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Absenteeism from work

There is no single definition of absenteeism. The company will have to define the concept of absenteeism, which it will then have to analyze and quantify. We can define absenteeism as a type of justified or unjustified absence of a worker from their job, during hours corresponding to a working day, within the legal working day.

This leads us to differentiate between various types of absenteeism.

Types of absenteeism

Justified absenteeism

Absence of the worker from work for a justified and proven cause.

Unjustified absenteeism

Absence of the worker from work without justified cause or authorization.

Motivational absenteeism

Worker attitude due to lack of motivation at work.

Causes of absenteeism

Institutional factors

Studies indicate that the more generous the coverage for sick leave and unemployment protection, the higher the number of sick leaves recorded. Structural absenteeism needs to be taken into account.

Labor factors

Studies document that factors related to working conditions, work-life balance, organizational culture, company size, and sector influence company absenteeism.

Social factors

The absenteeism is a countercyclical phenomenon. During times of economic crisis, absenteeism decreases, and during times of economic recovery, absenteeism rates increase.

Factors relating to the individual

Studies establish a link between absences and the individual's demographic factors: age and sex. It is also necessary to take into account the pain threshold of each individual.

Consequences of absenteeism

Temporary disability directly affects the health of working people and, in addition, can generate significant economic consequences for them. 

And it also affects costs for companies, both direct and indirect. Measuring both types of costs is essential, not only to understand their impact on productivity, but also to identify the real cost borne by the company. This allows us to determine the level of investment that the company would be willing to make to reduce these costs.

  • Social security contributions: During situations of temporary disability, the company is obliged, unless the contract is cancelled, to pay contributions up to a maximum of 545 days.
  • Salary: The company pays the cost of the day of the medical leave as wage in Work-Related Injuries or Occupational Diseases, as well as the day of the medical leave in the event of relapse. In common contingency the company pays the Temporary Disability subsidy from the 4th day to the 15th day of the leave at 60% of the regulatory base.
  • Voluntary supplements to Temporary Disability benefit: Depending on the provisions of the applicable collective bargaining agreement or, failing that, of the individual agreement with the worker, the employer may have to pay the difference (or a percentage thereof) between the compensation that the worker should receive if he/she were not in a situation of temporary disability and the benefit to which he/she is entitled for this purpose. 

The benefit is paid through a delegated payment by the companies or through a direct payment by the managing or collaborating institutions of the Social Security Institute. Delegated payment is a form of compulsory collaboration with the Social Security Institute. Later, the company is refunded the amounts paid to its employees for this item, discounting them from the amount of the payments it has to make to deposit the Social Security contributions

The amount of the benefit is different depending on whether the situation of temporary disability is due to occupational or common contingencies: (General Act on Social Security. Legislative Royal Decree 8/2015, of 30 October, articles 169-171):

  • In Work-Related Injuries or Occupational Diseases: The Mutual Insurance Company or the National Social Security Institute pays the worker the subsidy at 75% of the regulatory base from the day of the leave until the medical discharge. Decree 3158/1966 Article 2.

  • Replacement costs: On many occasions (especially in companies with few employees), the beneficiary must be substituted, with everything this involves in terms of costs of selection, basic training, remuneration and social contribution.
  • Opportunity costs: Although they may be considered difficult to measure, consideration must be given to the importance of costs caused indirectly by the employee's absence, as a result of his/her special relationship with clients or his/her knowledge or specific skills in production.
  • Holiday delay cost: In accordance with current law (Royal Decree - Act 3/2012 final first provision)Workers whose vacation period coincides with a situation of temporary incapacity due to occupational or common contingencies (in both cases not related to pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding) will be entitled to a new period once this situation has ended, even if the calendar year in which they should have been enjoyed has ended, although with a limit of 18 months from the end of the year in which the temporary incapacity originated.
  • Productivity costs: Work absenteeism is undoubtedly one of the most significant causes of the loss of productivity of companies, which leads to drops in competitiveness and, as a result, hinders their expansion and undermines performance, from the lower production of the substitute worker until the learning period is finished to the lower production of the worker on leave after he/she returns to work.
  • Overtime costs: The company sometimes needs to request its workers to perform overtime to maintain the production or the service or to conform to scheduling, which entails an extra cost.
  • Worsening of the work environment: Absenteeism at the organisation can generate a lack of motivation in the workers present and thus leads to more wage-related complaints, strikes, etc.

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