[Excerpt] Group attitudes about satisfaction and commitment are negatively associated with absenteeism and interact in predicting absenteeism at the unit level. The effects are particularly strong in areas where jobs are plentiful but fade away where jobs are scarce. In other words, higher levels of absenteeism in a work group are associated with lower levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment in labor markets with low unemployment, and vice versa. Organizational commitment is the crucial factor: absenteeism is higher in work units with low levels of commitment regardless of the level of satisfaction. Group norms about absenteeism and other contextual factors, such as work processes, contribute to the variance among work units. Satisfaction and commitment are not related to changes in absenteeism over time

Hausknecht, John

Hiller, Nathan J

Vance, Robert J

English

DigitalCommons@ILR

Cornell University ILR School 
DigitalCommons@ILR 
Policy & Issue Briefs ILR Collection 
July 2008 
ILR Impact Brief - Deconstructing Absenteeism: Satisfaction, 
Commitment, and Unemployment 
John Hausknecht 
Cornell University, jph42@cornell.edu 
Nathan J. Hiller 
Florida International University 
Robert J. Vance 
Vance & Renz LLC 
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ILR Impact Brief - Deconstructing Absenteeism: Satisfaction, Commitment, and 
Unemployment 
Abstract 
[Excerpt] Group attitudes about satisfaction and commitment are negatively associated with absenteeism 
and interact in predicting absenteeism at the unit level. The effects are particularly strong in areas where 
jobs are plentiful but fade away where jobs are scarce. In other words, higher levels of absenteeism in a 
work group are associated with lower levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment in labor 
markets with low unemployment, and vice versa. Organizational commitment is the crucial factor: 
absenteeism is higher in work units with low levels of commitment regardless of the level of satisfaction. 
Group norms about absenteeism and other contextual factors, such as work processes, contribute to the 
variance among work units. Satisfaction and commitment are not related to changes in absenteeism over 
time. 
Keywords 
absenteeism, labor markets, job satisfaction, organizational commitment 
Comments 
Suggested Citation 
Hausknecht, J. P., Hiller, N. J., & Vance, R. J. (2008). Deconstructing absenteeism: Satisfaction, 
commitment, and unemployment (Impact Brief #30). Ithaca, NY: School of Industrial and Labor Relations, 
Cornell University. http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/briefs/45 
For a more in-depth analysis, please see: Hausknecht, J. P., Hiller, N. J., & Vance, R. J. (in press). Work unit 
absenteeism: Effects of satisfaction, commitment, labor market conditions, and time. Academy of 
Management Journal. 
The ILR Impact Brief series highlights the research and project based work conducted by ILR faculty that 
is relevant to workplace issues and public policy. The Briefs are prepared by Maralyn Edid, Senior 
Extension Associate, ILR School. 
Required Publisher Statement 
Copyright by Cornell University. 
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The Impact Brief series highlights the research and project-
based work conducted by ILR faculty that is relevant to
workplace issues and public policy. Please visit http://
digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/impactbrief/ for full-text pdfs.
Deconstructing Absenteeism: Satisfaction, Commitment, and Unemployment
Research question: How do levels of job satisfaction
and organizational commitment within work units in-
teract with local unemployment rates to explain the
variability in absenteeism among work units and within
units over time?
Conclusion: Group attitudes about satisfaction and
commitment are negatively associated with absentee-
ism and interact in predicting absenteeism at the unit
level. The effects are particularly strong in areas where
jobs are plentiful but fade away where jobs are scarce.
In other words, higher levels of absenteeism in a work
group are associated with lower levels of job satisfac-
tion and organizational commitment in labor markets
with low unemployment, and vice versa. Organiza-
tional commitment is the crucial factor: absenteeism is
higher in work units with low levels of commitment re-
gardless of the level of satisfaction. Group norms about
absenteeism and other contextual factors, such as work
processes, contribute to the variance among work
units. Satisfaction and commitment are not related to
changes in absenteeism over time.
Workplace impact: The link from work-unit measures
of job satisfaction and organizational commitment to
absenteeism gives managers a strategic pathway to
curbing excessive and/or unnecessary absences. Data
gathered to assess satisfaction and commitment can
also help managers diagnose workplace problems that
negatively affect outcomes (absenteeism, for example).
Unit-level interventions, such as group incentives, may
be more efficient and less resource intensive than tac-
tics aimed at individuals.
Abstract: Absenteeism imposes heavy costs on the
workplace: productivity falls, profits decline, and co-
workers have to pick up the slack. In trying to under-
stand why employees fail to show up for work, most
research has focused on individual behaviors and moti-
vations. But there is a group dimension to absenteeism
