An assessment of factors affecting absenteeism : case study of a major South African manufacturer

• Author: Lewisham Gutsa,Rose Luke
• DOI: 10.25159/2664-3731/8388
• Published date: 01 July 2021
• Date: 01 July 2021
• Pages: 1-28

Article

African Journal of Employee Relations

https://doi.org/10.25159/2664-3731/8388

https://upjournals.co.za/index.php/AJER

ISSN 2664-3731 (Online), ISSN 2709-0426 (Print)

Volume 45 | 2021 | #8388 | 28 pages

© Unisa Press 2021

An Assessment of Factors Affecting Absenteeism:

Case Study of a Major South African Manufacturer

Lewisham Gutsa

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3035-0197

University of Johannesburg, South

Africa

lewishamgutsa@gmail.com

Rose Luke

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1915-6956

University of Johannesburg, South

Africa

rluke@uj.ac.za

Abstract

Absenteeism is a major problem globally and, in South Africa, costs the country

and companies millions of rands each year. Given the financial constraints on

businesses at present, it is necessary to understand the causes of absenteeism in

order to determine possible interventions to reduce these causes. A quantitative

research design was used to investigate the factors that influence absenteeism at

a major South African manufacturer. An exploratory factor analysis was used

to reduce the number of factors. The study found that there were seven major

factors that had an impact on absenteeism, namely, external factors,

management factors, illness, family responsibilities, personal development,

working conditions, and motivation. These factors were found to affect different

employees differently, and were mainly dependent on the demographic

characteristics of the employees. This study provides insights into absenteeism

in a typical South African situation. The study finds that because factors that

have an impact on absenteeism are different for various employees and are

dependent largely on demographic and related attributes, organisations need to

develop diverse strategies to deal with the absenteeism issues of different

employees in organisations. Future research should investigate the efficacies of

various interventions to determine which are most likely to meet the needs of

the various groups of employees and thereby reduce absenteeism levels.

Keywords: absenteeism, manufacturing, employee relations, South Africa,

developing countries

Introduction

Employee absenteeism is a worldwide phenomenon that is costly, and its consequences

are widespread, hence it has become an important subject on the international agenda in

Gutsa and Luke

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the human resources field. In South Africa, although the effect of absenteeism on

industrial production cannot easily be measured, the issue has become a crisis for many

industries, thereby distressing the national economies of the country (Mishra & Verma,

2017). A report that studied Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation economies such as

Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and the United States of

America and which focused on the impact of absenteeism on productivity, estimated

that the economic cost of absenteeism was in the region of 4 to 6 per cent of the gross

domestic product (GDP) of those economies (Rasmussen et al., 2015). Resultantly,

absenteeism in the workplace is receiving increasing attention, as it leads to both direct

and indirect costs for all the stakeholders of an organisation, such as costs regarding low

productivity and ineffectiveness (Rauf, 2015). Excessive absenteeism involves a

considerable production loss to the organisation because scheduled work is interrupted

and delayed, and management has to pay overtime wages to meet production delivery

dates. The overtime rates are normally double that of the normal rates (Adegboyega et

al., 2015).

The South African economy loses between R12 billion and R16 billion a year as a result

of employee absenteeism, and many companies are affected. It has been estimated that

an average of 15 per cent of staff is absent on any given day in South Africa (OCSA,

2017). Absenteeism remains one of the most significant obstructions to productivity and

many companies do not have a clear understanding of the magnitude of their

absenteeism problem (Mishra & Verma, 2017). Wananda et al. (2015) stated that

absenteeism of employees signals organisational ill health and is one of the main sources

of financial waste for organisations, as some continue to pay workers regardless of

whether they report to work or not. In South Africa, it is estimated that sick or unhealthy

employees take nine times more sick days than healthy employees and that personal

financial issues distract approximately 20 per cent of employees at work, thereby

affecting their productivity (PWC, 2015). Employers in South Africa also expressed that

absenteeism is among the top five most significant factors (including wages, transport,

worker morale, employee benefits) that affect labour productivity in the economy

(CIBD, 2015). The extent of the impact on the economy and companies implies that

absenteeism is worth researching to establish the factors that are causing it, with the

objective of highlighting areas for interventions that can reduce it and/or mitigate the

impact.

For this research, a major manufacturer is selected that is currently experiencing high

levels of absenteeism, which affects the organisation’s productivity. The organisation

estimated its absenteeism rate at between 3.9 per cent and 4.4 per cent per annum over

the past five years, costing between R52 million and R65 million per year, owing to

hiring extra people as replacement labour and high overtime, as employees worked

longer shifts to cover the work (Company X HR report of 2018). As the manufacturer

is currently experiencing financial difficulties due to economic pressures, it has become

critical to seek ways to reduce some of its unnecessary costs, including excessive human

resource costs (Company X HR report of 2017). The research seeks to determine typical