Potential Work Time Lost Due to Sickness Absence and Presence Among Japanese Workers

OBJECTIVE: The current study aimed to quantify the overall sickness absence and sickness presence in five Japanese companies. METHODS: Two indicators were calculated: worktime lost rates and average working days lost per employee per annum. RESULTS: In total, 1.1% of working days per annum were lost due to sick leave. The average number of annual sick-leave days per employee was 2.58. Sickness presence accounted for a total worktime loss of 6.55% and an average of 15.36 work days lost per employee per annum. Overall, employees lost 7.65% of their total working days, or an average of 17.92 days were lost per employee per annum, due to sickness leave and sickness presence combined. CONCLUSION: Sickness-absence rate among Japanese workers is quite lower than other countries; however, sickness presence is more critical than absenteeism, which is in line with other countries.