Injury-related absenteeism and job satisfaction: insights from Greek and UK data

• Published in: International journal of human resource management 2013-10, Vol.24 (18), p.3496-3511
• Main Authors: Drakopoulos, Stavros A., Grimani, Katerina
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Absenteeism; Correlation analysis; Employees; Greece; Injuries; Job satisfaction; Labour market participation; Occupational accidents; occupational injuries; Studies; United Kingdom; Working conditions
• ISSN: 0958-5192; 1466-4399
• DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2013.777678

Most of the literature on absenteeism suggest that absence from work is a complex issue influenced by multiple causes, both of personal and of organizational nature. Job satisfaction has also been identified as one of the factors affecting an employee's motivation to work attendance. There is no universal agreement concerning the relationship between absenteeism and job satisfaction. Some research have found no correlation between these two variables, whereas other studies indicate a weak relationship between these two variables. It has also been suggested that absence and job satisfaction might be more strongly related under some conditions, for instance in the case of blue-collar workers. There is a lack of attention in the literature, however, to injury-related absenteeism, which is a particular type of absenteeism. This paper attempts to fill this gap and examines the effect of job satisfaction on injury-related absenteeism by using Greek and UK data. The empirical results suggest that there is a negative relationship between injury-related absenteeism and job satisfaction. The paper also discusses possible policy measures towards reducing injury-related absenteeism.