Background to the Research

• Sickness absence is costing local employers 3% of total salary costs a year. This does not include staff motivation, replacement labour, orders lost or not being met in time, the internal nor external marketing of the company. Sickness absence is an unproductive cost and can be substantially reduced.
  

Main aims

• To investigate if childcare causes absenteeism.
• To ascertain if employers would actively pursue childcare assistance policies to reduce absenteeism.
• To investigate the break-even point for financial assistance - should employers invest time and money in childcare policies rather than on related sickness absence and disciplinaries.

Research Approach

• A survey was carried out using a questionnaire. A focus group was also carried out.
• The survey was carried out with female employees and asked questions related to absenteeism and childcare responsibliites and expected take-up of childcare initiatives.
• One focus group was carried out lasting one hour and was made up of 10 employees from management (both male and female). The purpose of the focus group was to elaborate on any issues arising from the survey.
  

Main Findings

• There is no correlation between having dependent children and sickness absence.
• There is no significant variation in sickness absence between those with or without dependent children.
• There is a strong correlation between age group and the number of people taking sickness absence, falling as age increases.
• There is a strong correlation in the average amount of sickness absence and age, rising as age increases.
• Those with dependent children do not have a higher rate of sickness than any other group considered.