Organizational factors and patterns of sickness absence: An occupational-specific relationship?

This study investigates the unexplored occupational grade-specific relationships between organizational factors and absenteeism patterns. Four types of occupational grades were represented in the research: blue-collar workers (n = 7915), white-collar workers (n = 3386), middle-level managers (n = 6694), clerks (n = 6491). Multinomial logistic regressions were performed for each occupational grade. Absenteeism patterns are measured by a combination of durations and frequencies of sickness absence. As unexpected, for blue-collar workers, monotonous work and autonomy don’t affect absenteeism but in the same time colleagues support increases cumulative absenteeism. For lower white-collar workers, autonomy is negatively linked to three patterns of absenteeism. This determinant of absenteeism seems quite strong for this grade. For clerks, flexible schedule increases attitudinal absenteeism but decreases cumulative absenteeism. For white-collar workers, supervisor support, hierarchical control and flexible schedule have a strong impact on absenteeism. The results indicate the occupation-specific relationships between organizational factors and absenteeism patterns. They also emphasize the importance of human resources practices differentiated among occupational grades.