Research finds that absenteeism is the reason South Africas losing its competitive edge by FSP Business, 31 October 2013 New research has found that South Africas losing its competitive edge. And its all thanks to absenteeism. Thats just the tip of the tip of the iceberg. There are other worrying trends when it comes to sick leave abuse in the workplace. Here are the details of the study... Absenteeism is a major reason for South Africa slipping down global competitiveness rankings, with a 500% increase in sick leave since 2001, BDlive reports. According to the report, this suggests some employees take a sick day when suffering only minor ailments and days off without even being ill. South Africa was ranked 53rd out of 148 countries in the 2013-14 Global Competitiveness Report, down one place from 52nd last year, says the report. What are the other growing trends when it comes to sick leave abuse? Presenteeism: Another growing trend, says executive search firm Humanity Search and Select, is presenteeism, BDlive reports. Presenteeism is when employees show up for work but isnt productive because he or she isnt feeling well. This phenomenon is actually worse than absenteeism. Were talking about a loss of productivity even though the person is physically there, said Humanity Search and Select CEO Georgina Barrick in the BDlive report. Sickness absence is also another growing trend. According to the report, labour specialist Adcorp says that, on any given day, 3.7% of South African workers are absent on sick leave and between 2009 and last year a quarter of all workers took the maximum statutory allowance for sick leave — 30 days in a three-year cycle. The report adds, in 2001, the figure was just 0.7%. With this many people on sick leave at any given time, it effectively means employers are paying for 20 days work and receiving 19. fspbusiness.co.za/articles/latest-news/research-finds-that-absenteeism-is-the-reason-south-africas-losing-its-competitive-edge-3103.html
Posted on: Mon, 04 Nov 2013 15:43:13 +0000