************