Absenteeism Rates by Province
Saskatchewan had the highest absenteeism rate averaging
11 days absent per employee, followed closely
by New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Quebec, all at
10.8 days per employee. Alberta had the lowest level
of absenteeism, with an average of 7.9 days per
employee.3 (See Chart 2.) Alberta and Ontario have
the lowest union density rates in Canada, which contributes
to their lower absenteeism rates.
Research suggests that the more positive the work
environment and employee-employer relationship,
the less likely employees are to miss work.
Absenteeism Rates by Employee Characteristics
As workers age, they tend to miss more days of work.
This is influenced by illness and disability, not personal/
family reasons. Those aged 20 to 24 missed on
average 5.9 days, compared with 10.3 days for those
aged 45 to 54 and 13.2 days for those aged 55 to 64.21
(See Chart 3.) The incidence of physical chronic disease
increases with age, which contributes to increased
illness and disability among this group.
Cost of Absenteeism
Few organizations track the direct costs of absenteeism.
In 2012, only 15 per cent of organizations tracked this
type of data-unchanged from 2009. (See Chart 5.)
The direct cost of absenteeism is the salary cost associated
with the number of workdays lost. For 2011-12,
organizations estimated that the direct cost of absenteeism
averaged 2.4 per cent of gross annual payroll-
down slightly from 2.6 per cent in 2009.
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