Absenteeism rate: benchmarks & real-life examples

Absences are inevitable, but a rising absenteeism rate often signals deeper issues in the workplace. Sickness-related absence rates have hit a decade high, with an average of 7.8 days per employee annually — equivalent to 3.4% of working time lost.*

The ripple effects are hard to ignore: over 50% of managers and individual contributors (ICs) report declining mental well-being, while 71% struggle with heavier workloads, amplifying burnout and unplanned absences.**

Understanding this problem is the first step toward building healthier, more resilient organizations. That’s why we wrote this article — to explain how to calculate your absenteeism rate so you can use it to identify root causes. We’ll also share proven, people-centered strategies real organizations use to tackle high absenteeism rates.

💡 Simplify absence management 

Leapsome makes it simple for HR teams to create absence policies, manage approval workflows, and view team calendars.

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*CIPD, 2023

**Leapsome’s Workforce Trends Report, 2024
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What is the absenteeism rate?

The absenteeism rate measures how often employees miss work without prior planning. While illness and personal emergencies are common causes, stress and burnout are major contributors to absenteeism.

If your organization has a high absenteeism rate, this might indicate workplace issues — like negative employee sentiment, low job satisfaction, poor work-life balance, or a stressful company culture.

To understand whether your absenteeism rate is within acceptable limits or requires more urgent attention, compare it against industry benchmarks.
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What’s the average absenteeism rate & why does it matter?

In the United States, the average absenteeism rate for full-time workers in 2023 was 3.4%. However, there are some discrepancies between industries. For example, healthcare support occupations had the highest rate of 4.7% (likely due to the demanding nature of the jobs), while professional and business services had an average absenteeism rate of 2.7%.

In the European Union, absenteeism rates are usually higher (3% to 6%) due to stronger union protections and more comprehensive social security laws. For instance, Germany reported an average of 15.1 sick leave days per employee in 2023, equating to an absenteeism rate of 6.1%. 

Keep in mind that these benchmarks usually vary by region, circumstances, and other variables like:

• Job nature
• Job security
• Attendance policies
• Company culture
• Access to healthcare
• Public health policies
• Workplace safety
• Shift schedules
• Availability of remote work options
• Weather conditions

🔍 Once you’ve compared your organization’s absenteeism rate to benchmarks, you can dig deeper into the underlying causes of high absenteeism.

Use tools like Leapsome Surveys to gather employee feedback and uncover patterns, then take meaningful action to create a healthier, more engaged workplace

How to calculate your absenteeism rate

Calculating your absenteeism rate is straightforward. You’ll need: 

1. Total number of absent days (excluding planned leave like vacations or public holidays)
2. Total number of working days for the period

You can get this data from absence management or time-tracking tools.

This is the absenteeism rate formula:

Absenteeism rate (%) = Number of absent days/number of total working days x 100

You can calculate absenteeism rates for individuals, teams, or your entire organization, depending on the trends and patterns you want to explore. Let’s explore how this formula works in action with some examples.
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Example 1: Individual absenteeism rate

If employee Taylor missed 10 days out of 225 work days, you should: 

• Divide the days they were absent by the total working days
• Multiply that number by 100 to get a percentage. 

The calculation would be:

(10 ÷ 225) x 100 = 4.44%‍

Taylor’s absenteeism rate is 4.44%
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Example 2: Team absenteeism rate

Calculating a team’s absenteeism rate requires the same formula but with the total number of absent days and added working days across the entire team.

If your HR team of 6 employees collectively missed 50 days out of 1,350 working days (225 working days per employee), the calculation would be:

(50 ÷ 1,350) x 100 = 3.70%

The HR team’s absenteeism rate is 3.70% 
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Example 3: Organizational absenteeism rate

You may also need to calculate your organization’s yearly absenteeism rate to understand absence patterns. Again, you’ll use the same formula, and you’ll need to collect the following data:

• The total number of absent days for all employees during the year
• The added number of working days scheduled for all employees during the year
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Absenteeism rate example 3

Let’s imagine that your organization employs 100 team members. They were each scheduled to work 225 days that year (or 22,500 working days collectively). Together, they missed 508 working days.

(508 ÷ 22,500) x 100 = 2.26%

Your organization’s yearly absenteeism rate is 2.26%

Once you know your absenteeism rates, the focus changes. How do you turn these insights into solutions?

👀 Want to explore absence management tips and best practices in-depth? We’ve got a comprehensive guide that covers just that.

