Work absences in 2010

• Published in: Perspectives on labour and income 2011-07, Vol.23 (2), p.52
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Absenteeism; Age; Demographics; Employees; Employment; Family leave; Holidays & special occasions; Labor force; Labor unions; Maternity & paternity leaves; Occupations; Schedules; Tenure; Trends; Workers
• ISSN: 0840-8750; 1492-496X

Absenteeism, a term used to refer to absences that are avoidable, habitual and unscheduled, is a source of irritation to employers and co-workers. Such absences are disruptive to proper work scheduling and output, and costly to organizations and the economy as a whole. Although absenteeism is widely acknowledged to be a problem, it is not easy to quantify. The dividing line between avoidable and unavoidable is difficult to draw, and absenteeism generally masquerades as legitimate absence. The Labour Force Survey (LFS) can provide measures of time lost because of personal reasons - that is, illness or disability, and personal or family responsibilities. However, within these categories, it is impossible to determine if an absence is avoidable or unscheduled. LFS data on absences for personal reasons can, however, be analyzed to identify patterns or trends that indicate the effect of absenteeism (see Data source and definitions). Personal reasons for absence are split into two categories: 'own illness or disability' and 'personal or family responsibilities' (caring for own children, caring for elder relative, and other personal or family responsibilities). Absences for these two types of reasons represented 27% of all time lost by full-time paid workers each week in 2010. Vacations, which accounted for 40% of total time away from work, are not counted in this article, nor are statutory holidays, which represented 15%. Maternity/parental leave represented 12% and other reasons, 6%. The incidence of absence is the percentage of full-time paid workers reporting some absence in the reference week. In calculating incidence, the length of work absence - whether one hour, one day, or one full week - is irrelevant. 2. A standard revision has been applied to Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates, as announced in The Daily on January 28, 2011. Beginning with this release, historical comparisons of work absence estimates produced by the LFS must be made with revised historical data. For an overview of these changes, see Improvements to the Labour Force Survey (LFS) - 2011: The 201 1 Revisions of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) (http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/ 71f0031x/71f0031x2011001-eng.pdf).