What are the different types of absence?

The term employee absence or absence of work refers to any instance where an employee isn’t at work when they would normally be scheduled to be present.

There are a few different types of absence, which we will outline below. Some forms of absence are an essential part of running an organisation. Others can be disruptive if you don’t manage them correctly.

There are 3 different areas when it comes to absence; authorised, unplanned, and unauthorised.

You may think that authorised absence is just holidays and unplanned absence is just sickness. While absences do generally fall into these two main categories, there are many reasons as to why an employee not be present at work. Understanding the reasons behind each instance of absence is important for organisations looking to manage employee wellbeing and absence rates effectively.

Uncovering issues such as unmanageable workloads, stress, or even workplace bullying, are just some examples where understanding absence can prove immensely beneficial to managing teams and cultivating a positive workplace culture.

In this post, we’ll explore the three different types of absence and all the different forms that come under these absence types.

Authorised absence

Authorised absence is where an employee is away from work due to a pre-agreed reason. The most common forms of authorised absence are:

Annual leave – Annual leave is the most common type of authorised absence, and it’s essential that staff take regular breaks from work. Employees that work flat-out without taking breaks will never be the most productive members of your team. All work and no play can also make stress and burnout more likely, which can be very bad for business and negatively impact employee wellbeing.
Maternity and paternity leave – Maternity, paternity, and parental leave are all types of authorised absences. You will generally know months in advance of this, allowing you to plan accordingly.
Lieu hours and days – This type of absence is only applicable if you allow offer TOIL. For those that do, allowing employees to book time off and set it to ‘Lieu Hours’ or ‘TOIL’ will make reporting and tracking much easier.
Public holidays – Even public holidays are a form of authorised absence. For organisations that shut down on these days, they need to make it clear that employees aren’t required to come in. Some organisations offer flexible bank holidays, meaning employees can choose when to take these extra days of leave, rather than on the fixed dates.
Training days – It can be really helpful for employees to see where their colleagues are. Training days and conferences are two absences that might not sound obvious. They are still working during that day, but simply absent from their usual work routine. It is therefore helpful to count this as an authorised absence so that other coworkers can adapt their workload accordingly if needed, and to avoid any confusion as to the absent employee’s whereabouts.
Medical appointment – Medical or doctor appointments are again planned so come under authorised absence. They tend to only last a couple of hours, but it is still important to keep a record to avoid any confusion or miscommunication.

Unplanned absence

An unplanned absence is where an employee is off work due to an unforeseen reason. Whether you’re dealing with a minor illness or mental ill-health, the effect is the same: a blow to employee wellbeing, coupled with some costly business disruption.

Again, the most common form of unplanned absence is an illness. However, there are many more different types of unplanned absences that can affect your business. Being able to select different reasons for unplanned absence, will allow you to identify any trends and help employees better.

Sickness –Whether it is a common cold, fever, migraine, or stomach problems, any form of illness can be categorised as sickness.
Injury – You may think that being injured is the same as being off sick, however, setting the absence to injured instead of off sick can help. If an employee is constantly off with a bad back, setting the absence as ‘Injured – Bad back’ will allow you to see if this is a common issue and advise accordingly.
Stress – Stress can be a huge issue for organisations which requires careful management.
Mental ill-health – Stress is not the only form of mental health absence, with anxiety and depression being just two of the many forms. Stress and anxiety are completely different and need to be treated as such.
Emergency leave – There will be times when an emergency arises, and employees will need to take a couple of hours or even the day off. These tend to be very last minute but tend to not cause a huge amount of problems.

Unauthorised absence

Unauthorised absence is where employees take time off work without letting you know, not necessarily because they’re suffering from ill health or injuries. Instead, they simply didn’t want to come to work that day. Isolated instances of unauthorised absence are frustrating but manageable. But if it keeps happening, it might suggest that you have many more serious issues to deal with than the odd lost day here and there.

Unauthorised leave –  Not only do you run into all the same problems that you would have with unplanned absence – such as understaffing – you also have to deal with the possibility that multiple instances like this could become hugely detrimental to your company.
Lateness – Employees are contracted to set hours, so turning up 30 minutes every day can cause unrest. Not only does it mean they have less time to complete their work, but other employees may also feel annoyed at the fact they are constantly turning up late.

Each form of absence comes with its own set of challenges, and should be managed appropriately. If you don’t have an adequate system of record for tracking absences, or don’t log reasons for absence, your organisation may lack the crucial visibility you need to be able to support your people and the business in the best way possible.