1

Absenteeism
Absenteeism is defined as the failure of a worker to report for work when he is scheduled to work. A worker is considered to be scheduled to work when the employer has work available for him and the worker is aware of it. Authorized absence is also treated as absence while presence even for a part of the shift is treated as presence for whole shift. Absence on account of strikes, lockout, layoff, weekly rests or suspension was not taken into account. Various authorities have variously defined absenteeism. According to Websters Dictionary absenteeism is the practice or habit of being an absentee and an absentee is one who habitually stays away. The Encyclopedia of Social Science (Vol. I, 378) define absenteeism as the time lost by avoidable or unavoidable absence of employees, but the time lost by strikes, or lateness amounting to an hour or two is not included. According to S.A.S. Murthy absenteeism is the failure of workers to report on the job on any working day when they are expected to be present at work Alphons Indana Cyril H.Khisty has formulated a tentative definition of absenteeism on the basis of replies received by The Indian Labour Bureau from several employees and employers organization: A worker is considered absent when he is schedule to work and the employer has work available for him and he does not turn up for work due to his own individual reason. Accordingly, the absence of such workers as may be on privilege, sick or casual leave with or without pay is also treated as absence Seligman refers absenteeism to its loss in industrial establishment by avoidable or unavoidable absence of employees. Mr R.F. Billimoria defined absenteeism as man-shift lost by workers due to avoidable reason and without obtaining prior permission of the superior. According to Nicholson (1976), Time Lost Index

(T.L.I)

Total days lost x 100_____________

Sample N x Week in the sample period

Labour Bureau of Simla and Annual Surveys of Industries define absenteeism as the failure of the worker to report for work when he is scheduled to work. However, the two agencies differ in the interpretation of the term scheduled to work The Labour Bureau does not regard absence from work due to authorized vacation, privilege, leave, strike, lockout, layoff post-facto regularized period of over-sty following unauthorized leave as absenteeism. The labour departments, Government of India define absenteeism as the total man-shifts lost because of absentees as a percentage o the total number of man shifts scheduled(Singh and Singh, 1966). This definition does not include absence on account of authorized leave, layoff, retrenchment, strikes, etc. More specifically absenteeism refers to unauthorized absence from work. Unauthorized absence includes all cases where work is available, the worker knows about it but fails to report for duty and the employer has no prior information on workers not reporting for work. In literature on absenteeism a distinction is often made between absence and absenteeism . The term absence refer to all stay away from work whether authorized or unauthorized while absenteeism refer to only unauthorized absence (Vaid, 1966). The two rates are calculated by using the following methods.

Absence rate = authorized leave + unauthorized leave X 100 Man shifts actually worked

Absenteeism rate = unauthorized absence X 100 Man-shifts actually worked

Absenteeism in States State-wise absenteeism rate amongst the directly employed regular workers during the year 2000 is presented in Table 1. It is observed that the rate of absenteeism in Census Sector at all India level during the year 2000 has been recorded at 10.43 percent as compared to that of 10.79 percent during the year 1999. Out of 31 States/Union Territories, the rate of absenteeism was higher in 9 States than that of the national average. The highest absenteeism rate of 17.30 percent was reported in Himachal Pradesh, followed by Maharashtra (14.48 percent) and Goa (14.30 percent), whereas the lowest absenteeism rate was recorded in Nagaland at 1.98 percent

Absenteeism in Sectors by State

Table 2 shows the State-wise and Sector-wise absenteeism rates during the year 2000. For the purpose of studying absenteeism by type of ownership, units have been divided into three sectors, viz., Public, Joint and Private Sectors. It is observed that at all India level, the absenteeism rate was 10.48 percent in Public Sector, 11.25 percent in Joint Sector and 10.33 percent in Private Sector. In public sector, the rate of absenteeism varied between a highest rate of 17.40 percent in Chandigarh to lowest rate of 0.41 percent in Nagaland. In Joint Sector, the absenteeism rate varied between a highest rate of 14.90 percent in Delhi to a lowest rate of 2.70 percent in Dadar & Nagar Haveli. In Private Sector, the absenteeism rate varied between a highest rate of 17.53 percent in Himachal Pradesh to a lowest rate of 1.98 percent in Nagaland.

Table: Man-days lost due to Industrial Disputes in India, 1995-2001

Number of disputes Year 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Strikes 732 763 793 665 540 426 221 Number of man days lost (in millions) Lockouts 334 403 512 432 387 345 222 Strikes 5.7 7.8 6.3 9.4 10.6 12 2.5 Lockouts 10.6 12.5 10.7 12.7 16.2 16.8 10.8

Source: Economic Survey 1995-2000 & 2001-2002 Table: Man-days lost due to Industrial Disputes in West Bengal, 1995-2001
Number of disputes Year 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 Strikes 33 17 29 25 34 27 20 Number of man days lost (in millions) Lockouts 136 144 161 213 264 286 305 Strikes 1.25 1.67 0.62 0.22 3.90 3.11 1.37 Lockouts 5.25 10.47 7.64 11.35 17.77 16.06 19.80

Source : Labour in West Bengal From the above tables we can have clear idea of how Lockout and Strikes affecting smooth functioning of business. Specially trend of Lockout is increasing more than Strikes and Man Days lost due to Lockout is higher than Strikes. The proportion of

Strikes in Industrial Disputes has declined even more sharply as compared to that of Lockouts. But in HNG Strikes and lockouts are very rare phenomena. So as far as absenteeism due to strikes and lockout is concerned, HNG is not having such type of problem.

Types of Absenteeism

Economists have classified the concept of Absenteeism in many types according to their philosophy and logic. Kerr classified Absenteeism in the following categories: 1. Total Absenteeism. 2. Excused Absenteeism. 3. Un-excused Absenteeism. 4. Vacation Absenteeism

Total Absenteeism.
It indicates absence of workers at a given time who are schedule to work but remain absent for any reason whatsoever excluding lay-off and lock-out.

Excused Absenteeism.
Kerr stated that excused Absenteeism means absence of work for a bonafide cause. It may be because of self-illness or due to accident in the course of employment.

Un-excused Absenteeism.
It means an absence as a habit and not as a necessary. For example, a worker proceeded on 10 days leave out of his earned leave with prior sanction but overstayed for a month, then this overstayed period can be classified as un-excused absenteeism.

Vacation Absenteeism.
So far as Vacation is concerned, workers normally visit to their native places during summer vacation of their children. The Labour Bureau, Simla classified absenteeism in two types: 1. Total Absenteeism 2. True Absenteeism Total Absenteeism It means total number of man-days lost due to all reason. Reason may be leave with wages, authorized leave, unauthorized leave, sickness leave, accident, lay-off, casual leave, strikes and hartals and other reasons such as visit to native place and paid holiday. True Absenteeism

It means out of the above causes the following absences are to be excluded absence for which works are not directly or personally responsible. It includes lay-off, lockouts, strikes and hartals. The absence due to availing casual and privilege leave is also excluded because it is the legitimate right of the workers to enjoy these leaves. So from the above we can summarize different types of Absenteeism as follows: 1 2 3 4 Authorized Absenteeism Unauthorized Absenteeism Innocent Absenteeism Culpable Absenteeism

Authorized Absenteeism If a worker is absent himself from work by taking permission from his superior and applying for leave, such Absenteeism is called as Authorized Absenteeism. Unauthorized Absenteeism If a worker is absent himself from work without informing or taking permission and without applying for leave, such Absenteeism is called Unauthorized Absenteeism. Innocent Absenteeism Innocent absenteeism refers to employees who are absent for reasons beyond their control; like sickness and injury. Innocent absenteeism is not culpable which means that it is blameless. In a labour relations context this means that it cannot be remedied or treated by disciplinary measures. Culpable Absenteeism Culpable absenteeism refers to employees who are absent without authorization for reasons, which are within their control. For instance, an employee who is on sick leave even though he/she is not sick, and it can be proven that the employee was not sick, is guilty of culpable absenteeism. To be culpable is to be blameworthy. In a labour relations context this means that progressive discipline can be applied.

