Why is absenteeism higher in the public sector

Background Citations. Citation Type. Has PDF. Publication Type. More Filters. Field Evidence from Forty Countries. Are public sector workers more honest than their private sector counterparts? While conventional wisdom might suggest so, no direct evidence has been offered to address this question, as most public … Expand. View 1 excerpt, cites background. Perceived organizational support in public and nonprofit organizations: Systematic review and directions for future research. A qualitative meta-analysis of 57 studies — on perceived organizational support in public and nonprofit administrative contexts in various parts of the world revealed 70 related variables … Expand.

This study investigates the effect of top management turnover in public organizations on employee absenteeism, examining school principal turnover in public primary schools. While previous research … Expand. Highly Influenced. View 4 excerpts, cites background. While it is commonly perceived that teachers take more absences than other professionals, few empirical studies have systematically examined the level and distributions of teacher absences in the US.

View 1 excerpt. Management practices which fully acknowledge and appreciates the role of employees in achieving organisational goals are the fundamental requirements for good health. If employees are motivated and ability to attend, absence will never happen which will lead to good organisational health. A noticeable example is nurses in NHS are often overloaded when covering for their absent colleagues, this may decrease their job motivation and work productivity and may lead to future absences.

Bullying and harassment causes half of all work absences: The physical manifestations of harassment can be extreme — sickness, shaking, emotional and sleeplessness.

Bullying is most carried out by managers toward juniors. Communication is key: Employees need to feel confident and comfortable when sharing the real issues and raising constructive criticism about how they are being managed. Employees enjoy working for leaders who are confident and take positive actions. Line managers are the key in reducing absenteeism. They should often act as role models and attend work when sick, if manageable.

Workload issues: Overworked employees are far less likely to be productive or happy. Such employees often take frequent one-day absences. These absences may reflect mental health days, where an employee prefers to do something else rather than spending hours working. Excess absenteeism leaves a poor reflection on a manager as well.

The reason for the absence: Supervisors when completing return to work must be careful not to act in a judgemental manner. If the reason for absence is medical, the supervisor should note the reason without refuting the employee. The primary purpose of the meeting should be to show that the organisation is concerned about the employee absence and the supervisor cares about their wellbeing. Take decisive action: Every organisation categorises the absence as excused or unexcused.

If an employee has too many unexcused absences and all informal counselling has failed, then disciplinary measures should be taken. The records of such measures should be properly maintained. Use of HRM Software to record attendance. To control absenteeism organisations must implement some sort of online attendance system, where the records are held correctly. The HRM software should be able to summarise and analyse the attendance data. Good work life balance: Work is a larger part of who we truly are.

We can not put it on and take it off like our favourite piece of clothing. Even when we are not at work, we are involved with work with. Spend more time with the family or pick a hobby. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.

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Statistical Methods. Arne Mastekaasa Arne Mastekaasa. University of Oslo. Address correspondence to the author at arnema sosgeo. Oxford Academic. Google Scholar.