MANAGING DISABILITY AND ABSENTEEISM IN THE WORKPLACE

Abstract

An employee who is away from work due to illness often causes the employer some degree of frustration, as unexpected absences, whatever the reason, can be detrimental to productivity and efficient operation of the workplace. There are direct costs associated with paid sick leave or other benefits, as well as the difficulty in finding replacement workers. There also exist indirect costs such as reduced service to the community and damage to the morale of other employees who are called upon to cover for absent workers.1 Employers generally understand that some degree of absenteeism is to be tolerated as a cost of doing business. However, where an employee starts missing an excessive amount of work, his or her absenteeism becomes problematic.