Absenteeism costs small businesses £25,000 a year

06/05/08 14:32

Small businesses are losing up to £25,000 a year through employee absenteeism, a new survey from business communications provider Avaya has shown.

According to the survey’s results, a fifth of UK businesses with 20-80 employees estimate they lose £25,000 or more a year through employee absenteeism. Furthermore, approximately one third of respondents put the figure somewhere between £10,000 -£25,000.

The high level and even higher cost of absenteeism is making employers think twice about offering employees flexible working schemes. The report showed 80% of employers would like to allow staff to work from home one day a week but they are unsure how to ensure productivity of offsite workers.

Enabling flexible working does however have perceived benefits: 55% of respondents said their employees were negatively affected by the daily commute and a further 60% said adverse weather conditions had forced their businesses to close on at least one day over the past three years.

Nick Roullier, country manager, Avaya UK said allowing a degree of flexible working may be the secret to reducing the level of absenteeism within small businesses.

“Small business owners who deploy flexible communications systems that allow workers to get the work done from any location are far less likely to feel the financial impact [of absenteeism] because their workers have access to the systems and services they need, whether they work from home or in the office,” he said.