August 16, 2011 SHRM Poll: Managing Employee Absences

Managing Employee Absences ©SHRM 2011 Key Findings 2  Do organizations track employee absences? A majority of organizations (79%) currently have a program in place that tracks workplace absences.  How do organizations categorize employee absences in the workplace? Of the organizations that track employee absences, almost all (87%) separate absences by unplanned leave (e.g., sick days, FMLA leave), planned absences (e.g., vacations, holidays, FMLA leave) and/or extended leave (e.g., short-term disability, FMLA leave, workers’ compensation leave).  What proportion of organizations track the indirect costs, such as overtime and the need for temporary workers, caused by employee absences? More than one-half of organizations do not track the indirect costs from employees’ unplanned (61%) or extended (53%) absences.  Is senior management concerned about the indirect costs of unplanned and extended employee absences? More than one-half of respondents reported that senior management was moderately concerned with costs related to unplanned (57%) and extended (53%) absences, whereas a much smaller percentage indicated that senior management was very concerned about indirect costs of extended (18%) and unplanned (13%) absences.

Managing Employee Absences ©SHRM 2011 Does your organization currently have a program that tracks employee absences in the workplace? 3 Note: n = 302. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

Managing Employee Absences ©SHRM 2011 Does your absence program separate employee absences by unplanned absences (e.g., sick days, FMLA leave), planned absences (e.g., vacations, holidays, FMLA leave) and/or extended absences (e.g., short-term disability, FMLA leave, workers’ comp leave)? 4 Note: n = 229. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Total does not equal 100% due to rounding.

Managing Employee Absences ©SHRM 2011 Does your organization track the indirect costs (e.g., temporary workers, overtime, business disruption, lags in product delivery, customer satisfaction) of unplanned absences and extended absences? 5 Note: n = 226. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

Managing Employee Absences ©SHRM 2011 Generally speaking, how concerned is senior management at your organization about the indirect costs of unplanned absences and extended absences? 6 Note: n = 277. Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis.

Managing Employee Absences ©SHRM 2011 How regularly do applicable staff (e.g., line managers, HR) at your organization receive training and/or updates on the latest legal and administrative developments in the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) or other leave laws? 7 n = 275

Managing Employee Absences ©SHRM 2011 Demographics: Organization Industry 8 n = 302 IndustryPercentage Manufacturing18% Professional, scientific and technical services12% Health care and social assistance11% Finance and insurance10% Public administration6% Educational services5% Accommodation and food services (accommodation; food services and drinking places)4% Retail trade4% Arts, entertainment and recreation3% Construction (construction of buildings; heavy and civil engineering construction; specialty trade contractors) 3% Transportation and warehousing3% Wholesale trade3%

Managing Employee Absences ©SHRM 2011 Demographics: Organization Industry (continued) 9 n = 302 IndustryPercentage Information2% Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional and similar organizations2% Utilities2% Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting1% Mining1% Real estate and rental and leasing1% Management of companies and enterprises0% Personal and laundry services0% Private households0% Repair and maintenance0% Other services except public administration9%

Managing Employee Absences ©SHRM 2011 Demographics: Organization Sector 10 n = 296

Managing Employee Absences ©SHRM 2011 Demographics: Organization Staff Size 11 Note: n = 287. Total does not equal 100% due to rounding.

Managing Employee Absences ©SHRM 2011 Demographics: Other 12 Does your organization have U.S.- based operations (business units) only or does it operate multinationally? U.S.-based operations only74% Multinational operations26% n = 298 Is your organization a single-unit company or a multi-unit company? Single-unit company: A company in which the location and the company are one and the same 32% Multi-unit company: A company that has more than one location 68% n = 301 Are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit corporate headquarters, by each work location or both? Multi-unit headquarters determines HR policies and practices 46% Each work location determines HR policies and practices 3% A combination of both the work location and the multi-unit headquarters determine HR policies and practices 51% n = 213 HR department/function for which you responded throughout this survey Corporate (companywide)66% Business unit/division19% Facility/location15% n = 213

Managing Employee Absences ©SHRM 2011  Response rate = 11%  Sample composed of 302 randomly selected HR professionals from SHRM’s membership  Margin of error +/- 5%  Survey fielded June 9 th to June 22 nd, Methodology For more poll findings, visit Follow us on Twitter: SHRM Poll: Managing Employee Absences