HOUSEKEEPING ABSENTEEISM ANALYSIS FINAL REPORT FEBRUARY 3, 1991

WENDY A. ASIK MOON CHUNG RAJ SETH

Executive Summary

The purpose of the housekeeping analysis was to collect, sort and analyze data on housekeeping

staff absenteeism in order to

determine its underlying reasons. The goal of the project is to identify avoidable and unavoidable causes of absenteeism in the housekeeping department. Classification and shift structure of the housekeeping on

focusing

the

absenteeism

of

its

members,

has

never

staff, been

Housekeeping management desires information on the

investigated.

total absenteeism and its breakdown into categories such as class and Additionally,

shift.

summary

absenteeism

information

is

also

requested on the categories month, reasons and day of the week. The approach used in our analysis of the project consisted of collecting the Absentee forms from eight supervisors which consisted of fifty eight employees, which is approximately Hospitals.

total 300 employees

about twenty percent of the that work for

the University

The Absentee forms indicated the number of hours that

an employee, has worked on each of their scheduled days and a reason for why they were absent.

We sorted this data by the day of

the week, class, shift, supervisor, month and the reasons for the absence.

In addition to the data received, we conducted an extensive

survey of the Housekeeping staff.

The survey was designed to

determine

the

level

employees

with

general their

satisfaction schedules

and

of

allow

pertaining to employee scheduling problems.

the

Housekeeping

write-in

comments

Most of the absences occurred near or during the weekend day of the shift.

A possible schedule change would be conducive in

decreasing the number of absences that occur during these weekend days.

For example, having a rotating schedule, with the chance to

have one of the weekend days off during the month for the shifts that have to work the weekend shift every week. The monthly chart shows that the highest number of absences occur during the summer months of July and August.

Knowledge of

this information can allow management to make proper adjustments in employee scheduling during these periods. Personal Day Time revealed that most of the employees use most of their three PDT’s by the end of the first month.

An incentive

plan that would help alleviate this problem would be to offer an extra PDT if they were to keep all their PDT after a certain date. Another possibility would be to allocate only one PDT every four months. Many of our initial hypothesis proved to be true but at the same time we revealed some startling conclusions.

People tend to be

more absent during the weekend days was expected, but we found out that higher pay and seniority does not necessarily bring about Our survey indicated many were disgruntled

the happiest workers. with their working were

less

weekends. the

full

satisfied

situation. then

Also many Monday-Friday workers

their

counterparts

that

worked

on

the

The study of the many charts and graphs are crucial to understanding

occurrence of absences.

for

the

underlying

reasons

to

the

high

Introduction

and

Background

Purpose The purpose of the housekeeping analysis was to collect, sort, and analyze data on housekeeping staff absenteeism in order to determine its underlying reasons. and

Goals

Objectives

Investigation and

avoidable

reveal

can

unavoidable

housekeeping department.

the

extent

causes

of

as

well

as

absenteeism

identify in

the

A possible change in housekeeping staff

structure may prove necessary. Affecting

Background/Environment

Proj ect

Classification and shift structure of the housekeeping staff, focusing

on

investigated.

the

absenteeism

of

its

members,

has

never

been

Housekeeping management desires information on the

total absenteeism and its breakdown into categories such as class and Additionally,

shift.

summary

absenteeism

information

is

requested on the categories day of the week, month, and reason. Present housekeeping staff structure: Classifications: 1.

Wall Washer (WW):

Highest seniority and top level

custodian position 2.

Custodian 2 (C2):

Second level custodian position

3.

Unit Custodian (UC):

Level one custodian position

1

also

Shift Structure: 40 Hour Shifts:

32 Hour Shift:

Monday-Friday

team

Sunday-Thursday

team

Tuesday-Saturday

team

Friday-Monday

team

The necessary information to carry out the analysis will be provided through

absentee

forms

which

are

completed

by

individual

supervisors. Key

Issues/Alternatives To locate available information in order to analyze causes and

magnitude of housekeeping staff absenteeism. To determine utilization of sick time and Personal Day Time (PDT), and vacation time as reasons of absenteeism. To determine whether the present scheduling is satisfactory.

Approach

and

Methodology

The Absentee forms were collected from the Housekeeping Department on October 27, 1990.

The Absentee forms consists of a

yearly chart showing the number of hours that the employee has worked on a particular day throughout the year.

If an employee was

absent on a day that he was scheduled to work then a notation is made on the Absentee form indicating the reason was sick or using their Personal Day Time.

