EFFECTS OF EMPLOYEES ABSENTEEISM ON

ORGANISATIONS PERFORMANCE
A CASE STUDY OF MASAKA POLICE STATION






A RESEARCH PROPOSAL SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF
BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT
OF REQUIREMENTS FOR AN AWARD OF A DEGREE IN
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT OF KAMPALA
UNIVERSITY.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Title of the study
Chapter one


2. Introduction.
3. Background of the study..
4. Statement of the problem.
5. Objectives of the study.
6. Research questions
7. Scope of the study
8. Significance of the study..
9. Definition of key terms
10. Conceptual framework.
Chapter two: Review of related literature
11. Review of related literature
Chapter three: Methodology
12. Research design.
13. Study area..
14. Study Population ..
15. Sample size and selection..
16. Sampling techniques
17. Research tools
18. Data collection procedure..


19. Secondary data
20. Data analysis and presentations
21. Ethical consideration
22. Limitations and delimitations
Appendices
Budget
Questionnaire









INTRODUCTION
This proposal shows the background of the study, problem statement, objectives of the study,
scope of the study, conceptual framework, significance of the study it also looks at the review of
various literature related on the meaning of absenteeism, the research design, study area,


population size, sampling strategy, research instrument, viability and reliability, data analysis,
research procedures, ethical consideration, limitations and delimitations of the study.
Background of the study
Absenteeism is the avoidance or failure to attend one's place of work hence unable to perform a
contractual working obligation owing to absence. In other words, absenteeism is unplanned or
planned absence created by an employee intentionally such as deliberately avoiding work
through non-attendance for personal reasons or unintentionally like maternity leave, bereavement
and ill-health.
In general absenteeism is defined as the failure to show for work or any other habitual duty. This
usually disrupts work schedules adding workloads to those who are at work which might lead to
low morale among employees. Therefore, absenteeism obstructs the good functioning of
production and efficient running of an organization. Lokke A.K, Eskildsen. J and Jesen. T. W
(2007) similarly reported that the traditional definition of absence is about not being physically
present at the place and time the employee is expected to be.
Employee absenteeism is a costly yet poorly understood organizational phenomenon (e.g. Johns
and Nicholson, 1982; Martocchio and Harrison, 1993; Mowday, Porter and Steers, 1982; Rhodes
and Steers, 1990; Gellatly, 1995). The consequences of employee absenteeism are widespread
and consist of direct and indirect effects. For instance higher costs are a result of absenteeism,
which can be caused both directly as indirectly. Direct costs of sickness absence to employers
include statutory sick pay, expense of covering absence with temporary staff and lost production.
Indirect costs, such as low morale among staff covering for those absent because of sickness and
lower customer satisfaction, are difficult to measure, while they also influence the overall levels
of output (Leaker, 2008). Other effects associated with absenteeism are disruption of the work
flow and reduction in product quality (Klein, 1986).
The impact of absenteeism on firms or even a nations economy is enormous, taking account of
the costs associated with it. A better understanding of the determinants of absenteeism can be
valuable for firms and policymakers (Strmer and Fahr, 2010).
1


As stated by Barmby, Ercolani and Treble (2002), absence is not purely a medical condition.
While employee absence often is described as sickness, there are more aspects which play a role
or have an effect on the absence behavior of employees. Johns and Nicholson (1982) describe
this as an essential problem, because absenteeism is actually a variety of behaviors with different
causes masquerading as a unitary phenomenon. Whitaker (2001) also stressed this aspect;
sickness is a complex phenomenon that is influenced strongly by factors other than health.
Throughout previous research many determinants have been tested upon their possible
explanatory abilities on employee absence behavior. While these determinants often showed
similar results it is sometimes difficult to compare these outcomes since other exogenous factors
influenced them. For example as Gimeno et al. (2004) explained in their article that studies have
examined the relation between psychosocial work conditions and sickness absence. Some have
found that sickness absence is related to high demands, low control, or a combination of both,
while other studies have found no relation. Another example of different relations found in
previous research concerns the relation between absence and an employees age, some found
positive relations while others found negative.
Davey, New burn-cook, and Lo. E. A (2009) have defined absenteeism as the failure to appear to
work when planned, and according to them absence is measured by frequency or amount of work
days missed. The Entrepreneur described absenteeism as an employee's deliberate or habitual
absence from work. Everybody misses a day of work now and then. But it's a problem when an
employee misses too many days of work. Not showing up for work can cause serious problems
when other employees have to cover for the missing worker.


