Absenteeism: Definition, Causes, Effects, and Solutions

This article will explore the definition of absenteeism, its causes, and its effects on businesses. We will also provide tips on how to reduce absenteeism in the workplace.

What is absenteeism?

Absenteeism these days is less about “people not turning up” and more about how often staff are unexpectedly missing from scheduled work.

In HR terms, absenteeism usually means unplanned absence on days when someone is expected to work; for example sickness absence, last-minute family emergencies or repeated “mental health days” without much notice. It does not normally include planned and approved leave such as holidays, parental leave or jury duty.

Think of three buckets:

Planned leave – holidays, parental leave and other time off requested in advance and approved.
Sickness absence and other unplanned but genuine reasons – short illnesses, caring responsibilities, bereavement.
Problem absenteeism – patterns of frequent short absences, unscheduled absence with weak explanations, and no-call/no-show behaviour.

Modern absence management and attendance management focus on patterns rather than one-off days. A single week of flu is very different from a steady trickle of Friday “sickies” or ongoing, unexplained half-days. Good practice is to track sickness absence rate, types of leave and reasons separately so you can see where chronic absenteeism is starting to build up.

Absenteeism also looks different in hybrid and remote work. Staff might technically be “present” online but not really working, so presenteeism and absenteeism blur together. That is why many HR teams now track unplanned absence, sickness absence, mental health days and remote-work availability in one joined-up view, rather than just counting sick notes.

How to measure absenteeism and sickness absence

This section gives you simple formulas and benchmarks so you can turn absenteeism into clear, trackable KPIs.

Core formulas (absence rate, days lost per worker)

The basic absence rate (or absenteeism rate) tells you what share of available working time was lost to unplanned absence in a period. AIHR defines it as unplanned absence due to sickness or other causes, compared with the total number of scheduled workdays.

A simple version for most teams is:

Absence rate (%) = (Total days absent ÷ (Number of employees × Working days in period)) × 100

You can also use days lost per worker, which is the approach used in sickness absence statistics in the UK. For example, the Office for National Statistics reported 4.4 working days lost per worker in 2024 across the UK labour market.

Here is how the main metrics compare:

Metric	How to calculate (example)	What it tells you
Absence rate (%)	220 days lost ÷ (50 employees × 220 working days) × 100 = 2%	Percentage of working time lost to absence
Days lost per worker	220 days lost ÷ 50 employees = 4.4 days per worker	Average days of sickness absence per person
Short-term absence episodes	Number of separate spells of absence in the period (e.g. 3 spells per employee on average)	Frequency of absence, useful for spotting repeated short absences

👉Pick one primary KPI (usually absence rate or days per worker) and one supporting KPI (e.g. number of short spells) so you can track both volume and patterns of sickness absence over time.

💡If you do not want to maintain these formulas in spreadsheets, Shiftbase can capture worked hours and absences via clock-ins and requests, and then turn almost all that data into configurable reports which you can export to Excel or CSV for your absence dashboards.

What is a “good” absence rate?

There is no single “correct” sickness absence rate, but benchmarks help you sense-check your numbers. In 2024, full-time workers in the US had an overall absence rate of around 3.2%, with higher rates in healthcare support, public sector and service roles.

In the UK, the sickness absence rate across the labour market was 2.0% in 2024, with about 4.4 days lost per worker. Certain sectors, such as healthcare and public services, are consistently above the average because of physical demands and exposure to illness.

As a rough guide for many office-based teams, a sickness absence rate somewhere between 2–3% is often considered typical. If your rate is much higher than the norm for your sector and country, or is rising quickly, it is a signal to dig deeper into causes such as workload, stress, and working patterns.

⚠️ Always compare your absenteeism rate with relevant benchmarks (industry, country and job type) instead of chasing an arbitrary “perfect” number.

Using absence data: patterns, not just totals

Totals alone will not tell you why absenteeism is high. Look at patterns by reason, duration and timing:

Distinguish between short-term sickness absence and long-term sickness.
Check if certain teams, shifts or locations show higher unplanned absence.
Look for clusters (for example frequent Monday/Friday absences or multiple mental health days after rota changes).

