What is Absenteeism
Absenteeism is the habitual pattern of absence from work without valid reason. In garments, it is one of the biggest hidden costs. When an operator does not come to work, the line loses production, the supervisor must adjust the layout, quality drops, and other operators must work harder. Even a 5 percent absenteeism rate can cut line efficiency by 8 to 10 percent.
How to Calculate Absenteeism
Absenteeism percent equals total absent man-days divided by total available man-days multiplied by 100. For example, if a line of 30 operators works 26 days in a month but 60 man-days are lost to absence, absenteeism is 60 divided by 780 multiplied by 100, which is 7.7 percent.
Practical Example 1 — Sewing Line
A sewing line of 30 operators has 60 absent man-days in a 26-day month. Absenteeism is 7.7 percent. The line target was 1000 pieces per day. Because of absenteeism, actual output drops to 920 pieces per day on average. The factory loses 80 pieces times 26 days equals 2080 pieces per month.
Practical Example 2 — Cutting Section
The cutting section has 12 workers and 18 absent man-days in a month. Absenteeism is 5.8 percent. Cutting output drops 6 percent, which creates a bottleneck for the sewing floor and increases waiting time.
Practical Example 3 — Finishing Section
Finishing has 40 workers and 100 absent man-days. Absenteeism is 9.6 percent. Packing is delayed by 2 days every week, which forces overtime and increases cost per piece.
Causes of Absenteeism
Common causes include health issues, family problems, transport problems, low wages, poor working conditions, lack of leave planning, no canteen or childcare, harassment, and festival season migration. Some factories also have fake attendance or buddy punching which hides the real problem.
Impact on the Factory
Absenteeism reduces line efficiency, lowers quality because substitute operators are less skilled, increases overtime cost, delays shipments, and damages buyer relationships. It also increases workload on present workers, which leads to fatigue, mistakes, and higher turnover.
How to Reduce Absenteeism
First, track attendance daily and identify patterns. Use biometric or RFID attendance. Provide health checkups, canteen facilities, safe transport, and childcare. Offer attendance bonus for full attendance. Create a fair leave policy and allow planned leave during low season. Train supervisors to treat workers with respect. Address harassment quickly. Celebrate birthdays and festival events to build loyalty.
Practical Example 4 — Attendance Bonus
A factory introduced a monthly attendance bonus of 500 taka for operators who had zero unplanned absence. In 3 months, absenteeism dropped from 8 percent to 4.5 percent. The cost of the bonus was less than the savings from reduced overtime and improved output.
Common Mistakes
Many factories treat absenteeism as a personal problem and punish workers. This makes it worse. Others do not track data properly. Some ignore the real causes like transport or childcare. Good IE practice is to measure, analyze, and fix the system, not the person.
When to Use It
Absenteeism tracking is a core KPI in every garment factory. Use it in sewing, cutting, finishing, washing, and office. Review it monthly with HR and production teams.