2
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Despite the efforts put by the government to train and guide its police officers, follow up against
absenteeism, there is still a problem of absenteeism among the employees, the police officers are



given duty programmes which must be followed but they end up not turning up at the required
time which leads to poor performance and backlog or pilling of work which leads to delay.
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
GENERAL OBJECTIVE
The general objective of this study will aim at establishing the effects of employees absenteeism
in organizations with particular emphasis to Masaka police station.
SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
To identify the factors that lead to absenteeism among employees in organizations.
To examine the effects of employees absenteeism on organizations performance.
To suggest measures that can reduce absenteeism among employees in organizations.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
What are the causes of absenteeism among employees in the organization?
How is absenteeism likely to affect the performance of the organization?
In which ways can we suggest solutions to the problems of absenteeism?




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SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Geographical scope: the study will be carried out at Masaka police station in Masaka district in
the central region of Uganda.


Subject matter: the study will be aimed at establishing the effects of employees absenteeism on
organizations performance. The focus will be put on the social and economic reasons for
absenteeism at Masaka police station.
Time scope: this study will cover a period of 3 years (2000-2003) reason being that the practice
of absenteeism in Masaka police station has greatly increased in these years.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The study will help managers to know the effects of absenteeism on employees performance.
The study will also remind employees about their duties and responsibilities.
The study will be a source of information to future researchers.
DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS
Absenteeism: a habitual pattern of absence from a duty or obligation, failure of a worker to
report for work when he is scheduled to the work.
Performance: The accomplishment of a given task measured against preset known standards of
accuracy, completeness, cost, and speed.
Organization: A social unit of people that is structured and managed to meet a need or to pursue
collective goals.




4
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Independent variables dependent variables










Extraneous variables



Extraneous variables


Source: Derived from related literature.



5

LITERATURE REVIEW
Absenteeism can happen through authorized and unauthorized absence and these can be grouped
into: situational, personal and attendance factors. Causes: headaches, hang-over cold flu,
Workplace issues
Personal reasons
Low morale
Poor quality of supervision
Poor performance
Low productivity
Government policy
Skills
Training
Low level of commitment
Reward system


unchallenging jobs and poor management are common causes of absenteeism and managers
generally suspicious of employees' reasons for absenteeism.
Effects: Unplanned absence is disorganizing, frustrating and expensive for organizations.
Absenteeism is positively correlated with employee motivation and satisfaction.
Combating absenteeism: absence can be minimized by providing challenging jobs, rewarding
attendance and maintaining a zero tolerance to absence. Return-to-work interviews are
empirically proven method of reducing absenteeism in local government.
Causes of absenteeism
According to Ericson (2001) issues like child and eldercare, single-parent families are those
characteristics that might lead to an impact on absenteeism at any level in an organization.
Furthermore, Goff et al. (1990) found that when ones work and family issues are conflicting
there is a greater frequency of absenteeism. It has also been noted that management in most
organizations are lenient, staffs make excuses of being sick so as not to attend work,
consequently, recording a sick leave. This is also common in the aviation sector especially
among staffs having odd working hours; they find it easier to register for sick leave so as to be
able to manage their own issues.
Cuelenaere (1997) showed that most sick women did not resume work until they were fully
recovered, whereas most men often (partially) resumed work even when they were not fully
recovered. Geurts, Kompier and Grundemann (2000) further state that women are alleged by the
media to hold lower work values because they make less serious attempts to resume work after
sickness. Two final explanations mentioned by Johns (2003) are that, compared to men, women
appeared to be more restless and busier during a scheduled day off. And secondly that women
may experience or respond more negatively or proactively to stressful or dissatisfying events at
work and use time off as an adjective mechanism.

Drago and wooden (1992) explain in their research, the higher absence rate among younger
workers can be expected because of the greater opportunity cost of foregone leisure. They further
6


state that younger workers are typically very mobile between jobs and thus will be less
committed to the firm and work group than older workers.
Barham and Begum (2005), Clegg (1983), Hackett (1990) and Leaker (2008) find support for the
negative relation Grundemann (2000) find support for a positive relation between age and
absenteeism. Although ambiguous results are found in previous research, a negative relation
between age and absenteeism is expected.
Koopmans chap et al (1993) showed in their research that absence from work is strongly related
to education and also that lower educated people have a higher risk of becoming disabled. An
explanation for this result could be that increased educational attainment is related to greater
knowledge about health this is in line with the statement that education could influence a
persons judgement regarding their capacity to work.

