The relationship between absenteeism and employer-sponsored child care

Abstract

Given the high loss of revenue due to absenteeism, exploring different
ways of managing absenteeism in South African companies, such as
family-friendly practices, has become important. Establishing onsite
employer-sponsored child-care facilities is an example of such
practices.
4The purpose of this article is, firstly, to report on exploratory research
that was done to examine the relationship between absenteeism and
on-site employer-sponsored child care. The following dimensions
of absenteeism were examined over a period of one year: absence
frequency, absence severity, attitudinal absence and medical
absence. The results of two companies, one with a facility and one
without a facility, were then compared in order to establish the
relationship between absenteeism and an on-site facility. Secondly,
this article also reports on the relationship between demographic
variables and absenteeism.
5The results indicate a significant negative relationship between onsite
employer-sponsored child care and absenteeism. Regarding
the influence of demographical variables, significant differences
were found with respect to absenteeism-based marital status and
age, while no significant difference was found with respect to
absenteeism based on gender and race.
6This article makes a specific contribution to studies on the use
of on-site employer-sponsored child-care facilities for managing
absenteeism, specifically in the South African context, and also sheds new light on the influence of demographical variables on
absenteeism.