-

i.e. the employee

On a separate sheet

attached to the yearly calendar is a detailed summary of the excuses for the days in which they were absent or tardy. 2

From these

Absentee forms our sample size consists of 58 employees which is about twenty percent of the approximately 300 employees that are currently working for the University of Michigan Hospitals.

Our

sample period was from January 1,1990 to October 26, 1990. All this information which consisted of 1421 absences were then manually keyed in on MicroSoft Excel and

sorted by the

different characteristics such as absences by the day of the week,

class, shift, supervisor, month and the reasons for the absences. data was

This

then transported to a program made available by the

University of Michigan called Systat which enabled us to analyze the data from a statistical viewpoint. Initially the scope of our project was to also have a program implemented in the Housekeeping Department.

With this in mind we

started looking into a powerful data base system.

We began an

analysis on database systems that would serve the needs of the housekeeping department.

After completing several interviews with

Winnie Han of Compuware and Maralynn Pendorff of University of Michigan

Medical

Center

Hospital

Information

Systems

and

a

literature analysis of several database systems, we decided that the most optimal database would be a system called FoxPro.

As the term

progressed we later found that a system with the same concept was being implemented by a company called Kronos.

Our group began to

work with Bud Lane, the sales manager for Kronos, on trying to use their patented program for the purpose of our project.

After visiting

the computer facility in Novi and working extensively with the Time Accounting System, we found that the information provided, without much additional work by the programmers at Kronos would not 3

provide the necessary information that Mr. Grady currently needed for our analysis of Housekeeping absenteeism. In addition to the data received, we conducted an extensive survey of the Housekeeping

staff.

The survey was designed to

determine the general satisfaction level of Housekeeping employees with

schedules

their

and

allow

write-in

employee scheduling problems.

comments

pertaining

to

See Attached Analysis of Survey

Results. Current

Situation

Currently Kronos has began to implement their system in the Housekeeping

Department

at five

different

locations

around

the

Hospital which will allow the employees to use their badge to clock in This information will then be transported to the main

and out. computer

system which

employee has worked.

will

log

the

amount

of hours

that the

The advantage of this system is in helping

the Housekeeping department become a paper free department.

Hypotheses Analysis was designed to test the following hypotheses. 1) than

Monday thru Friday employees are absent less frequently

the other shifts

on a percentage

average

basis

of sampled

employees. 2)

Wall Washers are absent less frequently than employees of

the two other classifications.

This was hypothesized due to the

4

highest pay and lessor difficulty of work involved in the wall washer classification. 3)

32 Hour workers are absent more frequently than the 40

hour workers.

This is based upon the assumption that the shift of 32

hour worker (Friday-Monday) would lead to the higher frequency of absences due to scheduling of work on both weekend days and reasoning that it is more desirable/convenient to work on week day versus weekend days. 4)

Personal Day Time (A total of three allowed days) would be

used excessively in the beginning of each year.

This would lead to a

greater frequency of absences in January and February.

5)

Absences may be different according to supervisor because

of varying supervisory techniques.

Findings

and

Conclusions

Preliminary discussion will involve cumulative data involving all sampled employees (a total of 58 employees and 1421 absences).

5

Absences by Day of the Week

AVERAGE DAYS ABSENT BY DAY OF THE WEEK 10.00%

8.00%

6 6.00% 4.73 4.34

4.07

4.00%

2.00%

0.00% MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

BASED ON A SAMPLE OF 58 EMPLOYEES FROM JAN 1- OCT 26 1990

As can be observed from the above chart, the level of absenteeism is

fairly constant throughout the week with exception of Friday and Sunday. than the

On Fridays, the average days absent is 6.00 which is higher general average of 4.54.

On Sundays, the average days

absent is 3.65 which is lower than the average.

6

Absences

by

Classification

AVERAGE DAYS ABSENT PER PERSON BY CLASS 40.00%

37.33

30.00% 24.86 23.09 20.00%

10.00%

0.00%

UNIT CUSTODIAN

CUSTODIAN 2

WALL WASHER

BASED ON A SAMPLE OF 58 EMPLOYEES FROM JAN 1- OCT 26 1990.

Average days absent per employee are based on a sample of 33 unit custodians, 22 custodian 2s and 3 wall washers totaling absent.

1421 days

The chart above represents Since only 3 wall washers are

represented

in

the

sample,

the

chart

above

may

not

necessarily

reflect accurate average days absent per employee such that a larger sample of wall washers would.

7

Absences

by

Shift

AVERAGE DAYS ABSENT PER PERSON BY SHIFT 30.00%

20.00%

10.00%

0.00%

As

H

I MONDAY-FRIDAY SUNDAY-ThURSDAY TUESDAY-SATURDAY FRIDAY-MONDAY BASED ON A SAMPLE OF 58 EMPLOYEES FROM JAN 1- OCT 26 1990.