Lusinyan and Bonato, 2007, states that the most important indicators of absenteeism are related
to the health of employees. While other factors have their impact on influencing the absence rate,
health itself, for example general illness, is the most occurring reason for an employee to be
absent. Better health associated with lower sickness absence. The factors discussed in this
category will discuss how self-assessed health, certain health lifestyles, such as Body Mass Index
and smoking, and whether a person is hampered in his normal activities by his illness relate to
absence.

Self-assessed health status is an increasingly common measure of health in empirical research
and has shown to provide a trustworthy view of a persons health.
Linn and Linn, 1980; Crossley and Kennedy, 2002, It could be understood that people who
assess their health better, thus rate their own health at a higher degree, are likely to be absent less
often. People hampered by their health in their daily activities, for example disabled and
chronically ill people, can be expected to have higher absence rates. Disabled and chronically ill
people can also be expected to rate their own health lower. Which, as explained, also relate to a
higher absence rate.
7




Price and Mueller (1981) describe job satisfaction as the overall degree to which employees like
their jobs. As mentioned earlier, when somebody is satisfied with what he is doing he will exert
more effort in keeping his promises, which here means showing up at work. Satisfied people are
also less inclined to focus on the negative aspects which could result in a more negative attitude.

Gennard, Judge, (2005) are of the view that death, paternity leave, inability to return from
planned holidays and alleged sickness' are the main causes of absenteeism. It is abundantly
clear that bereavement does cause absenteeism but on limited scale however, this report is less
concern with that form of absenteeism because it is natural rather than intentional. Paternity
leave being a cause of absence might sound baffling however, paternity leave even though a
planned absenteeism, might potential cause some form of authorized absence for reasons like a
sudden developments- such as mother falling sick, baby's health, family and family visits and
gatherings.

According to Armstrong, (2006). Managers are usually provided with a specification tasks with
limited time-frame within which to report back to their superiors for assessment. Consequently,
an unplanned absence may significantly affect managers flexibility, time and the speed at which
the work and for that reason, may cause irritation for management as a whole.
Effects of absenteeism
Harvey and Nicholson (1993), recognizes that absenteeism is the major cause of low productivity
in business and industry. In a similar vein, Buschak. M, Craven. C and Ledman. R (1996) stated
that absenteeism is a difficulty that every organization or business faces creating costs and
productivity problems. Thus, leading to a heavier work load on the majority of employees who
have shown up for work. This type of situation tends to create dissatisfaction, frustration, stress
and fatigue among employees
8


Pillay (2009:5) (Chauke, 2007:24). Decreased productivity, when an employee is absent from
work, but is integral to daily work functions, others take on the added responsibility. When
employees who are at work have to carry the extra workload, this has the potential to impact on
their overall productivity and outputs.

Demotivated employees: Morale, engagement and retention are affected, especially when there is
no recognition or acknowledgement for taking on extra responsibility as a result of absent team
members. Staff morale tends to suffer as a result of extra demands on staff time owing to work
overload and overtime.

Decreased customer loyalty and satisfaction: Employees are the backbone of any organisation
and low morale could lead to dissatisfaction amongst customers. Chauke (2007:24) agrees that
employee service delivery may suffer on account of absenteeism.

Decreased costs: These are as a result of lost productivity, overtime, temporary staff and
increased overall company overheads initially not budgeted for. These additional financial costs
are most likely to be felt in the wage costs associated with any staff replacements

Chauke, 2007:25. Job dissatisfaction: Employees monitor each others behavior, and if
absenteeism on the part of some colleagues is not addressed by management, they lose
credibility among the staff leading to staff turnover as a result of dissatisfaction. In short,
anything that impacts on worker Satisfaction (happiness) with the job can influence an
employees motivation and indirectly affect whether they would practice absenteeism merely to
stay away from an unhappy work situation
An employee's sudden absence may stir up negative feelings among his fellow work- colleagues.
It is a convincing fact that more often, managers are unable to fill in or organize a quick
replacement for an absent employee but rather, overburden their subordinates with the same
magnitude of workload. Nevertheless, they (managers) still expect their workforce to deliver the
same level of performance without considering the manpower shortage.
9