The Cost of Absenteeism

Decrease in Productivity

employees may be carrying an extra workload or supporting new or replacement staff employees may be required to train and orientate new or replacement workers staff morale and employee service may suffer

Financial Costs

payment of overtime may result cost of self-insured income protection plans must be borne plus the wage costs of premium costs may rise for insured plans

replacement cost

Administrative Costs

staff time is required to secure replacement employees or to re-assign the remaining staff time is required to maintain and control absenteeism

employees

10

The Chronic Absentee Worker

A person who is a habitual absentee worker is called a chronic absentee worker. Such a person as compared to regular employee is absent from work not so much because of job or environment factors. Chronic absenteeism is a state of behavior and needs special kind if treatment. Vaid (1967) in a classic study of the behavior manifestation of chronic workers studied 50 cases histories of such workers from textile mills and developed a typology of them. He classified the 50 cases into five following categories and described the typical behavior characteristics of these types.
1.

Entrepreneurs. Such chronic absentees were found to be engaged in several

social and cultural activities for status, power, recognition and money and the millwork was too meager to satisfy al these interests. Yet most of them wanted to preserve their job because if provided security, fringe benefits, like housing, purchases at mill shop, loans and provident fund contribution. They had no complaints against work, company or supervisors and were found to belong to landowner and artisan families. They also changed jobs frequency to improve their status and occasionally gambled and drank.
2.

Status Seeker: They enjoyed the ascribed status and were keen to achieve and

maintain it. Since they undertook many social activities they were mostly absent from work. They were vocal and provided counseling and guidance to others. Hence, they carried more weight with other employees.

11

3.

Epicureans: The primary objective of epicureans was comfort and pleasure. They

were characterized by excessive concern for physical comforts at the cost of money, did not change job yet had no involvement with the work. Except for the present job they did not involve themselves in any other economic activity. They were generally passive and took no responsibility.
4.

Family oriented. They desired to be good family providers, regular employees

and respectable citizens. However, over involvement with family distracted them from the very good of being a regular employee and good citizen. They were found to be withdrawn and disorganized.
5.

Sick and old.: Some chronic absentees stayed away from work because of ill

health, weak constitution, chronic illness and just old age. Yet they were compelled to hold on to work for economic reasons. However, their physical conditions made them less responsive to work.

12

The Causes of Absenteeism

The causes of absenteeism are many and include:

Serious accidents and illness Low morale Poor working conditions Boredom on the job Lack of job satisfaction Inadequate leadership and poor supervision Personal problems (financial, marital, substance abuse, child care etc.) Poor physical fitness Inadequate nutrition Transportation problems The existence of income protection plans (collective agreement) Provisions, which continue income during periods of illness or accident. Stress Workload Employee discontent with a collective bargaining process and/or its results Low level of education. Alcoholism Lack of recreational facility.

Guidelines for Absenteeism Control

13

There are two types of absenteeism, each of which requires a different type of approach.

1. Innocent Absenteeism
Innocent absenteeism refers to employees who are absent for reasons beyond their control; like sickness and injury. Innocent absenteeism is not culpable which means that it is blameless. In a labour relations context this means that it can not be remedied or treated by disciplinary measures.

2. Culpable Absenteeism
Culpable absenteeism refers to employees who are absent without authorization for reasons, which are within their control. For instance, an employee who is on sick leave even though he/she is not sick, and it can be proven that the employee was not sick, is guilty of culpable absenteeism. To be culpable is to be blameworthy. In a labour relations context this means that progressive discipline can be applied. For the large majority of employees, absenteeism is legitimate, innocent absenteeism, which occurs infrequently. Procedures for disciplinary action apply only to culpable absenteeism. Many organizations take the view that through the process of individual absentee counselling and treatment, the majority of employees will overcome their problems and return to an acceptable level of regular attendance.

Identifying Excessive Absenteeism

Attendance records should be reviewed regularly to be sure that an employee's sick-leave days are excessive compared to other employees. If a supervisor suspects that an employee is excessively absent, this can be confirmed through reviewing the attendance records. If all indications show that an employee is excessively absent, the next step is to gather as much information as possible in order to get a clearer picture of the situation. The

14

employees' files should be reviewed and the employees immediate supervisor should document all available information on the particular employee's history.

Individual Communication
After all available information has been gathered, the administrator or supervisor should individually meet with each employee whom has been identified as having higher than average or questionable (or pattern) absences. This first meeting should be used to bring concerns regarding attendance to the employee's attention. It is also an opportunity to discuss with the employee, in some depth, the causes of his or her attendance problem and possible steps he or she can take to remedy or control the absences. Listen carefully to the employee's responses. The tone of the meeting should not be adversarial, but a major purpose of the interview is to let the employee know that management treats attendance as a very important component of overall work performance. Keep your comments non-threatening and work-oriented. Stick to the facts (i.e. patters, profiles, rates etc.). The employee should be given a copy of there attendance report with absences highlighted for discussion. This interview will give you the opportunity to explore in depth with the employee the reasons for his or her absence. Gather facts - do not make any assumptions. Provide support and counselling and offer guidance as the occasion demands to assist the employee to deal with the specific cause of the absence. Often, after the initial meeting employees reduce their absenteeism. The meeting shows that you are concerned and that absenteeism is taken seriously. The employee's attendance should be closely monitored until it has been reduced to acceptable levels. Appropriate counselling should take place as is thought necessary. If a marked improvement has been shown, commend the employee. The meeting should be documented and a copy placed in the employee's file.

15

Proof of Illness
Sometimes it is helpful in counselling employees with excessive innocent or culpable absenteeism to inquire or verify the nature and reasons of their absence. The extent to which an employer may inquire into the nature of and reasons for an employee's absence from the workplace is a delicate issue. The concepts of an employee's privacy and an employer's need for information affecting the workplace often come into conflict. Seldom is the conflict more difficult to resolve than where personal medical information is involved. Unions will often strongly object to any efforts by management to inquire more deeply into the nature of an employee's illness. You will need to consider the restraints of any language in collective agreements in relation to this issue. Generally speaking, however, the following "rules of thumb" can be derived from the existing jurisprudence: 1. There is a prevailing right to privacy on the part of an employee unless the employer can demonstrate that its legitimate business interests necessitate some intrusion into the employee's personal affairs. 2. When such intrusion is justified it should be strictly limited to the degree of intrusion necessitated by the employer's interests. 3. An employee has a duty to notify his employer of an intended absence, the cause of the absence and its expected duration. This information is required by the employer to meet its legitimate concerns to have at its disposal facts which will enable it to schedule work and organize its operation. 4. An absent employee has an obligation to provide his employer with information regarding any change to his condition or circumstances relating to it which may affect the employer's needs as described in item #3 above. As such, the interests of the employer in having this information outweighs the individual employee's right to privacy.

