NON-TEACHING PERSONNEL ABSENTEEISM AND TARDINESS: CAUSES AND MANAGEMENT

STRATEGIES

ABSTRACT

This study analyzes the causes and management strategies employed by the school administration on
absenteeism and tardiness among non-teaching personnel at St. Anne College, Inc. Specifically, the
objectives of this study are to: (1) analyze the actual absenteeism and tardiness among non-teaching
personnel; (2) analyze the reasons/causes of tardiness among non-teaching personnel; (3) analyze the
impact of absenteeism on the school operation and management; (4) analyze how the school
administration deals with absenteeism and tardiness among non-teaching personnel; and (5) identify
possible implications related to absenteeism and tardiness and develop intervention
strategies/suggestions in the future as a result of information collected during the study. There is a slim
decrease in the percentages of absenteeism and increase in tardiness cases from 2017 to present.
Fatigue/tiredness and sick child are the common reasons for non-teaching personnel to be absent at
work. They also believe that absenteeism and tardiness may result to financial losses for the school, lack
of service delivery, loss of time and money, poor performance and service delivery, loss of
students/clients, creating a poor image of the school in general, high staff turnover, loss of value for the
school, reflecting poorly on the level of professionalism of personnel, and affecting the relationship
between stakeholders and school authorities. The non-teaching personnel are aware and
knowledgeable relative to the various types of actions against absent or tardy employees. They are
receiving verbal/oral warning, one-week suspension, and deduction of certain amount from their
salaries. However, dismissal from duty, written warning, two weeks suspension and disciplinary hearing
are moderately implemented by the administration. Findings imply that rewards/incentives to those
who are not always absent are needed to be considered by the administration. Moreover, other
implications are accounted to good communication channels, performance appraisals, training needs,
motivation, clear written policies and procedures, counselling, proof of absence, leave days, emotional
support, communication and listening skills, disciplinary measures, personnel salaries, promotion and
overtime pay.

INTRODUCTION

Given the pressures being placed upon a school to achieve enhanced levels of performance and reduced
costs. It is essential that aspects of school life that adversely affect these are minimized. One aspect is
absenteeism. In a cost-conscious and increasingly competitive marketplace, absenteeism can have a
significant impact on the school performance. St. Anne College can no longer afford to carry
unnecessary absence, and hence there is an increased focus on the issue of eliminating, or at the very
least, reducing unnecessary levels of absenteeism among non-teaching personnel.
This study focuses on the extent and impact of absenteeism among non-teaching personnel at St. Anne
College,Inc; the causes of absenteeism, and how this absenteeism can be prevented.

Absenteeism referrers to the failure of an operative to report to work when work is available to him. As
used in the study, overall absenteeism is made up of three components, namely: (1) Leave sanctioned
by management referred to in this report as authorized absence; (2) Absence without any prior
information to and permission from management referred to as unauthorized absence; and (3) Certified
sickness.

Absenteeism is defined as the lack of presence of an employee of a planned work (Johns, 2002:
Kristensen, Juhl, Eskildsen, Nielsen, Fredericksen, Bisgaard, 2006). Rogers and Herting (1993) defined
absenteeism as a choice made by employees, which occurs when an employee is absent due to reasons
other than illness. Absence can be divided into an involuntary part and a voluntary part. Involuntary
absence, e.g. certified sickness or funeral attendance, is beyond the employee’s immediate control,
whereas voluntary absence, e.g. uncertified sickness, is under the direct control of employee and is
often based on personal aims (Nielsen, 2008). For this study, absenteeism is defined as unscheduled
absence from work, regardless of the reason, including long and short-term disability. According to
James and Brian (1992), absenteeism takes two forms. These two forms frequently offended and long-
term absentee. Frequent offender is deliberate and planned and is usually the result of satisfying the
urge of an attitude adjustment. This from places a temporary inconvenience on the manager who must
find a substitute for the day or delegate the absent worker’s workload to other individuals. The second
form, the long-term absentee, is unplanned and usually results from a work of non-work injury and is
not correlated to employee’s attitude, abilities or value system. They found out, this second type has
more prohibitive costs in terms of indemnity.

Absences can led to many problems for the business. Some of these are as follows (Kautish and Kautish,
2009): Increased operating expenses: Absenteeism increases operational costs of a company. If an
employee does not go to work, his/her work will be assigned to other colleagues that already have
workload. Work overload can lead to delays in the delivery times of projects and management will have
to pay for overtime for other employees. The collapse of employee morale: Work of the absent
employee overloads another employee and this additional workload definitely affects the morale of the
employees negatively. This situation also increases stress to the other employee. Delays on the project:
If an employee does not come to work on regular basis, there will be inevitable delays on the projects.
This situation will increase operational costs and therefore would decrease customer’s satisfaction.