Combating absenteeism.
Lusinyan and Bonato (2007) clearly state that shorter working hours reduce absence and that this
effect is even larger when flexible working arrangements are apparent. Barham and Begum
(2005) state that employees with fewer working days have a reduced chance of taking a day off
because of sickness, when they were actually scheduled to work.
While little direct theoretical support exists for the relationship between contract type and
absenteeism, numerous previous researches showed clear results. Drago and Wooden (1992),
Leaker (2008), Benavides et al. (2000) and Barham and Begum (2005) showed a positive
relation between full-time employment and absenteeism. A similar relationship is expected in
this study.
Gimeno et al. 2004; Benavides et al. 2000) explain that even though these non-permanent
employees tend to do more hazardous work or work under poorer conditions than permanent
employees, they still tend to be less absent. Sickness absence research suggests that the lower
non-permanent employee absence rates are attributable to the insecurity of not being reemployed
or lack of benefits, which leads non-permanent employees to remain at work.








10


METHODOLOGY
The section highlights the research design that will be used, population of the study, sample
selection and size, data collection, procedure, data analysis and the limitations of the study.
RESEARCH DESIGN
The study will use a descriptive survey research design. This will be used because it is a method
of investigation in which self report data collection from interested samples can be done, on top
of allowing for a thorough and easy analysis of respondents opinions. Given the nature of this
studys focus, it will be descriptive survey research design that can adequately lead to collection
of reliable information by giving a focused description of every phenomenon resulting into
employees absenteeism in organizations.
STUDY AREA
The study will be carried out at Masaka police station which is located in Masaka district. Both
female and male respondents will be used in the study. Focus will be put on gathering
information about the effects of employees absenteeism on the performance of organizations
from the selected employees.
STUDY POPULATION
The population of the study will be the staff at Masaka police station. Thirty employees will be
the target of the study.




11


SAMPLE SIZE AND SELECTION
A few employees at Masaka police station will be selected for the study using simple random
sampling. This will be done by writing all the names of different sections on small pieces of
paper, the papers will be put in a container and mixed up, five papers will be picked at random
without replacement .the names on the picked papers are the ones that will be used in the study.
From the five selected sections, their corresponding heads will be purposively selected for the
study. Five heads and four subordinates from each section based on their roles in the
departments.
SAMPLING TECHNIQUES
The sample will be selected using both simple random sampling and purposive sampling
techniques. Simple random sample is a subset of individuals (a sample) chosen from a larger set
(population) chosen randomly and entirely by chance such that each individual has the same
probability of being chosen at any stage during the sampling process (Yates, 2008) for purposive
sampling, this will be used because it will help in selecting typical and useful people that will
give relevant data for in-depth study. (Oso and Onen 2009).
RESEARCH TOOLS
Questionnaires will be administered to the employees. Questionnaires will be self-administered
and will consist of both structured and non-structured questions. The study will use
questionnaires because they help to cover a big number of respondents in relatively short time.
Interviews, the researcher will conduct face to face interview with the respondents. An interview
guide containing questions will be used to guide the researcher while conducting face to face
conversations with the participants or respondents.
Written documents, the study will make a review of written documents such as books, reports,
magazines, news papers, journals and stations records. The information gathered will be
important in consolidating the respondents elicited from the interviews and questionnaires.
12


DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURE
The researcher will first get a letter of introduction from the department of internship and
research of Kampala University, which will be presented to the district commander and officer in
charge of station seeking for permission to carry out the study at their station. The researcher will
then request the officer in charge to introduce her to the sections for sample selection exercise.
SECONDARY DATA
Secondary data from different websites about absenteeism will be used as a source of
information. Each online administrative documents, news paper articles, service records, lists of
names, survey data and other records will be carefully reviewed and selected.
DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION
The responses of the subjects will be categorized in frequency counts and score tables with
varying percentages calculated. Inferences will be made according to the number of occurrences
on each item. Data will be continually analyzed during and after data collection.
VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
To ensure the quality and guarantee validity and reliability, the data to be collected for the study,
the tools and instruments will be pretested with the assistance from the research supervisor and
few respondents will be involved in the pilot study. This will make it possible to determine
whether the items in the questionnaire are tested clearly, understandable and relevant to the
study. This will be intended to ensure that all respondents get the same meaning.Mugenda (1999)
define validity as the extent to which a researcher tool or instrument will be guaranteed by
regular consultations the researcher will do in collaboration with the research supervisor.
Reviewing previous and earlier work will ensure reliability by not repeating the mistakes in the
previous studies. This will help the researcher to identify gaps in the existing literature.

