CCH Survey Finds Most Employees Call in 'Sick' For Reasons Other Than Illness

RIVERWOODS, Ill., Oct. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Two-thirds of U.S. workers who call in sick at the last minute do so for reasons other than physical illness, according to the findings of the 17th annual CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey. CCH is a leading provider of human resources and employment law information and services and part of Wolters Kluwer Law & Business (hr.cch.com).

Specifically, the survey found that Personal Illness accounts for only 34 percent of unscheduled absences, while 66 percent of absences are due to other reasons, including Family Issues (22 percent), Personal Needs (18 percent), Entitlement Mentality (13 percent) and Stress/Burnout (13 percent).

"Most people today are juggling the demands of busy personal and professional lives, and are trying to do their very best in both places," said CCH Employment Law Analyst Pamela Wolf, JD. "Organizations need to stop the tug of war with people for their time, and become a partner to employees to help them, and the business overall, be more successful."

Employers, however, have failed to make significant headway against the costly absenteeism problem. The nation's largest employers estimate that unscheduled absenteeism costs their businesses more than $760,000 per year in direct payroll costs, and even more when lower productivity, lost revenue and the effects of poor morale are considered.

According to the 2007 CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey, conducted for CCH by Harris Interactive(R), the absenteeism rate was 2.3 percent in 2007, down slightly from 2.5 percent last year.

The CCH Survey also found that for many employers, it's no surprise when employees are likely to be no-shows. More than two-thirds (68 percent) report finding a discernable pattern in unscheduled absences, with the most noticeable pattern being workers calling in sick on Mondays and Fridays, followed by holidays such as Christmas or the Fourth of July, and during flu and hay fever seasons.

The CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey, conducted by CCH for the past 17 years, is the definitive survey on absenteeism in the workplace, measuring the rate, cost and reasons associated with unscheduled absence in the U.S.

Organizations Search for Solutions

One of the first steps in partnering with employees is offering an appropriate range of work-life and absence control programs.

Work-life programs

The CCH Survey examined a wide range of work-life programs and asked employers to report on the programs they use and their effectiveness in controlling unexpected time off.

The work-life programs rated highest for reducing unscheduled absences are Alternative Work Arrangements, Telecommuting, Compressed Work Week, Leave for School Functions and Flu Shot Programs.

Of the work-life programs offered by employers, the top five in use are Employee Assistance Plans (72 percent), Flu Shot Programs (66 percent), Wellness Programs (60 percent), Leave for School Functions (54 percent) and Alternative Work Arrangements (54 percent).

"The fact that two of the programs that companies rated as most effective

-- Telecommuting and Compressed Work Week -- are not also among the most used signals the need for employers to step back and assess if they have the right programs in place for their people," said Wolf.

With National Work & Family Month occurring each October, CCH notes that employers can use this annual event as a reminder to review the programs they offer to ensure effectiveness.

The 2007 CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey found that U.S. companies offer an average of 9 work-life programs, down from 11 in 2006.

"Some organizations view work-life programs as a soft benefit that can be taken away without much pain, but this short-term view can have negative, far-reaching consequences -- on unscheduled absences, employee morale, recruiting and retention and the bottom line," warns Wolf. "Employers need to fully consider the real costs of eliminating these programs before taking action."

Absence Control Programs

Employers report they use an average of 5 absence control programs, down from 6 in 2006. Disciplinary Action remains the single-most used absence control program, with 89 percent of surveyed organizations reporting use. The other leading absence control programs in use are Yearly Review (82 percent), Verification of Illness (74 percent), Paid Leave Banks (60 percent) and No Fault (59 percent).

The survey found that Paid Leave Banks (also known as Paid Time Off) continue to be the most effective absence control program. Paid Leave Banks/PTO provide employees with a single bank of hours to be used as they see fit, instead of managing separate days for sick, vacation and personal time. Other top programs include Disciplinary Action and Buy Back, Bonus and Verification of Illness.

The survey again found a lack of alignment between what programs employers are using and what they determine to be most effective. For example, Paid Leave Banks/PTO were not used by 40 percent of companies surveyed.

Wolf warns that organizations need to ensure that the absence control programs they favor do not have unintended consequences.

"Disciplinary Action, for example, is very popular with employers, and can be effective, but it can also drive the wrong behavior if it encourages employees to call in sick with a made-up excuse or to come to work sick -- a costly problem known as presenteeism," she said.

Lower Morale Leads to Higher Unscheduled Absences

It's probably no surprise that the more unhappy employees are, the more reasons they'll find not to come to work. The effect of morale is reflected in the 2007 CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey, which found that organizations with Good/Very Good morale experienced a 2.0 percent unscheduled absence rate while those reporting Poor/Fair morale had a rate of 2.7 percent.