US labour statistics suggest that absence reasons often include illness or injury, child-care problems and other family or personal obligations, which means patterns usually point back to health, caring duties or job design rather than “laziness”.

Many employers also use tools like the Bradford Factor to highlight frequent short spells of absence. In 2025, the emphasis is on using these scores as flags for conversation, not automatic discipline – especially where disability, pregnancy or long-term conditions may be involved.

👉Takeaway: Treat your absence data as a starting point for supportive conversations, not just a list of people to punish.

Main causes of absenteeism in 2025

Understanding the main drivers behind sickness absence and unplanned absence helps you fix root causes instead of chasing symptoms.

Health-related causes (physical and mental)

Physical and mental health issues are still the top drivers of sickness absence. UK data for 2023–2024 shows that minor illnesses (such as colds and stomach bugs) remain the biggest single reason, followed by musculoskeletal problems and mental health conditions like depression, anxiety and stress.

Many teams are also seeing more “mental health days”, where employees need time off for anxiety, burnout or wider wellbeing reasons. This is not just a personal issue; it affects productivity, service quality and team morale. In sectors like healthcare, public services and contact centres, mental health-related absence can make up a large share of days lost.

⚠️ If your absence reports show a lot of “stress” or “mental health” as a reason, that is a prompt to look at workload, support and management practices, not just the individual.

Stress, burnout and psychosocial risks

High pressure, tight staffing, unclear roles and poor behaviour at work increase the risk of stress-related absence. HR bodies now talk about “psychosocial risks” – bullying, lack of control, unrealistic targets and badly managed change – as major drivers of both absenteeism and turnover.

Where stress and burnout are high, you usually see more absence and more presenteeism (people working while unwell), which costs organisations billions in lost productivity each year.

Working patterns, caring duties and life events

Absenteeism is not only about health. Working patterns and life outside work also matter. Shift-based, night and weekend work are associated with higher levels of sickness absence in many industries because of fatigue, childcare challenges and work–life balance strain.

Hybrid and remote work have changed the picture again. Some people can manage health and caring duties better with flexible working, which reduces unplanned absence. Others may feel more isolated or “always on”, which increases stress and hidden presenteeism. Caring responsibilities – for children, elderly relatives or disabled family members – are a common reason for unscheduled absence when rotas or working hours are rigid.

👉Takeaway: When you analyse absenteeism, always consider rota design, flexibility and caring responsibilities alongside health reasons. Often a small change in scheduling or remote-work options cuts unplanned absence far more effectively than a tough new policy.

How to manage absenteeism fairly (not punitively)

Fair absence management protects both your employees and your organisation.

Building a clear absence management policy

A good absence management policy tells everyone what to do, when, and why. Acas recommends that policies clearly explain how to report sickness absence, what evidence is needed, how pay works, and how you will support people back to work.

Your policy does not need to be long, but it should be specific. It should cover sickness absence, other unplanned absence (for example caring emergencies) and unauthorised absence such as no-call/no-show. It should also explain how you handle disability-related absence and long-term conditions in line with equality and health & safety duties.

You can use this quick checklist when reviewing your policy:

Policy element	Have you covered…?
Reporting absence	Who to contact, by when, and by which channel (phone/app/email)
Evidence	When self-certification is fine and when fit notes are needed
Recording and data	How sickness absence, other leave and unauthorised absence are recorded
Triggers and reviews	When you hold an absence review meeting and what happens next
Disability and long-term conditions	How you consider adjustments and medical advice
Sick pay and benefits	Statutory vs contractual sick pay, and when each applies
Return-to-work process	How you welcome people back and update them on changes

💡Once you are happy with your policy, Shiftbase lets you set up your own absence types, link them to user groups, and manage time-off balances and rules in line with that policy, so what is written on paper is reflected in the system employees actually use.

Running effective absence reviews and return-to-work meetings

Return-to-work meetings are one of the simplest and most effective tools for managing absenteeism. Acas guidance encourages short, structured conversations after sickness absence to check how the employee is, update them on any changes, and agree what support is needed.