16

5. An employer rule requiring proof for every absence is unreasonable if an absenteeism problem does not exist. 6. A mere assertion by the person claiming to be sick is not satisfactory proof. 7. The obligation to prove sickness, where the employer requires proof, rests with the employee. 8. An employer is entitled upon reasonable and probable grounds to refuse to accept a physician's certificate until it contains sufficient information to satisfy the employer's reservations. (i.e. seen by physician, some indication of return to work, etc.). Non-production of a required medical certificate could result in loss of pay until the certificate is produced. 9. Where a medical certificate is rejected by an employer (as in #8 above) the employer must state the grounds for rejection and must point out to the employee what it requires to satisfy the onus of proof. 10. An employer may require an employee to prove fitness for work where it has reasonable grounds to do so. In a health care setting the nature of the employer's business gives it a reasonably irresistible interest in this personal information for the purpose of assessing fitness. 11. Where any unusual circumstances raise reasonable suspicion that an employee might have committed an abuse of an income protection program an employer may require an employee to explain such circumstances. For example, an employer may require responses as to whether the illness confined an employee to his/her bed or home; whether an employee engaged in any outside activity and the reasons for the activity.

In summary then, any intrusion into the employee's privacy must be shown to be reasonable, based on the individual circumstances and in relation to the operation of the employer's business. If income protection abuse is suspected the extent to which such intrusion is "reasonable" would be far greater than in the case where it is not. If you are not clear on whether an inquiry is legally justified it is advisable to consult your superior.

17

After the Initial Interview

If after the initial interview, enough time and counselling efforts, as appropriate, have passed and the employee's absenteeism has not improved, it may be necessary to take further action. Further action must be handled with extreme caution - a mistake in approach, timing or severity can be crippling from both an administration and labour relation's point of view. Determining whether counselling or disciplinary action is appropriate, depends on whether the employee's absences are innocent or culpable. If the employee's absenteeism is made up of both innocent and culpable absences, then each type must be dealt with as a separate issue. In a labour relation's context innocent absenteeism and culpable absenteeism are mutually exclusive. One in no way affects the other.

Counselling Innocent Absenteeism

Innocent absenteeism is not blameworthy and therefore disciplinary action is not justified. It is obviously unfair to punish someone for conduct which is beyond his/her control. Absenteeism, no matter what the cause, imposes losses on the employer who is also not at fault. The damage suffered by the employer must be weighed against the employee's right to be sick. There is a point at which the employer's right to expect the employee to attend regularly and fulfill the employment contract will outweigh the employee's right to be sick. At such a point the termination of the employee may be justified, as will be discussed. The procedure an employer may take for innocent absenteeism is as follows:
1. 2. 3. 4. Initial counselling(s) Written counselling(s) Reduction(s) of hours and/or job reclassification Suspend

18

InitialCounselling Presuming you have communicated attendance expectations generally and have already identified an employee as a problem, you will have met with him or her as part of your attendance program and you should now continue to monitor the effect of these efforts on his or her attendance. If the absences are intermittent, meet with the employee each time he/she returns to work. If absence is prolonged, keep in touch with the employee regularly and stay updated on the status of his/her condition. (Indicate your willingness to assist.) You may require the employee to provide you with regular medical assessments. This will enable you to judge whether or not there is any likelihood of the employee providing regular attendance in future. Regular medical assessments will also give you an idea of what steps the employee is taking to seek medical or other assistance. Formal meetings in which verbal warnings are given should be given as appropriate and documented. If no improvement occurs written warning may be necessary. Written Counselling If the absences persist, you should meet with the employee formally and provide him/her with a letter of concern. If the absenteeism still continues to persist then the employee should be given a second letter of concern during another formal meeting. This letter would be stronger worded in that it would warn the employee that unless attendance improves, termination may be necessary. Reduction(s) of hours and or job reclassification In between the first and second letters the employee may be given the option to reduce his/her hours to better fit his/her personal circumstances. This option must be voluntarily accepted by the employee and can not be offered as an ultimatum, as a reduction in hours is a reduction in pay and therefore can be looked upon as discipline. If the nature of the illness or injury is such that the employee is unable to fulfill the requirements of his/her job, but could for example benefit from modified work, counsel the employee to bid on jobs of such type if they become available. (N.B. It is inadvisable

19

to "build" a job around an employee's incapacitates particularly in a unionized environment. The onus should be on the employee to apply for an existing position within his/her capabilities.) Suspend Only when all the previously noted needs and conditions have been met and everything has been done to accommodate the employee can suspension be considered. An Arbitrator would consider the following in ruling on an innocent absenteeism suspension case.
1. Has the employee done everything possible to regain their health and return to work? 2. Has the employer provided every assistance possible? (i.e. counselling, support, time off.) 3. Has the employer informed the employee of the unworkable situation resulting from their sickness? 4. Has the employer attempted to accommodate the employee by offering a more suitable position (if available) or a reduction of hours? 5. Has enough time elapsed to allow for every possible chance of recovery? 6. Has the employer treated the employee prejudicially in any way?

As is evident, a great deal of time and effort must elapse before suspesion can take place. These points would be used to substantiate or disprove the following two-fold test.
1. The absences must be shown to be clearly excessive. 2. It must be proven that the employee will be unable to attend work on a regular basis in the future.

20

Corrective Action for Culpable Absenteeism

As already indicated, culpable absenteeism consists of absences where it can be demonstrated that the employee is not actually ill and is able to improve his/her attendance. Presuming you have communicated attendance expectations generally, have identified the employee as a problem, have met with him/her as part of your attendance program, made your concerns on his specific absenteeism known and have offered counselling as appropriate, with no improvement despite your positive efforts, disciplinary procedures may be appropriate. The procedures for corrective/progressive discipline for culpable absenteeism are generally the same as for other progressive discipline problems. The discipline should not be prejudicial in any way. The general procedure is as follows: [Utilizing counselling memorandum]
1. 2. 3. 4. Initial Warning(s) Written Warning(s) Suspension(s) Discharge

Verbal Warning Formally meet with the employee and explain that income protection is to be used only when an employee is legitimately ill. Advise the employee that his/her attendance record must improve and be maintained at an improved level or further disciplinary action will result. Offer any counselling or guidance as is appropriate. Give further verbal warnings as required. Review the employee's income protection records at regular intervals. Where a marked improvement has been shown, commend the employee. Where there is no improvement a written warning should be issued. Written Warning Interview the employee again. Show him/her the statistics and point out that there has

21

been no noticeable (or sufficient) improvement. Listen to the employee to see if there is a valid reason and offer any assistance you can. If no satisfactory explanation is given, advise the employee that he/she will be given a written warning. Be specific in your discussion with him/her and in the counselling memorandum as to the type of action to be taken and when it will be taken if the record does not improve. As soon as possible after this meeting provide the employee personally with the written warning and place a copy of his/her file. The written warning should identify any noticeable pattern If the amount and/or pattern continue, the next step in progressive discipline may be a second, stronger written warning. Your decision to provide a second written warning as an alternative to proceeding to a higher level of discipline (i.e. suspension) will depend on a number of factors. Such factors are, the severity of the problem, the credibility of the employee's explanations, the employee's general work performance and length of service. Suspension (only after consultation with the appropriate superiors)

If the problem of culpable absenteeism persists, following the next interview period and immediately following an absence, the employee should be interviewed and advised that he/she is to

be suspended. The length of the suspension will depend again on the severity of the problem, the credibility of the employee's explanation, the employee's general work performance and length of service. Subsequent suspensions are optional depending on the above condition. Dismissal (only after consultation with the appropriate superiors)

Dismissals should only be considered when all of the above conditions and procedures have been met. The employee, upon displaying no satisfactory improvement, would be dismissed on the grounds of his/her unwillingness to correct his/her absence record.

