- Absence rate = (number of absent days / number of available workdays in a given period) x 100.
- Lost time rate = (total absence [hours or days] / total hours or days of the period analyzed) x 100.
- This rate expresses the average number of absence days per worker during a given period.
Why is absence rate important?
Because it can aid business leaders in eradicating an absenteeism issue, the absence rate is crucial. While employers can anticipate and plan for legitimate absences, it can be difficult to deal with routine truancy. However, if an employer feels that a team or employee is absent from work more frequently than usual or if productivity levels are low, they can calculate the absence rate to find out if absenteeism is to blame. Employers can do this to evaluate the situation, carry out analysis, and decide whether change is required. They can then make informed decisions and foster lasting improvements. Here are some solutions they may develop:
In order to support business operations, a company’s staff must reduce and eliminate absenteeism. Here are some advantages of lowering absenteeism and making sure everyone on staff shows up to work at the appropriate times:
What is absence rate?
An employee’s rate of absence from work is gauged by a statistic called the absence rate. Employee absences on occasion are common and may be justified for a variety of reasons, such as illness, medical appointments, vacation, holidays, or personal crises. These might be anticipated or unexpected, but handling them is usually not too difficult for employers. Workers might even require extended leave for things like surgery or taking care of a newborn. However, absenteeism occurs when a worker regularly skips workdays without planning ahead, notifying anyone, or obtaining official approval and leave beforehand.
Absenteeism is a serious issue that could indicate a deeper problem with a business or a particular employee. A primary form of absenteeism is missing too many workdays, but it can also manifest as persistent tardiness, early departures, extended lunch breaks, and partial absences. Team leaders must address this behavior as soon as possible because it can negatively affect both productivity and morale. Business leaders can quantify the issue and start an investigation into its cause by measuring the absence rate. Having this knowledge is essential for coming up with a workable solution.
How to calculate absence rate
Follow these steps to calculate absence rate for your organization:
1. Track the number of unexcused absences
Creating a system to monitor employee attendance is the first step in calculating their absence rate. Clock-in and clock-out systems are widely used in businesses to track attendance daily. A system like this can be used to keep track of how frequently your employee takes unplanned absences. You must also check your own records or those of the human resources department to ascertain when a worker received official leave approval. The calculation can be done for a single employee or an entire team.
It’s crucial to include only absences without a valid justification in your calculation. Your employee might have missed work occasionally for legitimate reasons like illness or other occurrences. While you could assess the general absence rate, doing so is less beneficial than assessing absenteeism. Unexcused absences create a situation that needs your attention even though excused absences are common.
2. Choose a period of time
Next, select a time frame for measuring your employees’ absence rates. Depending on your objectives and how urgent the issue is, this could be a week, month, quarter, or year. You could measure an employee’s absence over that period of time, for instance, if you notice they have been absent for almost a week. To prevent it as soon as possible, you might want to address the problem before it reaches a year.
3. Use the formula
You can enter these values into the formula to determine the absence rate after gathering attendance data and selecting a time frame. first, divide the total number of absences by the total number of days during the period. This informs you of the percentage of time your employee missed at work over the most recent month, quarter, or year. The result should then be multiplied by 100 to become a percentage. The ideal absenteeism rate is zero percent, but your benchmark can change depending on your company’s requirements.
It may be simpler to comprehend and communicate your decimal result to others if you convert it to a percentage. For instance, you might discover that an employee missed 30% of work in the previous month due to his 30% absenteeism. You could also say that during the previous month, the employee only attended work for 70% of the time. Decide which approach will have a stronger, more impactful effect on the listener.
Example calculations of absence rate
Here are three examples of how to calculate absence rate:
Example 1
At a thriving marketing company, Sarah manages the human resources department. Her boss is curious about a specific employee’s absence frequency over the previous year. Heres her calculation:
Absence rate = (30 / 365) x 100
Absence rate = 0.08 x 100
Absence rate = 8%
Sarah’s supervisor is more at ease setting up a meeting with the employee after learning this rate. They have more knowledge to investigate the problem more thoroughly and identify its cause.
Example 2
At a call center for customer service, Ronnie oversees a team. He notices that many of his team members have been showing up to work late despite being relatively new to his position. He makes the decision to look into the matter by computing his team’s tardiness rate over the previous month. He multiplies the number of workdays by the total number of employees in the group because he is gauging the rate for the entire group. Heres the formula he uses and his calculation:
Absence rate is calculated as follows: [number of late arrivals / (total employees x number of workdays during the period)] x 100
Absence rate = [20 / (7 x 20)] x 100
Absence rate = [20 / 140] x 100
Absence rate = 0.14 x 100
Absence rate = 14%
In the previous month, Ronnie discovers that his team has been absent 14% of the time. He chooses to remind his team of the late policy using the company’s internal messaging system. He also discusses it in a team meeting and ensures that any queries are addressed.
Example 3
Chelsea owns and operates a thriving floral shop business. She has ten employees in total, but Ralph, one of them, has been absent from work frequently lately. Prior to meeting with him to discuss the situation and get his perspective, she wants to determine the precise rate of absence. She can explain to him the specific reason for concern in this way. She decides to calculate the last three months, and her calculation is as follows:
Absence rate = (24 / 60) x 100
Absence rate = 0.4 x 100
Absence rate = 40%
Chelsea informs Ralph that he has missed 40% of his scheduled workdays over the past three months without a valid justification, or nearly half the time. This allows Ralph to understand the impacts of his actions. Chelsea and Ralph collaborate to come up with a strategy for handling the situation.
How to Calculate Absenteeism Rate
FAQ
What is the percentage of absence?
- Total Days Lost/(Number of Employees X Average Number of Working Days Per Employee) X 100
- Where;
- Total Days Lost = The Sum of All Employee Absence Days for a Specific Period
- Employee Strength is the number of employees in a given period.
What is employee absence rate?
The percentage of days missed at work divided by the total number of workdays is known as the absenteeism rate. Multiply this by 100 to get a percentage. Your rate will then be visible over a month or a year.