Literally, the term “lateness” implies a situation where an individual arrives after the proper, scheduled
or usual time. Breezes, et.al. (2010) contributed by saying that lateness is synonymous with “tardiness”,
which implies being slow to act or slow to respond, or not meeting up with proper or usual timing.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

This study analyzes the causes and management strategies employed by the school administration on
absenteeism and tardiness among no-teaching personnel. Specifically, the objectives of this study are to:
(1) analyze the actual absenteeism and tardiness in the college; (2) analyze the reasons/causes of
absenteeism and tardiness among non-teaching personnel; (3) analyzed the perceived impact of
absenteeism on the school operation and management; (4) analyze how the school administration deals
with absenteeism and tardiness among non-teaching personnel; and (5) identify possible implications
related to absenteeism and tardiness and develop intervention strategies/suggestions in the future as a
result of information collected during the study.

METHODOLOGY

The descriptive-action research design of research was used in the study to obtain information
concerning the present situation of the personnel with respect to absenteeism and tardiness. This
research design describes the nature of a condition as it takes place during the time of the study and to
explore the cause of a particular condition. The population of this study was the actual and the total
number of non-teaching personnel employed in the College. Thus, no sampling technique was used in
the selection of the study subjects. The survey-checklist was the main instrument in data gathering
relative to the causes of absenteeism and tardiness among non-teaching personnel. Documentary
analysis of the actual cases of absenteeism and tardiness was conducted based on the data obtained
from the HRD during the time of the study. The researchers also conducted personal interviews taking
into account the ethical issues such as the confidentiality of the data gathered and the anonymity of the
personnel in the administration of the questionnaires. The data gathered were tabulated and analyzed
using the following statistical measures: Percentage was used to determine the proportion of the
personnel in terms of absenteeism and tardiness cases as well as the strategies employed by the school
administration: and Mean was used to determine the final weight of each item on the cases of
absenteeism and tardiness among personnel.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

1. Actual Absenteeism and Tardiness Cases during A.Y. 2017-Present

Chart Title
100.00%
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-Presnt

Absenteeism Tardiness
2. Reasons/Causes of Absenteeism/Tardines

Fatigue/Tiredness

Sick Child

Family/Domestic Problems

Sickness

Poor Working
Conditions
Ov
ers
lep
t

3. Perceived Impact of Absenteeism and Tardiness on the School Operations and Management
 Financial Losses for the School

Lack of Service Delivery

High Staff Turnover

Loss of Value for the School as a Whole

Clients/Students not Happy with school

service

Theft in areas uncovered/Vacant Posts

4. Types of Action Against Absent/Tardy Personnel

1. Verbal/Oral Warnig

2. One-Week Suspension

3. Salary Deduction

4. Written Warning

5. Disciplinary Hearings

6. Dismissal from Duty

5. Suggestions for the Administration to be Implemented

 SUGGESTIONS

PROOF OF ABSENCE
AVOID LONG WORKING COUNSELLING
HOURS 3% 2%
5%

MOTIVATE AND ENCOURAGE

7%
GIVE REWARDS
31%

TRAINIG NEEDS
11%

REFLECT ABSENT IN KRA

14%

OPEN COMMUNICATION
27%

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

There is a slim decrease in the percentage of absenteeism and increase in tardiness from 2017-Present.
Fatigue/Tiredness and sick child are the common reason for non-teaching personnel to be absent from
work. They also mentioned Family problems, sickness and poor working conditions as possible
reasons/causes for absenteeism r tardiness. It resulted to students/clients being unhappy with the
school service as well as financial losses for the school, poor performance, and creating poor image of
the school. The non-teaching personnel are aware and knowledgeable relative to the various actions
against absent or tardy employees such as oral/verbal warning, suspension and salary deductions.

The school administration, through the Human Resources Department (HRD), should take into
consideration the various reasons of absenteeism and tardiness among non-teaching personnel. Analysis
of these factors should be considered in the review and planning of strategic intervention program. The
school administration, through the HRD, should consider provisions on best practices and working
conditions. Work-Life balance related activities should be increased towards reducing absenteeism and
tardiness cases. Absenteeism and tardiness among non-teaching personnel should be properly managed
to avoid possible theft in uncovered areas and clients being unhappy of the school serve. The school
administration, through the HRD, should provide continuous orientation activities on the various types
of actions against absent or tardy employee. The school administration should consider reviewing other
disciplinary procedures as well as the rewards system for non-absentee personnel.