22

There are some others steps that should be taken from Management side to minimize absenteeism.

Change Management Style:

We are all aware of the fact that when

employees call in ill, it does not mean they are truly too physically ill to work. One reason, outside of illness, that employees are absent is stress, and the number one reason employees are stressed has to do with their relationship with their manager/supervisor. Management styles that are too authoritarian tend to promote high levels of absenteeism among employees. Authoritarian managers are managers who have poor listening skills, set unreachable goals, have poor communication skills, and are inflexible. In other words, they yell too much, blame others for problems, and make others feel that it must be their way or the "highway." Authoritarian managers tend to produce high absenteeism rates. By identifying managers who use an authoritarian style, and providing them with management training, you will be taking a positive step not only toward reducing absenteeism, but also reducing turnover, job burnout, and employee health problems such as backaches and headaches.

Change Working Conditions:

The employees in your company probably

work in a well-lighted climate controlled building. The working conditions I am referring to relate to coworker relationships. Not only does relationship stress occur between the employee and manager, but it also exists between employees. Frequently I hear employees say they did not go to work because they are fearful of or angry with another employee. These employees usually report they just could not deal with "so and so" today, so they called in ill. Companies that adopted policies and values that promote employee respect and professionalism, and promote an internal conflict resolution procedure, are companies that reduce employee stress. A reduction in employee stress reduce employee Absenteeism.

23

Provide Incentives: Giving employees incentives

for reduced absenteeism is

not the same as rewarding or giving employees bonuses for reduced absenteeism. An incentive provides an employee with a boost to their motivation to avoid unnecessary absenteeism. It simply helps the employee decide to go to work versus staying home and watching Jerry Springer. The types of incentive programs used by companies are numerous. Some companies allow employees to cash-in unused sick days at the end of every quarter, others give an employee two hours of bonus pay for every month of perfect attendance; and still others provide employees with a buffet lunch, a certificate of achievement, or even a scratch-off card concealing prizes. The type of incentive program that your company uses should be one created especially for your company. You can create an incentive program tailored to your unique company by allowing employees to help you develop the incentive program. For example, your employees may not care about receiving a $25.00 U.S. saving bond for perfect attendance, but they might respond very well to being able to leave one hour early on Friday if they have perfect attendance all week. The duration of the incentive program is also very important. Once again allow your employees to help guide you to determine the length of time between incentives. Some companies find that they can simply reward employees with perfect attendance once a year, while others decide once a month is best, and still others decide once a week works best. The general rule of thumb is to reward workers more frequently the younger they are and the more difficult the work is to perform. Also, it is best to start with small incentives and work up to larger ones if necessary.

Develop an Attendance Policy:

Every Company should have an

attendance policy. An attendance policy allows a manager to intervene with an employee who is frequently absent. Besides stress as a primary reason for employee absenteeism, other causes relate to alcoholism, domestic violence, and family problems. If you confront an employee about his or her frequent absenteeism, and they inform you it is due to personal problems, consider referring the employee to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP). If the employee's absenteeism relates to a medical problem or a family member with a medical problem, you may have to

24

consider allowing the employee to use the benefits allowed to them under the American's with Disability Act (ADA) or the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Early identification of these employees will get them back to work as fast as possible. Lastly, make sure that you have an attorney review your attendance policy to make sure it does not violate any State or Federal labor laws. By incorporating the above four strategies into your company you will not only reduce absenteeism you will reduce employee burnout, turnover, poor morale, and workplace negativism.

25

Trends in Absenteeism

Recent surveys in different organization indicate the following trends in absenteeism.

The higher the rate of pay and the greater the length of service of the employee, the fewer the absences. As an organization grows, there is a tendency towards higher rates of absenteeism Absenteeism is generally higher in the night shift than in the day shift. The rate of Absenteeism is the lowest on pay day; it increases considerably on the following the payment of wages and bonus. Single employees are absent more frequently than married employees Younger employees are absent more frequently than older employees but the latter are absent for longer periods of time. Unionized organizations have higher absenteeism rates than non-union organizations Absenteeism is higher during the sowing (March April May) and harvesting season.

26

Job Satisfaction and Absenteeism

Job Satisfaction means the degree to which a person is satisfied with his/her job. Or it can be defined as a persons felling of satisfaction on the job or as a pleasurable emotional satisfaction resulting from the appraisal of ones job as achieving or facilitating the achievement of ones job values. So from above definition we can say that job satisfaction means ones perception/expectation regarding the factors, which they feel is necessary to achieve the fulfillment of unsatisfied needs. So from this we can say that the factor, which motivates or de-motivates an employee are also the factors which plays a very vital role in determining the satisfaction level of an employees job. There is negative relationship between Job Satisfaction and Absenteeism. An employee who is dissatisfied with his/her job likely to miss work very regularly but an employee with satisfaction regarding his/her job will avoid neglecting the work. And absenteeism will create bad impact to the organizational goal achievement due to idle time cost. And simultaneously the duration to achieve the goal extends.

27

Productivity and Absenteeism

Absenteeism caused in additional manpower or its leads to decrease in production. The study group of productivity and incentive set up by the National Commission on lab our defined productivity in this terms; Productivity is the measure of the extent to which the recourses are utilized to produce goods and services it measures this through determining the ration between the output of wealth or net result and the input of resources .It can be measured between any two stages in a production processes. In other words we can measure productivity for a single operation in a process or the entire process or the entire plant, or the industry or the economy as a whole. It can be measured for each resource, i.e. for a man, for a group of men, a major material, capital, power, etc. Two productivity values will, however, be comparable if both of them are for the same resource, are in terms of the same unit, and are for the same stages of a productive process If we look at every organization that are very much successful in production department, are having large number of employees with high Job Satisfaction and low absenteeism rate because productivity of an employee depends upon their satisfaction and if a worker is satisfied then he will be less absent from work. An organization is productive if it achieves its goals and does so by transferring inputs to outputs at the lowest cost. As such, productivity implies a concern for both effectiveness and efficiency and this will arise when the maximum number of employees will be present and simultaneously satisfied with his work. . If a worker remains absent due to selfsickness or for some family problems, there would be a slackness and carelessness in the work. It breeds instability and frittering away of energy. The productivity of that worker will be reduced. Low productivity affects industrial production, which is the base of development and growth of the industry. Thus absenteeism reduces the productivity of labour that ultimately hampers the growth and development of the industry.

