Absenteeism
Absenteeism is the pattern of absence across a team or an organisation over time, rather than any individual day away. It is normally tracked as a rate: absent days as a share of expected days. The direction of the rate matters more than its exact level.
The word carries baggage. Used carelessly it turns into a polite euphemism for the people a manager already suspects of shirking, which makes it a label rather than a measurement. That is neither accurate nor useful.
Used well it is a diagnostic. A rate climbing in one team while the rest hold steady is evidence about that team. The cause is as likely to be a manager or a workload as the people. Look at what changed. Not who.
Which absences belong in the rate is the first thing to agree. Approved leave usually sits outside it. A rate including booked holidays measures the calendar, not a problem.
Seasonality will fool anyone reading a single month. Winter runs higher nearly everywhere, and so does any period when something is going round. Compare a month against the same month last year. Month against previous month mostly measures the weather.
Where this shows up in PeopleMuster
PeopleMuster reports absence inside the attendance status distribution, with Present, Partial and Leave beside it. A rate can be built from records, not an impression.
Questions people ask
Does approved leave count towards absenteeism?
Generally not. Planned, approved time away is a different category. Including it hides the unplanned absence the measure exists to reveal.
What is a normal absenteeism rate?
Published figures vary so widely by country and industry that quoting one would mislead. Your own trend over several months is the comparison worth having.
How is absenteeism different from presenteeism?
Absenteeism counts people who are not there. Presenteeism describes people who are there but unable to work properly. The second is harder to see and often costs more.