Canadian organizations generally do not track employee absenteeism well, even though rates, already high by international standards, are on the rise, according to findings from the Conference Board of Canada’s survey of employer-sponsored benefits, released in June 2010.

“Absenteeism rates reached their highest point in several years in 2008-09. The implications of absenteeism for organizations are significant – both in terms of lost wages and productivity, and in the potential to substantially reduce costs through better management of their programs,” says Karla Thorpe, associate director, Compensation and Industrial Relations.
“Canadian organizations offer fairly standard programs – notably sick leave, short-term disability, and long-term disability – to deal with employee absences. But less than half of surveyed organizations track absenteeism rates and only a fraction of respondents track costs.”

The first step to controlling absenteeism is to measure rates and direct costs. Organizations have traditionally focused on watching their long-term disability programs more closely than sick leave or short-term disability programs. Yet, the survey found that an average of nine percent of full-time employees were on short-term disability in 2008.

Only 40 percent of the 255 survey respondents indicated that they track absenteeism rates. These organizations reported that they lost 6.6 days per full-time equivalent position, an increase from previous Conference Board Compensation Planning Outlook surveys. The direct cost of absenteeism averaged 2.6 percent of payroll in these organizations in 2008.

The report, Beyond Benefits II: Disability Plans and Absence Management in Canadian Workplaces, outlines steps that organizations can take to better manage their programs, which include:
•  Identifying the root causes of absenteeism 
•  Taking proactive steps to improve well-being of employees 
•  Having a return-to-work program in place 
•  Focusing on communication and education 
•  Getting involved early when employees are absent 
•  Keeping in constant contact with employees on leave