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© Copyright 2000 Rogers Media. The following article first appeared in the February 2000 edition of
BENEFITS CANADA magazine.
The age of absence
With aging boomers missing more work days, it's time for plan sponsors to update their absenteeism
management programs.
By Andrea Davis
The Y2K bug was a bust but this winter's flu bug is in full swing. The resulting empty desks of ill workers
have left many employers across Canada bitten by more than temporarily quiet hallways. This year's flu
frenzy has sparked broader discussion on absence management issues and the lack of proactive strategies
given the aging workforce.
Canadian employees in general are missing more work than ever before. Statistics Canada reported last
summer that 5.7% of all full-time workers, or 525,000 people, were absent from work for all or part of any
given week in 1998 for personal reasons, including illness, disability and personal or family
responsibilities. That's up from 5.5% a year earlier.
While it may seem like a small increase, it isn't. Ernest Akyeampong, author of the report and chief of the
labour force activity section at Statistics Canada in Ottawa, estimates the increase translates into almost
six million more work days lost from the year before.
For plan sponsors, the costs associated with absenteeism are several billion dollars a year. And those
costs will likely continue to rise at least until the first wave of baby boomers, now in their early
fifties, retires.
Workers between the ages of 55 and 64 missed, on average, 12 days of work in 1998, more than double the
average five days missed by their younger colleagues, according to the Statistics Canada research.
"Few people have considered the legal implications of absence management with an aging population," says
Fred Holmes, senior consultant with Buck Consultants in Toronto. "If you're an employer with older workers
who keep taking time off, you get into that touchy subject of discrimination by age."
Wellness programs won't be of much help to an older employee who is already living the consequences of his
or her lifestyle. Communication about disease states and preventive medicine won't help much either--older
employees may already be living with health problems for which the seeds were sown years ago.
Holmes believes ergonomics will become an increasingly important issue for employers as employees age. As
well, employers should recognize that some of their older employees will likely leave the workforce because
of long-term disability and plan accordingly.
"Employers have to recognize, through succession planning, that some of their employees will slide out into
long-term disability and that they're going to have to plan for some turnover in the higher age ranks," he
says.
Having a formal employee absence policy in place--and applying it equally across age and gender status--is
a starting point to a successful absence management program. More importantly is that the policy be
communicated to employees in a non-punitive tone. Even the term "absenteeism policy" should be avoided,
says Dianne Dyck, senior consultant at Aon Consulting in Calgary. She prefers the phrase "attendance
support and assistance program."
"The tone of communications is very important," says Dyck. "You have to present it as something that's
there to assist employees, that it's linked to an employee assistance program or a wellness program. Tell
employees 'this is a benefit for you, we're here to support you and we value you being here.' "
Absence management as a benefit? It's a novel idea and one worth investigating as middle-aged employees
join the ranks of the "mature."
Andrea Davis is assistant editor of BENEFITS CANADA.
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CONFERENCES
Effective Healthcare Workplace Management:
Retaining Staff and Boosting
Morale and Efficiency
February 21, 2000
Robson Centre, Vancouver
This one-day course will give employers in the healthcare sector the tools to improve morale between
front-line staff and volunteers, keep staff in times of change and heavy workload and create an empowered
workforce. Contact (800) 941-9403.
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