Effects of Absenteeism on Individuals and Organizations

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the consequences of absenteeIsm. Instead of asking what causes absenteeism we want to identify the causal effects of absenteeISm; that IS, ~hat effect absenteeIsm has on the individual worker, adjacent workers the work gr th ... . . ' . oup, e organIzatIOn, other social organIzations, and society. Our goal is to provide a better theoretical understanding of these questIOns. The literature In this area IS qUite sparse. While ~here are _ probably thousands of studies examimng the determl- _ ants ?f absenteeism, there are probably fewer than twenty studies that directly examine the effects of absenteeism on other critena ~~eh as ProductlVlty, safety, an? so on. Therefore, our focus In thl~ ,apter IS, more on understandmg the theoretical issues underlying thiS questIOn than on making sense of a robust literature.