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Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance pp 1–6Cite as

Absenteeism in Organizations

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Synonyms

Nonappearance; Shirking; Work attendance

Definition

Absenteeism is the failure to report for work as scheduled.

Introduction: The Problems and Consequences of Absenteeism

Absenteeism is a problem in many organizations. It has a number of negative consequences for society at large, organizations, colleagues, and employees.

Apart from the economic consequences such as sickness allowances, healthcare treatment, pay for temps or overtime pay, lost productivity, etc., there are also a number of personal costs. For the involved person, sickness absence may have major consequences such as a poorer life quality, loss of identity if away from work for long periods of time, lack of social contact to colleagues, worries about own health, loss of professional competences, and perhaps even discharge. There are also consequences for the colleagues of the absentee, such as increased workload when substituting the absent colleague.

The many negative consequences mean that absenteeism is on...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management, Aarhus University, Bartholins Allé 10, DK-8000, Aarhus C., Denmark

    Ann-Kristina Løkke

Authors
  1. Ann-Kristina Løkke
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Correspondence to Ann-Kristina Løkke .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Florida, USA

    Ali Farazmand

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© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Løkke, AK. (2016). Absenteeism in Organizations. In: Farazmand, A. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_128-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_128-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31816-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Economics and FinanceReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

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