Flu could cost SA R20bn
Johannesburg - Absenteeism from work could cost the economy at least R20bn this year, with the recent security guard strike threatening to increase this figure further, analysts reckon.
Deirdré Penfold, executive president of the South African Chamber of Business (Sacob), says it is difficult to give an exact estimate of absenteeism, but it looks as if the number of days absent due to illness will be more than last year.
The flu season is here, and recent reports show that Johannesburg hospitals have seen a 30% increase in people being admitted for flu symptoms.
"Absenteeism is further boosted because public holidays are not limited to Mondays and Fridays. For example, when the holiday falls on a Thursday, people are more likely to take the Friday off as well.
"The three-month-long guard strike also could dramatically increase the absenteeism figure for this year," says Penfold.
Manage stay-aways
Johnny Johnson, chief executive of Cam Solutions, a company that manages absenteeism for other firms, says unplanned stay-away from work will cost the Eastern Cape R8.9bn this year, while it will cost Gauteng R5.98bn, the Western Cape R2.36bn and KwaZulu-Natal R2.04bn.
Absenteeism costs for the four provinces alone add up to a huge R19.3bn.
"This figures were calculated by looking at the impact of absenteeism on various industries and then linking it to the remuneration of the absentees.
"In general, the economy loses about R15bn annually to direct costs of absenteeism, but this figure could triple if the indirect costs are added.
Lost productivity
"These costs include lost productivity, overtime pay, lower levels of service and quality and the hiring and training of replacement staff," says Johnson.
"It costs South African companies directly about R200 a day for every man day lost due to absenteeism in the workplace if R5 000 is taken as an average monthly salary, and R600 a day if the indirect costs such as lost productivity and staff replacement are taken into account."
In the case of the recent security guard strike, the following sums can be done:
About 23 000 of the country's 240 000 security guards went downed tools for three months.
This represents 62 working days and five public holidays (on which they would've earned double pay), thus 72 days or 576 working hours. Multiply this by 23 000 workers, and this totals 13.2 million lost man hours.
Bottom line
During the strike, the minimum wage for security guards was R1 050. Calculated at this income and a direct loss of R100 per lost man day, the strike could cost the economy more than R165m.
On the other hand, sick workers still going to work could leave a big hole in a company's profitability.
Dr Brad Beira of Lekana Employee Benefit Solutions says the practice of sick people forcing themselves to go work rather than going to a doctor is an epidemic on its own.
"It is definitely a factor that drives up costs. Workers that come to work sick must be warned against the disadvantages for their own health and that of their co-workers," says Beira.
According to him there are mainly three factors that influence costs:
* lower productivity from the sick worker;
* the risk of a pro-longed recovery due to a postponed medical check-up; and
* the contagion factor.
News source: www.news24.co.za
Posted by: www.SouthAfrica-CarHire.com
