Indians among workers who fake most sick leaves

Organisations the world over shoulder an enormous cost as a result of employee absenteeism and absence continues to be a key concern for all industry sectors across the globe.

The direct cost of absence is often recorded and reported in annual surveys but the indirect cost, such as paying overtime and calling in temporary staff are rarely reported, yet can exceed the direct costs by as much as 200 per cent.

Let's take a look at some countries where workers fake most sick leaves, according to Kronos Global Absence Survey Report.

...

China

Percentage of workers who admit calling in sick: 71 per cent

Global rank in workers faking sickness: 1

Most managers are unaware of what absence is costing their own organisations in lost revenue and reduced profitability.

...

India

Percentage of workers who admit calling in sick: 62 per cent

Global rank in workers faking sickness: 2

Worse still, senior managers often do not even have visibility to absence trends and absence levels in their organisation making it difficult to address the underlying cause.

...

Australia

Percentage of workers who admit calling in sick: 58 per cent

Global rank in workers faking sickness: 3

Employee absence comes as result of many things - such as illness, holidays, sick leave abuse, maternity, paternity and parental leave, and stress. And that doesn't include consistent lateness and/or leaving early.

...

The United States

Percentage of workers who admit calling in sick: 52 per cent

Global rank in workers faking sickness: 4

The hard fact is that when you factor in all the reasons for absence, not just sickness absence, absenteeism can consume as much as 15 per cent of an organisation's payroll.

...

Canada

Percentage of workers who admit calling in sick: 52 per cent

Global rank in workers faking sickness: 5

That figure reflects only the direct costs of paying absent workers, such as salary continuation and benefits payout.

...

The United Kingdom

Percentage of workers who admit calling in sick: 43 per cent

Global rank in workers faking sickness: 6

The indirect costs of absenteeism - which include replacement costs such as temporary staff or overtime and lost service or production time - can double or even triple that amount.

...

Mexico

Percentage of workers who admit calling in sick: 38 per cent

Global rank in workers faking sickness: 7

A survey by human resource consulting firm Mercer indicates that the total costs of all major absence categories, including direct and indirect costs, average 35 per cent of base payroll.

...

France

Percentage of workers who admit calling in sick: 16 per cent

Global rank in workers faking sickness: 8

The amount of paid leave entitlement could have a direct bearing on the results. Of all the countries polled, France has the most generous annual leave entitlement at 25 days and also the smallest number of employees calling in sick when they are not.