Friday, January 09, 2009
[IWS] Mercer : ABSENCE RATES in EUROPE RISE--Lack of Data Hinders Management Policies [8 January 2009]
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Mercer
Press Release
Absence rates in Europe rise, but company absence management policies hindered by lack of data [8 Januaray 2009]
http://www.mercer.com/summary.htm?idContent=1332295
UK
London, 8 January 2009
* Average European employee absence rate of 7.4 days per year ; highest in Bulgaria, lowest in Turkey
* Top three causes of long-term absence are musculoskeletal, stress/mental health issues and cancer conditions
* Average 19% cite increase in absences, 68% report no significant change and 12% report decrease
At a time when organisations are looking to reduce costs, many firms are failing to effectively manage their employee absence rates due to a lack of good data, according to < http://www.mercer.com/healthsurveyeurope> Mercer's 2008 Pan-European Health & Benefit Report. While the majority can access simple data on the number of days employees are absent, only two-fifths (42 percent) say they can identify the cause of employee absence and still fewer (33 percent) have data on the direct cost of employee absence. Twenty-one percent of organisations report that their company is unable to access good data relating to the level, causes or cost of absence.
Mercer's Pan-European Health and Benefits Report surveyed nearly 800 companies across 24 European countries. The data showed that, on average, European employees are absent 7.4 days per year. According to the report, 58 percent of respondents said that, on average, employees were absent five days or fewer per year. However, 15 percent report averages of 10 days per year or more, an increase from the 12 percent in 2006. Of those companies able to measure causes of employee absence, musculoskeletal, stress, mental health and cancer conditions were cited as the main causes of long-term absence.
According to Steve Clements, principal in Mercer's health and benefit business, "Health costs are rising across Europe and yet we know health benefits remain extremely highly valued by employees. For health benefits to deliver employee productivity objectives and remain attractive to employees, companies must have access to good data. They should be more assertive to access the cost drivers of their health benefit plans and productivity drivers such as absence causes and cost."
Absence levels
According to the survey, the highest absence rate was reported by respondents in Bulgaria, Portugal, Norway and the Czech Republic; the lowest by respondents in Turkey (4.6 days). The UK and Spain also reported low average rates (5.5 and 5.7 days, respectively). In a comparable US survey by Mercer, respondents reported an average of 5.1 days.
Respondents reported that about three-quarters (73 percent) of total lost working time is due to short, frequent absences (usually fewer than eight days) and about one-quarter (27 percent) is due to long-term disabilities. Very large organisations generally reported higher levels of lost time from long-term disability relative to small organisations, for which short, frequent absences have greater impact.
Overall, 19 percent of respondents believe that, since 2005, the average number of sick days taken per employee has increased; 12 percent say it has decreased, and 68 percent say it has stayed about the same. However, this varies significantly by country. Romania, Poland, Spain and France reported rising absence rates (40 percent, 33 percent, 31 percent and 31 percent, respectively). The response from Russia was much lower at 5 percent. In the US, 14 percent of survey respondents reported an increase in absence rates from 2005 to 2007, while relatively few (5 percent) reported a decrease.
Causes of absence
Musculoskeletal conditions were identified by 78 percent of respondents as the cause of most long-term absences. Thirty-one percent specifically referenced lower back pain and 47 percent other musculoskeletal conditions. Stress and mental health issues (52 percent) and cancer conditions (20 percent) were also featured amongst the highest disability causes.
Employers in France were the most likely to select cancer as one of the top three disabilities (55 percent). This was higher than the European average. Disabilities due to stress and mental health issues appear to be most common in the Netherlands, the UK and the Nordic countries - being cited by more than 70 percent of respondents in each country.
Absence management programmes and policies
In some countries, privacy laws are often considered to be an issue preventing employers from accessing absence information. Other countries have successfully overcome this obstacle by making information submission from employees a voluntary process.
"In the current high-pressure and uncertain employment environment, it is important to quickly identify the causes of ill health and effectively target support services to these areas," commented Mr Clements.
For those companies that do have a specific absence programme, the most commonly used components were formal absence policies and procedures (56 percent), sick pay arrangements (38 percent), case management and occupational health (37 percent), and return-to-work interviews (36 percent). About a quarter of respondents (24 percent) include employees' sickness absence records in their performance appraisals, but just 17 percent provide attendance incentives.
Employers also provide rehabilitation services (25 percent) and access to treatment at the employer's cost (20 percent) as a means of speeding up an employee's successful return to work and productivity. Local, cultural and legislative factors can be explained by some of these differences; for example in Sweden, rehabilitation services are regulated in law as the employer's responsibility.
"Absence management remains haphazard at best," concluded Mr Clements. "Targeted absence management policies and procedures are by no means universally applied, and even the ability to quickly and accurately measure absence remains fairly poor. Many employers offer a broad range of health-related benefits, but their presence is driven by recruitment and retention, and it appears there is only sporadic evidence of integration of these benefits within a broader employee health and wellness or absence management agenda. At a time when cost is under the microscope, employee absence remains under-managed and presents a great opportunity for savings and improved productivity."