A simple 6-step structure you can use:

Welcome and tone – thank them for letting you know, keep the tone calm and supportive.
Facts first – confirm the dates of absence and whether they are fully fit to work.
Reason and impact – ask open questions about the cause, without pressing for intimate detail, and explain any impact on the team.
Support and adjustments – explore whether temporary adjustments, flexible working or workload changes would help.
Expectations and next steps – remind them of attendance expectations and any triggers in the policy.
Agree a review date – note what you have agreed and when you will check in again.

👉Practical takeaway: A short, structured conversation after each spell of sickness absence is one of the best ways to spot issues early and show staff you take health and attendance seriously.

Using Bradford and triggers with judgment

Many employers use trigger points or scoring systems such as the Bradford Factor to highlight frequent short-term absence. These tools can be useful, but modern guidance is very clear: they should be a starting point for a conversation, not an automatic route to discipline. CIPD’s wellbeing work stresses that line managers must understand context, especially for mental health and disability-related absence.

Good practice when using absence triggers:

Exclude or treat separately disability-related and pregnancy-related absence.
Check for known long-term conditions and seek medical or occupational health advice.
Look at working patterns and stress levels in the team, not just the individual score.
Use triggers to open a structured discussion and explore adjustments, not to “catch people out”.

This approach is also in line with updated Acas guidance, which highlights the importance of communication, flexibility and using absence information to improve how work is organised.

⚠️Triggers and Bradford scores work best as early-warning flags that prompt supportive action, not as a blunt disciplinary tool.

Preventing absenteeism: what actually works

Prevention means fixing the conditions that drive absence rather than just reacting when people are off sick.

Flexible work and better scheduling

Research from CIPD and others shows that flexible working and good rota design are among the most effective ways to cut sickness absence and improve wellbeing. Organisations that offer more flexible working patterns frequently report lower absence and higher engagement, while rigid patterns and poor staffing levels are linked to stress, burnout and long-term sickness.

For shift-based teams, poor schedules often lead to fatigue, childcare problems and more short-notice absence. For hybrid or office-based teams, last-minute changes and constant overtime can have the same effect. Getting the basics right (fair shift rotation, predictable hours, enough cover on busy days) usually has more impact on absenteeism than any perk.

💡Shiftbase gives you smart employee scheduling with live availability, open shifts and conflict warnings, so you can build fair, predictable rotas that support work–life balance and reduce last-minute absence.

Wellbeing and mental health support

CIPD’s health and wellbeing surveys show mental ill health, stress and musculoskeletal issues as leading causes of both short- and long-term sickness absence in the UK. At the same time, IPPR and other analysts report that the hidden cost of sickness, driven by presenteeism and mental health problems, has risen sharply, adding tens of billions of pounds in lost productivity to the UK economy.

The most effective wellbeing strategies are systemic, not just perks. They usually include clear support routes (for example EAPs and occupational health), realistic workloads, training for line managers to have difficult conversations, and a culture where taking mental health seriously is normal. Simply asking “How can we adjust your work to make this sustainable?” in a return-to-work meeting can make a real difference.

Data-driven absence management (and software)

Absence management works best when data, not guesswork, drives decisions. CIPD’s latest health and wellbeing report highlights that organisations with good data on sickness absence and attendance management are better able to target interventions, justify investment in wellbeing and show impact to senior leaders.

You do not need complex analytics, but you do need clean, consistent data on absences, working time and leave types. Aim for one source of truth for attendance and absence, then build simple KPIs and dashboards on top of it.

💡Shiftbase is designed exactly for this: it combines employee scheduling, time tracking and absence management in one platform, with configurable absence types, time-off balances and detailed reports that you can filter by team, period or employee and export for deeper analysis.

Absenteeism benchmarks and KPIs to track

Benchmarks and KPIs help you see whether your absenteeism is normal for your context or a warning sign.

Common KPIs include absence rate, days lost per worker, frequency of sickness absence spells, proportion of long-term absence and the share of absences due to mental ill health.