—

observed from

the above graph,

Sunday-Thursday employees

account for the least absences per person at an average of 20.1 absent days per employee.

The highest ratio is seen in the Monday-

Friday employee at an average of 28.4 absent days per employee. Ironically, this is opposite to the original hypothesis that employees desire to work during the week days and thus, would be absent less during

these

days.

However,

one

8

must

consider

that

certain

employees reasons.

working

Monday-Friday

are

absent

This fact may skew the data somewhat.

for

Union

duty

The hypothesis

that Friday-Monday employees would have a high average days absent ratio is not exemplified by the above chart.

At an average of

24.4, Weekend employees do not possess an excessively high ratio.

9

Absences

by

Month

ABSENCES BY MONTH 20.00%

T

15.00%

14.57%

14.29%

JUL

AUG

10.00% 7.67%

5.00%

0.00%

7.74%

-

-

JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

JUN

SEP

OCT

BASED ON A SAMPLE OF 58 EMPLOYEES FROM JAN 1- OCT 26 1990.

As can be observed from the Absences by Month chart, months of July and August have the highest percentage of total absences.

This

may be due to vacation scheduling during the late summer months. These months are then followed by January, April and May. months

with

September.

smallest

absenteeism

are

February,

March

The and

The month of October is not representative of employee

absences since our sample period ends October 26, 1990.

10

Absences

by

Reason

•

BSS BY REAS

0.5 600 0.4500 0.3-

400

ABSENCES 300

0.2

200 0.1100

1

3

5 REASON

Reasons 1 = 2 = 3 = 4 = 5 = 6 = 7 = 8 =

Excused/Not Paid Funeral Jury Duty Personal Day Time Sick Time Union Duty Unexcused/Not Paid Vacation Time

11

7

9

Vacation and sick time account for the majority of absences.

These

categories are then followed by excused/not paid category which accounts for over 10% of total absences. approximately 10% of absences.

Personal Day Time

Since each employee is given 3

Personal Day Time absences and the chart above represents 58 employees, it can be observed that most of au Personai Day Time absences are used up within 10 months. absences account for about 5% of absences.

C’

C 12

Unexcused/not paid

Absences by Day of the Week by Class and Shift Unit Custodians: Monday-Friday Employees

ABSENCES BY DAY OF THE WEEK FOR MONDAY-FRIDAY UNIT CUSTODIANS 35

33

30 25

23 20

20

17

16

15

10

5 0

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

BASED ON A SAMPLE OF 109 ABSENCES

Thursday

Friday

FROM JAN 1- OCT 26, 1990.

BASED ON A SAMPLE OF S MONDAY-FRIDAY UNIT CUSTODIANS.

This data was based on a sample of 109 absences. rcentage of absences with 30%.

Friday has the highest

This agrees with our hypothesis that the

ghest number of absences will occur on the weekend.

13

Tuesday-

Saturday

Employees

ABSENCES BY DAY OF THE WEEK FOR TUESDAY-SATURDAY UNIT CUSTODIANS 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

Thursday Friday Saturday BASED ON A SAMPLE OF 249 ABSENCES FROM JAN 1- OCT 26, 1990.

Tuesday

Wednesday

BASED ON A SAMPLE OF 12 TUESDAY-SATURDAY UNIT CUSTODIANS.

This data was based on a sample of 249 absences.

Saturday has the

highest percentage, of absences with 27% of the absences occurring on Saturday and 20% of the absences occurring on Friday.

14

ABSENCES BY DAY OF THE WEEK FOR SUNDAY- THURSDAY UNIT CUSTODIANS

59

50

58

IiiiI 46

Sunday

Tuesday Monday Wednesday Thursday BASED ON A SAMPLE OF 283 ABSENCES FROM JAN 1- OCT 26, 1990 BASED ON A SAMPLE OF 12 SUNDAY-THURSDAY UNIT CUSTODIANS.

ABSENCES BY DAY OF THE WEEK FOR FRIDAY-MONDAY UNIT CUSTODIANS 35

-.

31 30 25

20 15 10 5

0

Monday Friday Saturday Sunday BASED ON A SAMPLE OF 103 ABSENCES FROM JAN 1- OCT 26, 1990. BASED ON A SAMPLE OF 4 FRIDAY-MONDAY UNIT CUSTODIANS.

This data was based on a sample of 103 absences.

Saturday has the

highest percentage of absences with 30% of the absences occurring on Saturday and 25% of the absences occurring on Sunday.

15

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