that researchers also recognize and frame in the context
of group culture. This view posits that common sur-
roundings, group size, shared experiences, and social
interactions lead co-workers to reach consensus on
norms concerning the appropriate level of absenteeism.
And because the culture of each work unit is distinct,
so too are the informal rules about missing work.
This study assesses whether shared (aggregate) atti-
tudes about job satisfaction and organizational commit-
ment within work units, along with labor market condi-
tions, explain differential rates of absenteeism among
units and rates of change in absenteeism from year to
year. Using data derived from employee surveys over a
six-year period, the researchers constructed unit-level
measures of satisfaction (shared positive feelings asso-
ciated with non-tangible benefits, such as norms of co-
operation and a sense of belonging) and commitment
(attachment to the organization and its goals). As ex-
pected, they found that both measures are negatively
related to unit-level absenteeism. That is, when people
by JOHN P. HAUSKNECHT
Professor of Human Resource Studies (ILR)
NATHAN J. HILLER
Professor, Florida International University
ROBERT J. VANCE
Principal, Vance & Renz LLC
within the work unit are satisfied with their jobs and
the surroundings, and feel emotionally connected to
the organization, they tend to rein in their short-term
absences. Conversely, when they are not satisfied or
committed, absenteeism climbs.
The researchers next looked at the effect on absentee-
ism of the four combinations of high and low satisfac-
tion and commitment. Building on findings by other
researchers, they established that the two factors inter-
act in predicting absenteeism. They further found that
high levels of organizational commitment are associ-
ated with lower levels of absenteeism (and vice versa)
regardless of the level of job satisfaction. Commit-
ment, then, may be the primary clue to unlocking the
absenteeism conundrum.
Unemployment is yet another factor that bears on ab-
senteeism and similarly moves in the opposite direc-
tion. The researchers here wanted to know whether lo-
cal labor market conditions affect the relationship
between work unit attitudes (commitment and satisfac-
tion) and absenteeism. They found that unemployment
does indeed moderate the negative relationship be-
tween job satisfaction and absenteeism; that is, the re-
lationship is stronger where unemployment is lower.
Put differently, high absenteeism is associated with
low job satisfaction and low rates of unemployment: in
an environment where jobs are plentiful and workers
scarce, workers may not worry about losing their jobs
if they are absent while employers may tolerate some
absenteeism because replacement workers are hard to
find. Although the data revealed a stronger negative re-
lationship between commitment and absenteeism in
work units where unemployment is lower, a more com-
plex analytic model produced more tentative results.
The researchers also tested whether changes in work-
unit attitudes correlate with changes in the rate of ab-
senteeism over a period of years. They found that ab-
senteeism increased from year to year during the study
period but these changes were unrelated to unit levels
of job satisfaction or organizational commitment. Meth-
odological factors may account for these findings.
Methodology: For this project, the researchers collected
five waves of data, from 1998 to 2003, through surveys
administered to approximately 12,500 employees in 115
work units of a state department of transportation. They
then built a multi-step longitudinal model to test the re-
lationship among the unit-level variables of job satisfac-
tion, organizational commitment, and absenteeism, and
local unemployment rates.
Source publication: “Work Unit Absenteeism: Effects
of Satisfaction, Commitment, Labor Market Conditions,
and Time” is forthcoming in Academy of Management
Journal.


ILR Impact Brief - Deconstructing Absenteeism: Satisfaction, Commitment, and Unemployment

The ILR Impact Brief series highlights the research and project based work conducted by ILR faculty that is relevant to workplace issues and public policy.  The Briefs are prepared by Maralyn Edid, Senior Extension Associate, ILR School.[Excerpt] Group attitudes about satisfaction and commitment are negatively associated with absenteeism and interact in predicting absenteeism at the unit level. The effects are particularly strong in areas where jobs are plentiful but fade away where jobs are scarce. In other words, higher levels of absenteeism in a work group are associated with lower levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment in labor markets with low unemployment, and vice versa. Organizational commitment is the crucial factor: absenteeism is higher in work units with low levels of commitment regardless of the level of satisfaction. Group norms about absenteeism and other contextual factors, such as work processes, contribute to the variance among work units. Satisfaction and commitment are not related to changes in absenteeism over time.brief_30Hausknecht.pdf: 1736 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Hiller, Nathan J.

Vance, Robert J.

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ILR Impact Brief - Deconstructing Absenteeism: Satisfaction, Commitment, and Unemployment

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