Absenteeism is a key indicator within the HR Performance module of the OLYSTIC Insights platform.
Absenteeism is analyzed monthly or quarterly, depending on the needs of OLYSTIC’s clients. Three dimensions of absenteeism are available on the platform:
Share of absent employees
Absenteeism rate
Cost of absenteeism
How are these three indicators calculated?
Share of absent employees
The share of absent employees identifies the percentage of employees who were absent for at least one day due to illness, work-related accident, or other reasons (strike, maternity leave, paternity leave, unpaid leave), excluding authorized paid leave, during the reference period (current month or quarter, depending on the client).
Absenteeism rate
The absenteeism rate represents the total number of working days lost due to absence divided by the total number of working (business) days, for an employee, over the reference period (current month or quarter, depending on the client).
Cost of absenteeism
The cost of absenteeism is based on an estimate of direct costs, including costs related to sick leave, work-related accidents, and replacement costs.
Rules for sick leave and work accident compensation comply with the standards set out in the applicable collective bargaining agreements of OLYSTIC’s clients, including:
Waiting period rules (e.g. no compensation for the first 3 days),
End of employer compensation for absent employees (e.g. after the 90th day),
Seniority conditions specified in the collective agreement,
Conditions depending on employee status (for example: for construction ETAM employees, there is no salary maintenance if seniority is less than one year).
Some companies comply strictly with labor law rules: the company compensates illness based on the duration of absence (calendar days), minus statutory social security benefits (IJSS).
IJSS represents approximately 50% of the cost of absence for illness, and between 65% and 90% for work-related accidents, as some companies apply subrogation and therefore pay the contractual base salary directly.
Finally, when the information is available, the calculation of the cost of absenteeism also includes:
The cost of fixed-term replacement contracts for absent employees,
The employer’s increased charges (salary × 1.5).
Typical example
Two categories of employees:
Workers with at least 3 months of seniority
Employer-paid supplement limited to 45 days of absence
First 3 days: 75% of salary
Then: 100%
Employees, ETAM, and managers with at least 1 year of seniority
Employer-paid supplement limited to 90 days of absence