28

Prokopenko of the I.L.O. converts the total productivity of a firm into the following formula; Ot Pt = ----------------L+C+R+O Where Pt = total productivity L = Labour input factor C = Capital input factor R = Raw material and purchased parts input. O = Other miscellaneous goods and services input factor (including management) Ot= Total output A proper productivity index for management use, however is dependent not only on considering all factors, but also on how the factors are defined and used The system concept is very important in the area of productivity, how the various factors of production interact and make up an integrated whole.

29

Chapter - 3

30

Statement of Absenteeism in the Hindustan National Glass and Industries Limited, Rishra for the period starting from 2002 to 2005

(I) Year 20022003 20032004 20042005

(ii) Authorized Absenteeism Rate (%) 7.15 7.15 6.04

(iii) Unauthorized Absenteeism Rate (%) 5.68 4.58 4.42

(iv) Total Absenteeism Rate (%) 13.51 11.74 10.47

15 10 5 0 2002- 2003- 20042003 2004 2005

Authorized Absenteeism Unauthorized Absenteeism Total Absenteeism Rate (%)

31

MONTH 20042005

UNAUTHORIZED ABSENTEEISM RATE (%) 4.61 6.08 5.99 4.52 4.08 3.46 3.43 5.45 5.18 3.53 3.52 3.94

AUTHORIZED ABSENTEEISM RATE (%) 7.72 8.38 7.46 4.53 3.37 5.95 4.09 6.66 6.23 5.55 6.83 5.74

TOTAL ABSENTEEISM RATE (%) 12.33 14.47 13.59 9.05 7.45 9.41 7.52 12.11 11.41 9.08 10.35 9.68

APRIL 2004
MAY 2004 JUNE 2004 JULY 2004 AUGUST 2004 SEPTEMBER 2004 OCTOBER 2004 NOVEMBER 2004 DECEMBER 2004 JANUARY 2005 FEBRUARY 2005 MARCH 2005

32

Pictorial representation of the above table can be shown as follows:

UNAUTHORIZED ABSENTEEISM RATE (%) TOTAL ABSENTEEISM RATE (%)

16

AUTHORIZED ABSENTEEISM RATE (%)

14

12

10

May-04

Aug-04

Sep-04

Nov-04

Figure: Absenteeism rate for the year 2004-2005

Average rate of Absenteeism = 13.51

Dec-04

Feb-05

Mar-05

Jun-04

Oct-04

Jan-05

Apr-04

Jul-04

33

MONTH 20032004

UNAUTHORIZED ABSENTEEISM RATE (%) 5.07 11.56 7.32 3.58 2.92 2.22 3.83 3.86 2.84 2.62 5.45 4.61

AUTHORIZED ABSENTEEISM RATE (%) 9.20 12.79 7.76 6.41 4.09 4.44 5.61 6.39 7.60 6.23 7.79 8.05

TOTAL ABSENTEEISM RATE (%) 14.27 24.35 15.08 9.99 7.01 6.66 9.44 10.25 10.44 8.85 13.24 12.66

APRIL 2003
MAY 2003 JUNE 2003 JULY 2003 AUGUST 2003 SEPTEMBER 2003 OCTOBER 2003 NOVEMBER 2003 DECEMBER 2003 JANUARY 2004 FEBRUARY 2004 MARCH 2004

Pictorial representation of the above table can be shown as follows:

34

UNAUTHORIZED ABSENTEEISM RATE (%) AUTHORIZED ABSENTEEISM RATE (%) TOTAL ABSENTEEISM RATE (%)
30

25

20

15

10

0 Apr-03 M ay-03 Jun-03 Jul-03 Aug-03 Sep-03 Oct-03 Nov-03 Dec-03 Jan-04 Feb-04 M ar-04

Figure: Absenteeism rate for the year 2003-2004

Average rate of Absenteeism = 11.74

35

MONTH 20022003

UNAUTHORIZED ABSENTEEISM RATE (%) 9.21 10.44 9.47 4.70 4.62 4.26 4.62 4.98 4.32 3.85 3.55 4.4

AUTHORIZED ABSENTEEISM RATE (%) 8.52 12.34 12.04 7.04 5.63 4.79 4.88 8.54 8.37 6.83 7.13 8.46

TOTAL ABSENTEEISM RATE (%) 17.73 22.78 21.51 11.74 10.25 9.05 9.5 13.52 12.69 10.68 10.67 12.86

APRIL 2002
MAY 2002 JUNE 2002 JULY 2002 AUGUST 2002 SEPTEMBER 2002 OCTOBER 2002 NOVEMBER 2002 DECEMBER 2002 JANUARY 2003 FEBRUARY 2003 MARCH 2003

Pictorial representation of the above table can be shown as follows

36

UNAUTHORIZED ABSENTEEISM RATE (%) AUTHORIZED ABSENTEEISM RATE (%) TOTAL ABSENTEEISM RATE (%)
25

20

15

10

02

03 Fe b-

M ay -0 2

De c02

Ju l-0

-0

-0

N ov

M ON TH

20

02

Figure: Absenteeism rate for the year 2003-2004

Average rate of Absenteeism = 10.47
By going through the record of different years it has been found that during some month the rate of absenteeism is as high as 22 % to 24 % while in some month it is low as 6 % to 7 %. Comparatively high rate of absenteeism in the month of May and June is due to leave taken by the workers for visiting their native place (agriculture works and marriage occasion) and dont come back in schedule date.

LEAVE POSITION FOR THE YEAR 2004

M ar -0

-0

-0

A ug

A pr

Oc t-0

00

Se p-

Ju n

Ja n

-2

-0

37

P.L
5163

C.L
1282

E.S.I
3222

M.L
1257

ABSENT
5270

L.W.P
895

LEAVE POSITION FOR THE YEAR 2004

895 5270

5163

PL CL ESI ML ABSENT LWP

1257

3222

1282

PL: Pleasure Leave CL: Casual Leave ESI: Employees State Insurance LWP: Leave without Pay ML: Medical Leave

EMPLOYEES JOINED AND LEFT STATE WISE FOR YEAR 2004

38

STATE
ANDHRA PARDESH BIHAR CHHATTISHGAR H JHARKHAND ORISSA PONDICHERY UTTAR PARDESH WEST BENGAL MADHYA PARDESH N.B

JOINED
3 16 3 7 40 5 29 79 1 5

LEFT
0 3 2 2 25 3 3 19 0 0

% LEFT
0.00 18.75 66.67 28.57 62.50 60.00 10.34 24.05 0.00 0.00

Pictorial representation of the above table can be shown as follows

39

LABOUR TURNOVER RATE

LEFT JOINED

STATES

% LEFT

CH

PO TT J H A N IS RK O D I H C BI R H G A H A IS H E W M U A .B . P P AR RH ND SA RY .P A

.B

20

40

60

80

100

NO. OF WORKERS

Percentages of respondent respond to factors:

40

1: ESI coverage? Total respondent = 50 Under ESI Not under ESI =50 =0
ESI coverage
0%

100% Under ESI Not under ESI

2: Chronically ill?
Total respondent = 50 Yes No = 32 = 18

Chronically ill

36% 64%

Yes

No

3: Loan taken from any agency?

41

Total respondent = 50 Yes No = 37 = 13 Loan taken from agency

26%

74% Yes No

4: Like job or not?

