Absence rate calculator: days, frequency and duration
The formula is simple; the denominator is where it goes wrong. Work it out below, together with the two figures that give the rate its meaning.
Calculator
Enter the period you are calculating for. The number of absence cases is optional, but it gives two extra figures that make the percentage meaningful.
Or the number of FTE, if that is what you calculate with
Calendar days or working days: pick one
All employees added together
Optional; the number of times, not the duration
Enter employees, days and days absent to see the absence rate.
What this calculator does not do
- No costs: what an absence day costs differs by organization and role, and a figure here would sound more definite than it is
- No national average: it changes over time. Look it up in an official statistic instead of reading it here
- No split by cause: special cases need to be taken out of your figures by you
- No advice: the percentage is a thermometer, not a diagnosis
The formula and where it goes wrong
Days absent divided by available days, times a hundred. Available days are the number of employees times the number of days in the period. Whether you use calendar days or working days changes the result noticeably. More important than the choice itself is that you make one and write down which. Example: 25 employees, 20 working days in the period and 30 days absent give 30 divided by 500, so 6 percent.
- Available days = employees × days in the period
- Calendar days give a lower rate than working days
- Always write down which of the two you used
Why a rate alone is not enough
Two workplaces can have the same rate and completely different problems. In one, many people report sick for a short time; in the other, a few are away for a long time. Each needs different attention, and the rate alone does not show it. That is why the calculator also gives the absence frequency and the average duration as soon as you enter the number of absence cases. In the example with 6 cases, that is 0.24 cases per employee and 5 days per case on average.
- Absence frequency: how often someone is absent on average
- Average duration: how long a case lasts on average
- Short and often needs something different from long and rare
What belongs in the count and what does not
Days absent are the days someone could not work because of illness. Holiday and other planned time off do not belong, and cases such as parental leave are worth taking out of your figures because they are not illness. For partial absences, choose a method and stick to it. Be consistent, because next year someone will want to compare the numbers. A record that only adds up days also gives only one of the three figures: frequency needs the number of absence cases, and duration only follows from both.
- Holiday and other planned time off do not belong
- Take cases such as parental leave out yourself
- Partial absences: choose one method and keep it
What a day of absence costs is not on this page
The question is often asked, and the answer differs in every workplace: it depends on pay costs, on cover, on whether the work waits or is picked up, and on the industry. A calculator that puts an amount on it would sound more certain than reality allows. Work it out with your own figures. You will not find a national average here either: better to take that from a current official statistic.
- Pay costs, cover and industry decide the amount
- There is no single figure for everyone
- No average either: it keeps changing
What Celtucom does here and what it does not
The no first: there is no absence management with sick reports and case files here, and we do not claim there is. What there is, is the denominator. Who was there, who was scheduled and how many hours were actually worked comes from time tracking and the schedule, and that is the half that is most often estimated wrongly in practice. If you work with part-timers, the FTE calculator converts the denominator into full-time jobs.
See Celtucom with your own team
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