Notes for Editors
Companies were surveyed from May to June 2008. Please find attached tables showing average absence rates across Europe. For more information, please visit < http://www.mercer.com/healthsurveyeurope> Mercer's 2008 Pan-European Health & Benefit Report page.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies----------------- Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations-------- Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor---------------------- Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 -------------------------------Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
Mercer
Press Release
Absence rates in Europe rise, but company absence management policies hindered by lack of data [8 Januaray 2009]
http://www.mercer.com/summary.htm?idContent=1332295
UK
London, 8 January 2009
* Average European employee absence rate of 7.4 days per year ; highest in Bulgaria, lowest in Turkey
* Top three causes of long-term absence are musculoskeletal, stress/mental health issues and cancer conditions
* Average 19% cite increase in absences, 68% report no significant change and 12% report decrease
At a time when organisations are looking to reduce costs, many firms are failing to effectively manage their employee absence rates due to a lack of good data, according to < http://www.mercer.com/healthsurveyeurope> Mercer's 2008 Pan-European Health & Benefit Report. While the majority can access simple data on the number of days employees are absent, only two-fifths (42 percent) say they can identify the cause of employee absence and still fewer (33 percent) have data on the direct cost of employee absence. Twenty-one percent of organisations report that their company is unable to access good data relating to the level, causes or cost of absence.
Mercer's Pan-European Health and Benefits Report surveyed nearly 800 companies across 24 European countries. The data showed that, on average, European employees are absent 7.4 days per year. According to the report, 58 percent of respondents said that, on average, employees were absent five days or fewer per year. However, 15 percent report averages of 10 days per year or more, an increase from the 12 percent in 2006. Of those companies able to measure causes of employee absence, musculoskeletal, stress, mental health and cancer conditions were cited as the main causes of long-term absence.
According to Steve Clements, principal in Mercer's health and benefit business, "Health costs are rising across Europe and yet we know health benefits remain extremely highly valued by employees. For health benefits to deliver employee productivity objectives and remain attractive to employees, companies must have access to good data. They should be more assertive to access the cost drivers of their health benefit plans and productivity drivers such as absence causes and cost."
Absence levels
According to the survey, the highest absence rate was reported by respondents in Bulgaria, Portugal, Norway and the Czech Republic; the lowest by respondents in Turkey (4.6 days). The UK and Spain also reported low average rates (5.5 and 5.7 days, respectively). In a comparable US survey by Mercer, respondents reported an average of 5.1 days.
Respondents reported that about three-quarters (73 percent) of total lost working time is due to short, frequent absences (usually fewer than eight days) and about one-quarter (27 percent) is due to long-term disabilities. Very large organisations generally reported higher levels of lost time from long-term disability relative to small organisations, for which short, frequent absences have greater impact.
Overall, 19 percent of respondents believe that, since 2005, the average number of sick days taken per employee has increased; 12 percent say it has decreased, and 68 percent say it has stayed about the same. However, this varies significantly by country. Romania, Poland, Spain and France reported rising absence rates (40 percent, 33 percent, 31 percent and 31 percent, respectively). The response from Russia was much lower at 5 percent. In the US, 14 percent of survey respondents reported an increase in absence rates from 2005 to 2007, while relatively few (5 percent) reported a decrease.
Causes of absence
Musculoskeletal conditions were identified by 78 percent of respondents as the cause of most long-term absences. Thirty-one percent specifically referenced lower back pain and 47 percent other musculoskeletal conditions. Stress and mental health issues (52 percent) and cancer conditions (20 percent) were also featured amongst the highest disability causes.
Employers in France were the most likely to select cancer as one of the top three disabilities (55 percent). This was higher than the European average. Disabilities due to stress and mental health issues appear to be most common in the Netherlands, the UK and the Nordic countries - being cited by more than 70 percent of respondents in each country.
Absence management programmes and policies
In some countries, privacy laws are often considered to be an issue preventing employers from accessing absence information. Other countries have successfully overcome this obstacle by making information submission from employees a voluntary process.
"In the current high-pressure and uncertain employment environment, it is important to quickly identify the causes of ill health and effectively target support services to these areas," commented Mr Clements.
For those companies that do have a specific absence programme, the most commonly used components were formal absence policies and procedures (56 percent), sick pay arrangements (38 percent), case management and occupational health (37 percent), and return-to-work interviews (36 percent). About a quarter of respondents (24 percent) include employees' sickness absence records in their performance appraisals, but just 17 percent provide attendance incentives.
Employers also provide rehabilitation services (25 percent) and access to treatment at the employer's cost (20 percent) as a means of speeding up an employee's successful return to work and productivity. Local, cultural and legislative factors can be explained by some of these differences; for example in Sweden, rehabilitation services are regulated in law as the employer's responsibility.
"Absence management remains haphazard at best," concluded Mr Clements. "Targeted absence management policies and procedures are by no means universally applied, and even the ability to quickly and accurately measure absence remains fairly poor. Many employers offer a broad range of health-related benefits, but their presence is driven by recruitment and retention, and it appears there is only sporadic evidence of integration of these benefits within a broader employee health and wellness or absence management agenda. At a time when cost is under the microscope, employee absence remains under-managed and presents a great opportunity for savings and improved productivity."
Notes for Editors
Companies were surveyed from May to June 2008. Please find attached tables showing average absence rates across Europe. For more information, please visit < http://www.mercer.com/healthsurveyeurope> Mercer's 2008 Pan-European Health & Benefit Report page.
______________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 8:46 AM