Morale influences the reasons people call in sick at the last minute, with 70 percent of unscheduled absences attributed to reasons other than Personal Illness for organizations with Poor/Fair morale, compared to 62 percent for those with Good/Very Good morale.

Organizations reporting Poor/Fair morale were more likely to experience unscheduled absenteeism due to Entitlement Mentality (17 percent) and Stress (15 percent) than organizations reporting morale as Good/Very Good (11 percent and 10 percent, respectively).

Reducing No-shows with Effective Absence Management Programs

With 66 percent of the workforce calling in sick for reasons other than illness, and the disconnect between programs employers use and those that are most effective, the CCH Survey shows that companies have the opportunity to improve the success of their absence management programs.

"The first step to implementing an effective absence management program is to have a good understanding of your employee population and their needs," said Wolf.

Surprisingly, however, the CCH Survey found 79 percent of employers do not anticipate that changing workforce demographics will affect the work-life or absence control programs they have in place. That's a red flag for CCH's Wolf.

"Organizations can't just hope the same programs they had in place 10 years ago will be effective for the next generation of employees, or for older workers who are remaining in the workforce longer," she said.

Presenteeism: Under the Weather at Work

On the other side of absenteeism, employers are faced with the problem of presenteeism -- when employees come to work even though they are ill. While employees are well-meaning, their good intentions may have ill effects as they deliver lower productivity and also pose contagion risks to other employees and perhaps customers.

Thirty-eight percent of employers reported that presenteeism is a problem in their organizations, and these employers say that 87 percent of sick employees who show up to work are suffering from short-term illnesses such as cold and flu, which can be easily spread.

"The cost of presenteeism may be hidden, but it is extremely high," said CCH Employment Law Analyst Brett Gorovsky, JD. "The upward spiral begins with lost productivity and climbs from there -- with increased safety and quality risks, and of course the risk of infecting others. Those people then also either miss work, or come to work sick where they are a risk to others and their diminished productivity, quality and attention to safety continue the costly cycle."

The 2007 CCH Survey asked employers what they are doing to reduce presenteeism. Fifty-four percent report that they send sick employees home, while 40 percent educate employees on the importance of staying home when sick and 34 percent foster a culture that discourages employees from coming to work sick. Thirty percent of employers say they use telecommuting programs as another way to deter presenteeism.

The top reasons employees show up for work even though they are sick: 65 percent have too much work/deadlines; 56 percent say there is no one available to cover their workload; 55 percent don't want to use vacation time; 49 percent want to save sick time for later in the year and 49 percent show up for work sick because they fear being disciplined -- indicating that organizations with traditional sick-day polices enforced by disciplinary action may be making presenteeism worse.

The issue of presenteeism grows even more serious when the possibility of a pandemic is considered, and a growing number of employers are implementing pandemic plans. Twenty-seven percent of companies report they have a plan in place in the event that a large percentage of employees become ill. That represents almost a 100 percent increase since 2006, when only 14 percent of companies surveyed had such plans.

About the Survey

The 2007 CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey covering 317 human resource executives in U.S. companies and organizations of all sizes and across major industry segments in 48 states was conducted online by Harris Interactive(R) (http://www.harrisinteractive.com), a leading global market research and consulting firm, from June 28 through July 17, 2007. The survey reflects experiences of randomly polled organizations with an estimated total of nearly one million employees. Charts, graphs and more detail on the survey findings and methodology are available at cch.com/absenteeism2007.

Mean absence rates were calculated by dividing total paid-unscheduled absence hours by total paid-productive hours. Scheduled absences, such as vacation, legal holidays, jury duty, personal time and bereavement leave, were not included. Costs to companies only reflect the direct payroll costs for absent employees; the associated costs of overtime pay for other employees, hiring temporary employees to cover for absent workers, low morale and lost productivity add to the considerable financial impact on an organization.

To Obtain a Copy of the Survey

To order the CCH Human Resources Management Ideas & Trends newsletter containing the 2007 CCH Unscheduled Absence Survey, call 1-888-CCH-REPS and ask for offer number 0-5256-401 or purchase from the CCH Online Store at http://onlinestore.cch.com. Price is $42.95 plus tax, shipping and handling.

About Wolters Kluwer Law & Business

Wolters Kluwer Law & Business is a leading provider of research products and software solutions in key specialty areas for legal and business professionals, as well as casebooks and study aids for law students. Its major product lines include Aspen Publishers, CCH, Kluwer Law International and Loislaw. Its markets include law firms, law schools, corporate counsel and professionals requiring legal and compliance information. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business, a unit of Wolters Kluwer, is based in New York City and Riverwoods, Ill. The Wolters Kluwer Law & Business human resources site is hr.cch.com.