13


Reliability of the instrument refers to the extent to which the instrument is consistent or
dependable when measuring phenomenon (Enon 2000) reliability will be ensured by the
comprehensiveness of the tool, language to be used, number of respondents and privacy of
respondents. The comments of different respondents will be used to effect necessary changes.
The items that will be found to be irrelevant and vague will be removed.
ETHICAL CONSIDERATION
Before any data collection, a thorough explanation will be given and the need for their
cooperation. The possible benefits of the study will be explained. The respondents will be taken
care of during the study so as not to victimize any one.
LIMITATIONS AND DELIMITATIONS
Lack of experience will affect the process of gathering the necessary data within the short time
since the researcher will be doing research for the first time.
There might be a problem of limited funds this will hinder and delay the research exercise.









14


APPENDIX 1: BUDGET
RESEARCH ESTIMATED BUDGET










ITEMS QUANTITY UNIT PRICE TOTAL
Transport to the field 2 weeks 10,000@ 100,000/=
Traveling to University
Supervisor
3000 20,000/=
Internet charges and library 50,000/=
Ream of papers 1 18,000@ 18,000/=
Questionnaire typesetting
and printing
30 copies 500@ 10,000/=
Report typesetting and
printing
3 15,000@ 45,000/=
Binding 3 2000@ 6,000/=
TOTAL 249,000/=


APPENDIX 11: QUESTIONNAIRE
Dear sir/madam,
You are requested to fill this form, all the information and data obtained from you shall be kept
confidential and only for the purposes of this study and please ask for help if need arises.
Thank you.
Researcher: NABANOBA FORTUNATE
Instruction: Tick the correct alternative.
A.DEMOGRAPHIC DATA
1. Gender.
a) Male
b) Female
2. Religion
a) Protestant
b) Catholic
c) Muslim
d) Orthodox
e) Others (specify)
3. Age (20-50)
..
4. Position/rank
..









5. In which section/department do you work?

6. Do you come on duty regularly without dodging? Yes No
7. How long have you been at this station?
Years Months.
B.INFORMATION ABOUT THE SUBJECT OF THE STUDY
1. In your view, what are some of the problems of the employees in particular and the
organization in general?
a)

b)

2. Have you ever heard about absenteeism?
Yes No
3. If yes, what is absenteeism?

4. What do you think are the factors that lead to employees absenteeism?
a)






b)

c)

5. In your own view, what do you think may result from absenteeism?
a)

b)

c)

6. What measures has the station put in place to stop absenteeism?
a)

b)

c)

7. Have those measures been effective?
Yes No
If No,
Why


Thank you so much for your cooperation .May God bless you.




REFERENCES
Armstrong, M (2006) A Hand Book of Human Resource Management Practice, 10th Edition
Kogan Page, London, UK.
Gaudine, A and Alan M. Saks, M (2001) Effects of Absenteeism Feedback Intervention on
Employee Absence Behavior.
Gennard, J and Graham J, (2005) Employee Relations: 4th edition CIPD, London. UK.
Johansson, P Palme, M (2002) Assessing the Effect of Public Policy on Worker Absenteeism,
the Journal of Human Resource.
McHugh, M (2002) Employee absence: an impediment to organization health in local
government, School of Management.
McHugh, M (2001): Employee absence: an impediment to organization health in local
government, School of Management, University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland,
International journal of Public Sector Management.
Torrington, D, Hall, L and Taylor, S (2008), Human Resource Management, 7th Edition,
Prentice Hall, Pearson Education, FT, England and Spain.
Hanebuth, Dirk (2008) Background of absenteeism in K. Heinitz (ed.) Psychology in
Organizations - Issues from an applied area. Peter Lang: Frankfurt.
Johns, Gary (2007) absenteeism in George Ritzer (ed.) The Blackwell Encyclopedia of
Sociology, Blackwell Publishing.