More employment disputes to arise from absenteeism?

Published on 1 Jul 2010 under category: legal

Putting policies in place to address absenteeism could prevent employment disputes, according to new research.

A new survey of employers by Mercer has found that the cost of absenteeism is more than half of the cost of incorporating care and health policies into the payroll.

High incidences of sickness away from work can lead to employment disputes.

The study found that the combined cost of "incidental" (casual) sickness and extended disability absences amounted to around 8.7 per cent of the average payroll.

On average, based on findings in Mercer's National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans conducted last year, 13.6 per cent of a payroll is spent on care.

The report's authors believe that it is vital for employers to work with the statistics in order to reduce the huge costs of high levels of incidental sickness.

"This second survey confirms our original findings that large opportunities exist for cost reductions and increased productivity if employers also pay more attention to tracking and managing absences," the writers concluded.

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