absenteeism

Absence from work without any legitimate reason. Absenteeism often involves employees sporadically taking a few days off work, citing ill health as the reason. The small number of days means no doctor's certificate is required. The practice can cause problems for employers because it disrupts production, and because it is expensive for businesses to employ someone else to do the work while paying sickness benefits to the absentee worker.

Absenteeism can be expressed as the rate of deliberate absenteeism in proportion to the total number of employees. A high rate of absenteeism may indicate that workers are finding the job particularly stressful or injurious to health, or that they find the job boring and lack motivation. Many organizations have introduced policies to alleviate absenteeism, such as flexible working practices, job sharing, and other ideas designed to increase job satisfaction.