Real-life examples of organizations improving their absenteeism rates

Absenteeism is more than a bottom-line concern — it’s a well-being problem. Without mindful absence management policies and initiatives, it can spiral into challenges that affect everyone.

For instance, when someone is absent without notice, it triggers a domino effect. It often translates into more work and overtime for other employees, which can strain productivity and morale. With time, this could contribute to burnout and turnover.

While there are many ideas on how to reduce absenteeism, it can be challenging to apply them effectively. So, let’s examine real-life examples.
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1. Siemens

Flexible work arrangements are now an expectation. Options like remote work, flexible hours, and hybrid work help people better balance personal and professional responsibilities — a top priority for today’s employees. These initiatives also lead to increased job satisfaction and reduced absenteeism.

For Siemens UK, what began as a COVID-19 measure has evolved into the Employee Led Flexibility (ELF) program. ELF empowers employees to design their own schedules and choose work locations, offering options like working from home, shift adjustments, and even a 4-day workweek. These measures aim to enhance work-life balance, reduce commuting time, and lower energy consumption.

The results speak for themselves: Siemens achieved gains in productivity, higher job satisfaction, and better work-life balance — all while driving down its average employee absence rate to 3%.

“The employees were happier, benefitting from this flexibility, and the company was benefitting from the happier employees.” 
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— Dayna Rafferty, Wireperson and Unite Union Representative for Siemens

2. Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (MCHT)

When employees feel secure about their and their family’s health and well-being, it improves morale, engagement, and attendance.

From 2007 to 2012, MCHT’s rolling average absenteeism rate was 4.51%, which was well within their target. However, the rate steadily increased over that period, primarily due to long-term sickness, costing the organization over £1 million annually. 

In 2012, the Trust launched health and wellness measures to address this, including:

• Adjusting the attendance policy (in collaboration with trade union colleagues) to better manage sickness leave.
  
  
• Providing a training program to 210 managers to enable them to handle long-term sickness-related absences better.
  
  
• Implementing Voluntary Health Improvement Assessments (HIAs) to assist employees returning from sickness-related absences of a week or more.

As a result, absenteeism rates dropped by 21% between 2012 and 2014 (from 4.51% to 3.56%), and absence-related costs fell by £0.9 million.

Employees shared positive feedback about the program — a win for the organization and its people. 

“I’ve been pleased to be included and involved in the development of the project and, on the whole, I’m very happy with the outcomes for individuals. I feel it’s an important part of recovery to focus on what you can do rather than what you can’t do.”

— Staffside Chair at Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (MCHT)

Simplify your absence management process with Leapsome

Your absenteeism rate gives insights into your organization’s culture, employee sentiment, and operational health. Knowing how to calculate it and benchmarking it against industry and internal standards helps you identify issues like low morale, job dissatisfaction, or policy gaps.

Addressing these challenges requires a people-first approach and practical solutions. And Leapsome’s holistic HR platform can help. 

Our absence management tool empowers People teams to create fair absence policies, streamline approval workflows, and centralize absence data. Then, our comprehensive suite of people enablement tools like Surveys, Instant Feedback, and Learning helps HR teams build engaging, supportive work environments.

😌 Take the hassle out of absence management

Leapsome empowers HR leaders to handle absence policies with ease, so they can focus on building better workplaces.

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Frequently asked questions about absenteeism rate

What’s the difference between absenteeism rate & absence frequency?

Both absenteeism rate and absence frequency measure attendance, but they focus on distinct aspects. The absenteeism rate shows the percentage of days an employee or team missed. Absence frequency tells you how many times an employee or team was absent, regardless of absence length. 

For example, if an employee was absent twice over a quarter and each absence lasted for 2 days, their absenteeism rate would be 6.67% during that period (4 out of 60 workdays missed). However, their absence frequency rate would be 2, as they were absent 2 times that quarter.

The absenteeism rate is generally regarded as more helpful and representative than the absence frequency rate.
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How can you reduce your absenteeism rate?

Reducing absenteeism takes a thoughtful, people-first approach. Here are a few strategies to consider implementing:

1. Start with a robust absence management system to manage policies, streamline workflows, and observe patterns.
2. Create a positive workplace where employees feel valued and supported to boost employee engagement, satisfaction, and well-being.
3. Establish clear lines of communication and check in with team members regularly.
4. Offer generous PTO, personal days, and well-being days — no questions asked.
5. Develop an employee wellness program that supports healthy work-life balance.

Prioritize diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) initiatives to ensure all employees feel psychologically safe, comfortable, and at ease.