Total respondent Yes No = 50 = 32 = 18

Like job or not

36% 64%

Yes

No

5: Local resident?
Total respondent Yes = 50 = 19

42

No

= 31 Local resident

38% 62%

Yes

No

6: Visit native place? Total respondent Monthly Quarterly Half yearly Yearly =50 =6 =7 = 18 = 19
Visit native place
12% 38% 14% 36% M onthly Quarterly Half yearly Yearly

7: Agricultural land? Total respondent Yes No = 50 = 33 = 17

43

Agricultural land

Yes

No

8: How often do they apply for leave? Total respondent a) In a week b) In a fortnight c) In a month d) In a six month e) In a year = 50 =1 =6 = 16 = 14 = 13

Apply for leave

13 1 6 16 14 a) In a week d) In a six month b) In a fortnight e) In a year c) In a month

9: Require leave for which of the following reason? Total respondent 1) Marriage 2) Agricultural works = 50 = 24 =6

44

3) Sickness

= 25

4) Going around with friends = 8 5) Fear from internal people = 5 6) No interest in work 7) Not good relation with departmental colleague and supervisor 8) Fear from accident =4 =3 =9

Reason for leave

94 5 8 25 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 3

24 6

10) Special food habits? Total respondent 1) Pan 2) Gutka = 50 =4 =3

45

3) Biri / Cigarette 4) Khaini 5) Wine(Sharab)

= 20 = 15 =6

Special food habits 13% 31% 42% 8% 6%

11: Other source of income? Total respondent Yes No = 50 = 21 = 24

Other source of activities

53%

47%

Yes

No

How Absenteeism affects Over Time payment in HNG Rishra

46

Figure:Total wages including Over Time and Total Leaves during 2004-2005

Year
April (2004)March (2005)

Total Wages (Rs/-)

28172309

Over Time (Rs/-)

5338483

Total leave (man days lost)

17380

OT % of Total Wages 18.93

April (2004)-March (2005) 30000000 20000000 10000000 0 Total Wages Total leave

47

Month
April 2004

Total Wages (Rs/-)

2142512.81

Over Time (Rs/-)

356213.01

Total leave (man days lost)

1632

OT % of Total Wages 16.63

May 2004

2255613.97

604010.41

1903

26.78

June 2004

2070155.82

521133.46

1753

25.17

July 2004

2214656.63

523066.79

1236

23.62

August 2004

2388144.21

449952.02

1075

18.84

September 2004

2355614.96

391083.90

1342

16.60

October 2004

2623101.92

560904.08

1075

21.38

November 2004

2355496.06

561497.48

1643

23.84

December 2004

2355614.96

391083.90

1628

16.60

January 2005

2611737.50

376803.45

1325

14.43

February 2005

2275928.74

252582.59

1357

11.10

March 2005

2523739.17

350157.30

1411

13.87

48

Pictorial representation of the above table can be shown as follows

Mar-05 9% Feb-05 8% Jan-05 10% Dec-04 8% Nov-04 8%

Apr-04 Aug-04 Dec-04

Total Wages

Apr-04 May-04 8% 8% Jun-04 7% Jul-04 8% Aug-04 Sep-04 8% 8%

Oct-04 10%

May-04 Sep-04 Jan-05

Jun-04 Oct-04 Feb-05

Jul-04 Nov-04 Mar-05

After going through the table of over time payment, it is very much clear that during those months when absenteeism rate is very high (May & June), the over time payment is also very high (25% to 26%). And in those months when absenteeism rate is low, over time payment is also low (definitely there are some other factors also involved). But in HNG Rishra Absenteeism has an affect on Over Time Payment.

49

Method 1

Let X denotes total absenteeism rate (in percentage) and Y the loss of production. Let, us change the origin of X and Y to 13.59 and 1,00,000 respectively and also the scale of Y to 10,000 and let us write

xi = X i13.59 and yi = (Y I 100000) / 10000 Calculation for Correlation Coefficient

Total Budgeted Absenteeism Prodn. Rate (%) (Xi) Actual Prodn. Yi2 Loss of xi=XiProdn. (Yi) 13.59

yi=Yi100000/1000 2 Xi 0

xiyi

12.33

67044600

78414736

11370136

-1.26

1.5876

13.7

187.69

- 17.262

14.47

78284920

86790376

8505456

0.88

0.7744

- 14.9

222.01

- 13.112

13.59

69852600

75844299

5991694

- 40.0

1600.00

9.05

80080781

90691711

10610930

- 4.54

20.6116

6.1

37.21

27.694

7.95

83553390

87766165

4212775

- 6.14

37.6996

- 57.8

3340.84

354.892

xi= 11.06

xi2 = 60.6732

yi=- 92.9

yi2 = 5387.75

xiyi = 352.212

50

51

Month (2005)

.n=no of pairs of observation.

xiyi - (xi yi)/n rxy

=

( (xi2 - (xi/n)2 ) ((yi2 - (yi/n)2 ) 352.212 - (-11.06 * - 92.06) = 7.47 * 71.01 146.717 = 530.4447 = 0.276

Since the correlation co-efficient between two variables is not affected with the choice of origin and scale, thus

rxy = rxy = 0.276

It indicates that there is a very low degree of positive relationship between two variables. In other words loss of production ( Y ) tends to not influenced by increase or decrease in absenteeism rate ( X ) in H.N.G. To find out whether our computed value of r=0.276 is significant value or not, a Null Hypothesis as H0, and an alternative Hypothesis as H1 , as a device of Testing of Hypothesis have been applied to the pursuit.

To test, H0 : =0

August

June

April

May

July

52

H1 : >0
Here we use test statistics

where = population co-efficient.

.r n-2 t.= 1-r2

Here t follows t distribution with (n-2) degree of freedom (d.f)

0.276 (5-2) t.= 1 (0.276) 2 0.4780 t.= 0.4880 = 0.979 < t.05 , 3 Tabulated Value ( T.V) of t.05, 3 =2.35 Calculated Value (C.V) < T.V We reject H0 at 5% level of significance and conclude that r=0.276 is not a significant value. So the effect of absenteeism on production loss is statically not significant.

53

Development of Proposed Model 2

The following steps are necessary to develop the Model: 1 2 Identify all personal factors affecting absenteeism. Choose good and bad group from among the existing employees against the criterion of absenteeism. 3 Design and conduct a suitable interview to know the values of the various personal factors for the employees from the good and bad group. 4 Using some statistical methods develop an empirical relation to know the relative importance of each personal factors affecting absenteeism. 5 Use the empirical relation to predict absenteeism profile of prospective employees. The details of all these steps are given below.

1.Identify all personal factors affecting absenteeism

After having had discussion with various related senior persons, the following list of personal factors, which may affect absenteeism in HNG Rishra, is prepared: Age Native place Family size Financial status

54

Side activities Health Agricultural land Further in order to keep the analysis simple, I defined all these factors as Binary Variables (having values either 0 or 1 as shown in the next table).

Sl_No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Factors Age Native Place Family Size Financial Status Side Activities Health Agricultural Land

Binary 0 Young (below 30) Outside State 5 or more

Binary 1 Not-so-young (above 30) Within the State Below 5 Bad (recurring borrowing & debt) No Bad (some chronic diseases) No

Good Yes (family business) Good (no chronic diseases) Yes

2 Select Good and Bad groups from among the existing employees
From the past three years absenteeism record, I selected the 30 workers, who were absent for maximum number of days during this period. I used the personnel office record for this purpose where authorized and unauthorized leave taken every month by each employee were recorded. Most of these employees had taken many unauthorized leaves.

