The economic downturn and rising jobless rate appear to have put a brake on employee absences, according to a recent survey.
Rates of employee absences through 2009 are at the lowest recorded since 1985, the year legal and business publisher Bureau of National Affairs (BNA) began its quarterly survey of employers.
Dropping below the 2008 low of 0.9 percent of scheduled worker days per month, the median absence rate in 2009 averaged 0.7 percent. Absence rates have declined consistently since 2005, when they averaged 1.5 percent of scheduled worker days.
Year-over- year absence rates declined in nonbusiness and manufacturing organizations, but were stable in nonmanufacturing concerns. Absences tended to be lower in smaller than in larger organizations.
Regionally, median monthly absence rates from 2008 to 2009 fell two-tenths of a point in the Northeast (from 0.9 percent to 0.7 percent) and three-tenths of a point in the North Central states (from 1.1 percent to 0.8 percent). There was no change in the South (0.7 percent), while in the West, median monthly absence rates increased only marginally, from 1.1 percent to 1.2 percent.
Similarly, employee turnover (voluntary median monthly separation rates excluding layoffs, reductions-in-force, and departures of temporary staff), in tandem with slowing economic growth and rising rates of unemployment, has plunged from 1.0 percent of employers’ workforces per month in 2008 to 0. percent in 2009.
The weakening economy and job market appears to discourage employees from seeking other job opportunities, as turnover rates shrank for employers in every category of industry and workforce size, and in every region of the country.
Author Robert Elliott, executive vice president, Amaxx Risks Solutions, Inc. has worked successfully for 20 years with many industries to reduce Workers’ Compensation costs, including airlines, health care, manufacturing, printing/publishing, pharmaceuticals, retail, hospitality and manufacturing. He can be contacted at: [email protected].
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