You can use a simple KPI table like this:

KPI	What it measures	Why it matters
Absence rate (%)	% of working time lost to sickness/unplanned absence	High rates suggest workload, wellbeing or process issues
Days lost per worker	Average sick days per employee	Easy to compare with benchmarks (for example CIPD, ONS)
Frequency rate	Average number of absence spells per employee	Highlights repeated short-term absence
Long-term absence rate	Share of absence over 28 days	Shows impact of serious or chronic conditions
Mental-health-related absence (%)	Share of absence coded as stress, anxiety, etc.	Helps you target wellbeing and mental health support
Return-to-work within X days	How quickly employees return after long-term absence	Shows how well you manage rehabilitation and adjustments

⚠️ The benchmark you choose should be sector-specific. A contact centre or hospital will naturally have higher sickness absence than a small professional-services firm. The key is to watch trends over time and understand the reasons behind them, using external data (for example CIPD and national statistics) mainly as a sense-check.

Real-world examples & lessons for managers

Real-world data and case experience show why absenteeism deserves board-level attention.

Recent CIPD surveys highlight that average sickness absence has climbed to its highest level in over 10–15 years, with nearly two working weeks lost per employee in some samples. Much of this rise is linked to mental health issues and long-term conditions. The lesson for managers is simple: if you ignore wellbeing and job design, absenteeism will grow, even if your policy looks good on paper.
IPPR’s “health-led economy” work estimates that workers now lose the equivalent of 44 days’ productivity per year through presenteeism, plus around 6–7 days through sickness absence, with most of the cost coming from people working while ill. This shows that punishing sickness absence alone is not enough; you must also create a culture where it is safe to stay home when genuinely unwell.
CIPD’s health and wellbeing report also finds that organisations with a joined-up strategy – combining clear absence management, flexible working, mental health support and good data – are more likely to report lower sickness absence and better employee engagement. For managers, the message is to think in systems: rotas, workload, leadership behaviour and benefits all feed into attendance management.

How Shiftbase helps you manage absenteeism

To manage absenteeism well, you need planning, hours and leave in one place. Shiftbase combines employee scheduling, time tracking and absence management, so you always see who was planned, who actually worked and which hours were lost to sickness or other absence.

Employees request time off via the app, managers approve based on real rota coverage, and all absences flow straight into clear reports per employee, team or location. If you want to turn attendance data into simple, actionable insights, you can try Shiftbase free for 14 days.

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Frequently Asked Questions

There is no magic number that fits every job. CIPD data shows averages of around one to two weeks of sickness absence per employee in recent UK surveys, but sectors such as healthcare and public services are often higher. What really matters is the pattern: repeated short-term absence, sudden changes from someone who was rarely off, or one team far above the rest. Use your policy triggers to start a conversation, not to label someone a “problem” on the basis of a single year.
You can use the Bradford Factor or other trigger systems to flag concern, but relying on a score alone to dismiss someone is risky. Good practice (and Acas-style guidance) says you must consider the reasons for absence, whether disability or pregnancy is involved, and whether adjustments or medical advice are needed. Think of Bradford as a warning light on the dashboard, not the steering wheel.
If mental ill health leads to sickness absence, the same rules on sick pay usually apply as for physical illness. In the UK that means at least Statutory Sick Pay if the legal conditions are met, and in many organisations enhanced contractual sick pay on top. CIPD recommends treating mental health conditions as seriously as physical ones and aligning your absence management and wellbeing policies so there is no stigma in taking time off to recover. In the US and other countries, check local law on paid sick leave and disability rights.
No-call/no-show is usually treated as unauthorised absence. Your policy should set out clearly how and when employees must report absence and what happens if they do not. In practice, many employers try to contact the employee first to check if there is an emergency, then follow a fair process that may include an investigation and disciplinary action if there is no good reason. Acas emphasises the importance of keeping records and following your own procedures consistently.
For remote and hybrid staff, the principles are the same: you still need clear reporting rules, accurate time-tracking and good data on illness and other absence. Make sure remote workers know how to log sickness (for example in your HR system or app) and that they are not expected to work while unwell just because they are at home. CIPD’s wellbeing work suggests that hybrid models can reduce absence when they are well designed, but can also hide presenteeism if workloads remain too high.