55

Similarly 20 best cases were selected, who had taken minimum number of leaves or no leaves at all.

3 Designing and conducting a personal interview for the selected employees

I prepared the questionnaire eliciting the required information with the help of my Project Guide (Dr. A. k. Ghose and Sr. HRD manager of HNG Rishra). Appendix (1) lists the type of information asked. The workers were explained briefly about the objective of the study and were assured that their feedback will not be used against them. On the contrary, they were assured that the company might be able to take some measures (not related with this project) to help them some of their problem, based on the information collected from them. Based on interview, the factors were assigned Binary values for each of the workers interviewed. Appendix (3) shows the result of these interviews.

4 Development of empirical relationship

Reduce the size of the problem using Heuristic method. Table lists seven variables thought to affect absenteeism. But these were found a bit too many, to apply a statistical method (like Discriminant Analysis). To reduce the number of variables without losing any significant accuracy, a Heuristic method was developed. The idea was to measure for each variable (factor), its magnitude of positive correlation for the Good Group of workers and corresponding negative correlation for the Bad Group. For this purpose an index for each variable was defined as below. Correlation Index for ith variable =FIb

= FIB --- Freq of Is in Bad Group (for variable i) F0B---Freq of 0s in Bad Group (for variable i) m---- number of cases in Bad Group FIG --- Freq of Is in Good Group (for variable i)

56

F0G---Freq of 0s in Good Group (for variable i) k---- number of cases in Good Group(for variable i)
The absolute value of correlation index will indicate about the contribution of the factors to absenteeism. The higher the absolute value of correlation index the more is the contribution of the factor to absenteeism. Appendix (4) shows the computation of correlation index as shown below, clearly indicated that out of total eight variables only four were really significant (marked with *)

Factors
* 1 Age * 2 Financial Status

Correlation Index
41 37

* 3 Health

22

*4 Agricultural Activities

28

5 Native Place

-32

6 Side Activities

-30

7 Family Size

-23

Therefore, these four factors, namely, age; financial status, health and agricultural activities were selected to carry out further analysis.

57

Use of discriminant analysis to develop empirical relationship. Now, we have a set of four predictor variables. AGE FINANCIAL STATUS HEALTH AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES We knew the values of these predictor variables (in Binary terms 0 and 1) for two mutually exclusive groups of workers (the Good and the Bad ones). We wanted to quantify the impact of each of these predictor variables on absenteeism (i.e. which variables make a worker more absenteeism-prone, and vice-versa). We also wanted to establish an Empirical Equation, which would help to predict to which of the two group (GOOD or BAD) a new worker is more likely to belong. In other words, we wanted to discriminate him from a possible good group to a possible bad one. This was a classical of Two-Group Discriminant Analysis and could therefore, be solved using this statistical technique. In general, the objectives of a Discriminant Analysis are: Determining which predictor variables account most for inter-group difference (i.e. determining variables which help in discriminating most). Finding Linear Equation of predictor variables that maximizes the discrimination between two groups. Establishing procedures for assigning new individual to one or two groups (assuming they come from one of the two predefined groups) Statistically testing, whether the two groups are really significantly different and exclusive. Discriminante Analysis is done using SPSS package. Here we will discuss only the results.

58

Step 1
We found the Discriminant coefficient for the four variables as given below: Variable X1 X2 X3 X4 Variable name Age Financial Status Health Agriculture Activity Discriminant 4.33 3.27 2.94 4.69 Coefficient (L1) (L1) (L2) (L3) (L4)

Here, Lt s are the weightage of the corresponding variables and are the measure of the importance of that factor to absenteeism. The discriminant function, D arrived at is:

D = 4.33 X1 + 3.27 X2 + 2.94 X3 + 4.69 X4

With cut-off point D* = 8.15

Thus, if D > 8.15, for a worker, he is a Bad Case. And D 8.15, for a worker, he is Good Case.

Conclusion
1.

It can be observed from the above analysis, that the following 4 factors affect absenteeism:

AGE FINANCIAL STATUS HEALTH AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES

59

2. There are others remaining factors which hardly affects absenteeism in HNG 3. The criteria for selection of new worker could be to calculate his Discriminant Function value

D = 4.33 X1 + 3.27 X2 + 2.94 X3 + 4.69 X4

(The details of X1, X2, X3, X4 are already given.) With cut-off point D* = 8.15 If D > 8.15, for a worker, he is a Bad Case. And D 8.15, for a worker, he is Good Case.

Appendix 1

Good
Sl_no 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Age 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 Native Family Financial Side Place 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 Size 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 Status 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Activities 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 1 Health Agriculture 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0

60

17 18 19 20

0 0 0 0

0 1 1 1

0 1 1 1

0 0 0 1

1 1 1 0

0 0 0 0

0 1 1 1

Total 9

11

12

2 Bad

16

11

Sl_no Age 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1

Native Family Financial Side Place 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 Size 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 Status 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 Activities 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1

Health Agriculture 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0

61

25 26 27 28 29 30 Total

1 0 0 1 1 1 26

0 0 0 0 0 0 7

1 1 0 0 0 0 11

1 0 0 0 0 0 14

1 0 1 1 1 0 15

1 0 1 0 0 0 11

1 1 0 0 1 1 19

Appendix 2 Correlation Index for Personal factors:

Age
Correlation Index Rank Of Importance 41

Native Family Financial Side Place

-32

Size
-23

Status
37

Activities
30

Health Agriculture
22 28

62

Observation and recommendation

Performance emanate from the inter-action of physical, financial and human resources. Physical and financial resources will be of no use unless human resources help them to utilize in an efficient and effective manner. In fact, the level of performance of an employee is a function of his ability and his willingness to perform because human performance is the product of Ability to perform and will to perform. Therefore, human resources should be developed and utilized in such a way that they will be able to use physical and financial resources in an effective and efficient manner and help the organization to achieve its long-term and short-term objective. Absenteeism is one of the action-oriented parameters that not only caused due to workers initiation but also organization, some way or other, are also help to flourish this unwanted evil. Absenteeism restricts proper utilization of all resources. So proper utilization of physical and financial resource requires human resource. Therefore, for effective utilisation of human resource, management should make its absenteeism policy in such a way that it would help the organization to utilize human resources ability and potential effectively. In the light of observation and findings, some recommendations have been suggested for the improvement of workers attendance and production in H.N.G.

