August 16, 2011

SHRM Poll: Managing Employee Absences

Managing Employee Absences©SHRM 2011

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Key Findings

Do organizations track employee absences? A majority of organizations (79%) currently have a program in place that tracks workplace absences.

How do organizations categorize employee absences in the workplace? Of the organizations that track employee absences, almost all (87%) separate absences by unplanned leave (e.g., sick days, FMLA leave), planned absences (e.g., vacations, holidays, FMLA leave) and/or extended leave (e.g., short-term disability, FMLA leave, workers’ compensation leave).

What proportion of organizations track the indirect costs, such as overtime and the need for temporary workers, caused by employee absences? More than one-half of organizations do not track the indirect costs from employees’ unplanned (61%) or extended (53%) absences.

Is senior management concerned about the indirect costs of unplanned and extended employee absences? More than one-half of respondents reported that senior management was moderately concerned with costs related to unplanned (57%) and extended (53%) absences, whereas a much smaller percentage indicated that senior management was very concerned about indirect costs of extended (18%) and unplanned (13%) absences.

Managing Employee Absences©SHRM 2011

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Does your organization currently have a program that tracks employee absences in the workplace?

No, but plan to in the next 12 months

No

Yes

3%

18%

79%

Note: n = 302. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

Managing Employee Absences©SHRM 2011

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Does your absence program separate employee absences by unplanned absences (e.g., sick days, FMLA leave), planned absences (e.g., vacations, holidays, FMLA leave) and/or extended absences (e.g., short-term disability, FMLA leave, workers’ comp leave)?

No, but plan to in the next 12 months

No

Yes

2%

10%

87%

Note: n = 229. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Total does not equal 100% due to rounding.

Managing Employee Absences©SHRM 2011

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Does your organization track the indirect costs (e.g., temporary workers, overtime, business disruption, lags in product delivery, customer satisfaction) of unplanned absences and extended absences?

No, but plan to in the next 12 months

Yes

No

7%

32%

61%

5%

42%

53%

Extended absences (e.g., short-term disability, FMLA leave, workers' comp leave)Unplanned absences (e.g., sick days, FMLA leave)

Note: n = 226. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

Managing Employee Absences©SHRM 2011

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Generally speaking, how concerned is senior management at your organization about the indirect costs of unplanned absences and extended absences?

Very concerned

Not concerned at all

Moderately concerned

13%

30%

57%

18%

29%

53%

Extended absences (e.g., short-term disability, FMLA leave, workers' comp leave)Unplanned absences (e.g., sick days, FMLA leave)

Note: n = 277. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

Managing Employee Absences©SHRM 2011

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How regularly do applicable staff (e.g., line managers, HR) at your organization receive training and/or updates on the latest legal and administrative developments in the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) or other leave laws?

Every few years26%

Every year27%

Several times per year

8%

Varies - as needed

39%

n = 275

Managing Employee Absences©SHRM 2011

Demographics: Organization Industry

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n = 302

Industry Percentage

Manufacturing 18%

Professional, scientific and technical services 12%

Health care and social assistance 11%

Finance and insurance 10%

Public administration 6%

Educational services 5%

Accommodation and food services (accommodation; food services and drinking places) 4%

Retail trade 4%

Arts, entertainment and recreation 3%

Construction (construction of buildings; heavy and civil engineering construction; specialty trade contractors) 3%

Transportation and warehousing 3%

Wholesale trade 3%

Managing Employee Absences©SHRM 2011

Demographics: Organization Industry (continued)

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n = 302

Industry Percentage

Information 2%

Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional and similar organizations 2%

Utilities 2%

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 1%

Mining 1%

Real estate and rental and leasing 1%

Management of companies and enterprises 0%

Personal and laundry services 0%

Private households 0%

Repair and maintenance 0%

Other services except public administration 9%

Managing Employee Absences©SHRM 2011

Demographics: Organization Sector

Other

Government sector

Nonprofit organization

Publicly owned for-profit organization

Privately owned for-profit organization

2%

9%

16%

53%

20%

10

n = 296

Managing Employee Absences©SHRM 2011

Demographics: Organization Staff Size

26%

32%

20%16%

7%

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Note: n = 287. Total does not equal 100% due to rounding.

Managing Employee Absences©SHRM 2011

Demographics: Other

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Does your organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only or does it operate multinationally?U.S.-based operations only 74%Multinational operations 26%n = 298

Is your organization a single-unit company or a multi-unit company?Single-unit company: A company in which the location and the company are one and the same

32%

Multi-unit company: A company that has more than one location 68%

n = 301

Are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit corporate headquarters, by each work location or both?

Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices 46%

Each work location determines HR policies and practices 3%

A combination of both the work location and the multi-unit headquarters determine HR policies and practices

51%

n = 213

HR department/function for which you responded throughout this surveyCorporate (companywide) 66%Business unit/division 19%Facility/location 15%n = 213

Managing Employee Absences©SHRM 2011

Response rate = 11%

Sample composed of 302 randomly selected HR professionals from SHRM’s membership

Margin of error +/- 5%

Survey fielded June 9th to June 22nd, 2011

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Methodology

For more poll findings, visit www.shrm.org/surveys

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SHRM Poll: Managing Employee Absences