63

1) The management should take proper steps in order to control absenteeism among workers. In this factory, absenteeism is caused particularly due to leave taken by employees according to the rules and regulation. The should introduce attendance bonus for the unavailed or surrendered portion of casual leave so that a part casual leave can be converted into working days. The management should also introduce Monetary and non-monetary benefits scheme that will be linked with attendance so that workers feel reluctant to take leave and become conspicuous regarding their regular attendance and as a result absenteeism rate can be reduced.
2)The

management should introduce a scheme where The Best Employee

with respect to absenteeism, performance and discipline will be rewarded with cash( Rs 500/- or Rs 1000/-) at the end of the year by top management and their respective photograph (big size painted ) will be pasted at the entry and exit gate of the factory premises. The joint committee of workers and management will take the decision and judgment of winner. This will work, as motivators and every employee will want their photograph to be pasted at the gate. 3) The condition of workers canteen is very unhygienic and food supplied in

the canteen is very low graded and without subsidized rate. Due to this unhygienic condition and low graded food, workers need to go home for their lunch and some time they dont return back for work. This leads to decrease in productivity and simultaneously increase workload to other workers. This whole process leads to increase in cost of production. In past when the company had a workers canteen, which used to supply food at a subsidized rate to every worker, the productivity at that time of piece workers was very high. And as soon as the company did withdraw the subsidized food, the productivity decreased to a large extent. So management should reintroduce the subsidized canteen and better hygienic condition of the canteen

64

also taken care off for all workers. This can work as motivator and may simultaneously save Rs 2 Lakh p.a (according to past record).
4)

Workload in some department is very high and in some of the department is

very low, so management should take necessary steps to balance the number of workers in all departments. Management should take some steps so that workload of workers can be reduced. 5) Training and development programmes held regularly in H.N.G. Training

and orientation programmes helps to attain self-development, should not only be arranged but also evaluation of these programmes should be made from time to time to know the effect of training on the performance so that useful feedback can be available from the evaluation of the training and development programmes. Further, in order to provide relief to the workers engaged in monotonous job, job rotation should be arranged. 6) The rate of absenteeism during the month May-June and November-

December remains very high because during these month workers used to go to native place either for the purpose of marriage or agriculture works. The management should introduce special incentives during these months so that workers will feel reluctant to go to native place. Hot weather during the month of May and June is also reason for high absenteeism rate in H.N.G. So management should provide clean water, lemon water, glucose water and cooling facility to workers.
7)

Side business of workers is also a reason for absenteeism in H.N.G.

Workers have their own side business along with work in H.N.G. Management should take strict action against those proven workers who remains absent from work because of their side business.
8)

Finally, to develop work culture in H.N.G, it is imperative to nurture and

motivate team spirit to perform the assigned jobs confidently and efficiently. The

65

attitude of cooperation to join hands is essential for improving performance. It is also necessary to improve the sense of belongingness among the employees so as to improve the morale of the workers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Sl.No
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Name of Author Books

Gupta, C.B Saiyadain, Mirza. S Mamoria, C.B

MamoriaMamoria Gankar

Management theory and Practice Human Resource Management Personnel Management Dynamics of Industrial relations Organisationl Behaviour Personnel management

S.P Robbins
N.K Singh & G.K Suri

Internet

66

Questionnaire
NAME AGE : : : : MARRIED/UNMARRIED DEPARTMENT:

WORKING SINCE MARITAL STATUS

1) 2)

HOW MANY DEPENDENTS YOU ARE HAVING? WHAT IS THE AGE GROUP OF YOUR DEPENDENTS? a) c) e) f) FATHER :____________ :____________ :____________ :____________ :____________ SISTER :____________ WIFE b) MOTHER d) BROTHER

DAUGHTER:___________

g) SON 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9)

ARE YOU COVERED UNDER ESI? IS ANY MEMBER OF YOUR FAMILY CHRONICALLY ILL? IF YES, WHAT IS THE DISEASE? HOW MANY YEARS IS HE/SHE SUFFERING FROM? WHAT IS THE METHOD OF TREATMENT? DO HAVE ELIGIBLE DAUGHTER FOR MARRIAGE? IS SHE GOING TO BE MARRIED?

10) HAVE YOU TAKEN ANY LOAN FROM ANY AGENCY? 11) WHAT IS THE APPROXIMATE MOUNT? 12) HOW DO YOU PAY-OFF YOUR LOAN?

67

13) 14) 15) 16)

WHAT IS YOUR DESIGNATION? WHEN DID YOU GET YOUR LAST PROMOTION? DOES YOUR SUPERVISOR DEPEND ON YOU? A) DO YOU LIKE YOUR JOB? B) IF YES, THEN GIVE TWO REASON WHY DO LIKE YOUR JOB? ) ) C) IF YES, THEN GIVE TWO REASON WHY DO LIKE YOUR JOB? ) )

17) DO YOU LIVE IN AROUND RISHRA? 18) DO YOU STAY ALONE? 19) IF YES, WHO COOKS YOUR FOOD? 20) HOW OFTEN DO YOU GO TO YOUR NATIVE PLACE? a) MONTHLY :___________ b) QUARTERLY:___________ c) HALF YEARLY:___________ d) YEARLY NATIVE PLACE? 22) IF YES, THEN HOW MANY BIGHAS? 23) DO YOU TILL YOUR OWN LAND OR EMPLOY LANDED LABOUR? 24) DO YOU HAVE ANY RELATIVE TO LOOK AFTER YOUR LAND? :___________ 21) DO YOU HAVE ANY AGRICULTURAL LAND IN YOUR

68

25) WHAT ARE THE CEREAL FOODS GRAINS YOU GET FROM YOUR NATIVE PLACE? 26) IF SO, THEN IN WHAT QUANTITY? 27) DO YOU LIKE YOUR DEPARTMENT HEADS? 28) DO YOU LIKE YOUR DEPARTMENTAL SUPERVISOR? 29) HOW OFTEN DO YOU APPLY FOR LEAVE? A) IN A WEEK B) IN A FORTNIGHT C) IN A MONTH E) IN A YEAR
30)

:__________ :__________ :__________ :__________

D) IN A SIX MONTH :__________ DO YOU REQUIRE LEAVE FOR WHICH OF THE A) MARRIAGE B) AGRICULTURAL WORKS C) SICKNESS : ____________ :_____________ :_____________

FOLLOWING REASON?

D) GOING AROUND WITH FRIENDS:____________ E) FEAR FROM INTERNAL PEOPLE:_____________ F) NO INTEREST IN WORK :______________ G) NOT GOOD RELATION WITH DEPARTMENTAL COLLEAGUE AND SUPERVISOR:_____________ H) FEAR FROM ACCIDENT :______________ 31) ARE YOU AWARE OF ANY LOSS ARISING OUT OF YOUR ABSENCE FROM WORK? IF YES, THEN TICK THE MOST IMPORTANT REASON FROM THE GIVEN ALTERNATIVES? A) LOSS OF PAY B) LOSS OF JOB :_________ :_________

69

C) WILL NOT BE APPRECIATED BY FRIENDS:__________ D) WILL NOT BE ABLE TO LEARN THE SKILLS OF JOB:___ E) CAN NOT GET THE CONFIDENCE OF SUPERIOR:_______ F) ANY OTHER REASON A) PAN B) GUTKA D) KHAINI :__________ :__________ :___________ :___________ 32) DO YOU HAVE ANY SPECIAL FOOD HABITS?

C) BIRI/CIGERATTE:________ E) WINE(SHARAB):_________ 33) DO YOU THINK ABSENCE FROM DUTY IS HELPING YOU IN ANY AREA OF YOUR PERSONAL LIFE? IF YES, THEN TICK THE ARES AMONG THE FOLLOWING? A) B) C) D) FAMILY COMMITMENT? SOCIAL COMMITMENT? FRIENDS COMMITMENT? OUT OF PERSONAL COMPULSION?

34) DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER SOURCE OF INCOME? YES/NO 35) WHAT TYPE OF ACTIVITY YOU DO? 36) ANY THREE SUGGESTIONS TO MINIMISE ABSENTEEISM? A) B) C)