Healthcare personnel absenteeism, presenteeism, and staffing challenges during epidemics

Objective: Presenteeism is an expensive and challenging problem in the healthcare industry. In anticipation of the staffing challenges expected with the COVID-19 pandemic, we examined a decade of payroll data for a healthcare workforce. We aimed to determine the effect of seasonal influenza-like illness (ILI) on absences to support COVID-19 staffing plans. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Setting: Large academic medical center in the United States. Participants: Employees of the academic medical center who were on payroll between the years of 2009 and 2019. Methods: Biweekly institutional payroll data was evaluated for unscheduled absences as a marker for acute illness-related work absences. Linear regression models, stratified by payroll status (salaried vs hourly employees) were developed for unscheduled absences as a function of local ILI. Results: Both hours worked and unscheduled absences were significantly related to the community prevalence of influenza-like illness in our cohort. These effects were stronger in hourly employees. Conclusions: Organizations should target their messaging at encouraging salaried staff to stay home when ill.

Capitalizing on Franchisee Know-How

While the current labor market is a dream for aspiring future employees, the low unemployment rate and the pervasive availability of hourly jobs makes it much more difficult in the quick service restaurant industry for employers. Hiring and retaining a solid team is a common concern across the industry; often it is easier to hire than to retain. Entry level employees are easily persuaded to work for a competitor for very little added pay. This current phenomena requires organizations to find differentiating tactics to retain their workforce. This case study explores a franchise restaurant chain in their quest to become an Employer of Choice in this very competitive industry. Franchise consultants were hired to explore best practices. The authors detail how a benchmarking tool was used to secure the information as well as the outcomes of the study. Specific actions are cited that can improve the retention of hourly employees in the quick service restaurant industry.

O1E.5 Short-term disability leave and employment termination: using marginal structural models to estimate counterfactual risks

IntroductionShort-term disability leave can be considered as a measure of not being well enough to work. The American Manufacturing Cohort, followed 1996–2013, consists of employees of a light-metal company that provided short-term disability insurance to all employees: coverage to replace wages for up to 6 months of work absence due to medical issues. We hypothesized that since brief short-term disability leave allows workers time to recover from illness or injury without losing their jobs, it should be protective against employment termination.MethodsWe analyzed 18 386 (83% male, 80% white) hourly employees. We censored workers once their accumulated disability leave exceeded 6 weeks because longer time spent on short-term disability leave suggests more serious illness or injury that may prevent return to work. To analyze the effect of short-term disability leave on employment termination, we applied a marginal structural pooled logistic model that allowed for a time-varying hazard function. We adjusted for time-varying confounding by occupational exposures and health-related variables using inverse probability weighting. Using the estimated coefficients, we compared the predicted probabilities (by person-month) of terminating employment with the corresponding counterfactual probabilities if the worker had never taken disability leave. These probabilities yielded estimated survival curves under the two scenarios.ResultsThe average worker was followed for 5.5 years. Approximately 42% of the workers took at least one day of disability leave, and 48% terminated employment during follow-up. We estimated that 1058 (29%) more workers would have terminated employment within 5 years from cohort entry if the company had had no disability leave benefit than were predicted under the natural course.ConclusionShort-term disability leave is a potentially relevant health variable for occupational epidemiologists. This analysis suggests that short-term disability leave can help employees retain their jobs when a temporary health issue prevents them from working.

Association between Occupational Injury and Subsequent Employment Termination among Newly Hired Manufacturing Workers

Few longitudinal studies have examined occupational injury as a predictor of employment termination, particularly during the earliest stages of employment when the risk of occupational injury may be greatest. Human resources (HR) records were used to establish a cohort of 3752 hourly employees newly hired by a large manufacturing facility from 2 January 2012, through 25 November 2016. The HR records were linked with records of employee visits to an on-site occupational health center (OHC) for reasons consistent with occupational injury. Cox regression methods were then used to estimate the risk of employment termination following a first-time visit to the OHC, with time to termination as the dependent variable. Analyses were restricted to the time period ending 60 calendar days from the date of hire. Of the 3752 employees, 1172 (31.2%) terminated employment prior to 60 days from date of hire. Of these, 345 terminated voluntarily and 793 were terminated involuntarily. The risk of termination for any reason was greater among those who visited the OHC during the first 60 days of employment than among those who did not visit the OHC during the first 60 days of employment (adjusted hazard ratio = 2.58, 95% CI = 2.12–3.15). The magnitude of effect was similar regardless of the nature of the injury or the body area affected, and the risk of involuntary termination was generally greater than the risk of voluntary termination. The results support activities to manage workplace safety and health hazards in an effort to reduce employee turnover rates.

Competing for hours: unstable work schedules and underemployment among hourly workers in Canada

This paper investigates the relationship between schedule instability and underemployment among hourly employees. The value to employers of specific hours of work often varies over short intervals, motivating variable scheduling and incomplete contracts that do not specify hours or availability. When employers offer variable weekly total hours, competition for scarce hours motivates employees to be available for work over a broader range of times. Workers may consequently be rewarded with more hours, but they garner fewer hours than their counterparts with stable hours. Cross-sectional analysis of the Canadian Workplace and Employee Survey demonstrates that underemployment is significantly more likely among hourly workers on unstable schedules. Longitudinal analysis indicates that even among the initially underemployed, who are strongly motivated to increase their availability, switching into an unstable schedule results in significantly fewer hours, providing evidence of employer-driven constraints on hours. There is no evidence of compensating differentials for unstable schedules.

Business and Marketing Practices of U.S. Landscape Firms

Little information has been published on the business and marketing practices of landscape firms, an important sector of the green industry. We sought to profile the product mix, advertising, marketing, and other business practices of United States landscape firms and compare them by business type (landscape only, landscape/retail, and landscape/retail/grower) as well as by firm size. We sent the 2014 Trade Flows and Marketing survey to a wide selection of green industry businesses across the country and for the first time included landscape businesses. Herbaceous perennials, shade trees, deciduous shrubs, and flowering bedding plants together accounted for half of all landscape sales; 3/4 of all products were sold in containers. However, landscape only firms sold a higher percentage of deciduous shrubs compared with landscape/retail/grower firms. Landscape businesses diversified their sales methods as they diversified their businesses to include production and retail functions. Landscape businesses spent, on average, 5.6% of sales on advertising, yet large landscape companies spent two to three times the percentage of sales on advertising compared with small- and medium-sized firms. Advertising as a percent of sales was three to four times higher for landscape/retail/grower compared with landscape only or landscape/retail firms; most respondents used Internet advertising as their primary method of advertising. The top three factors influencing price establishment in landscape businesses were plant grade, market demand, and uniqueness of plants, whereas inflation was ranked as the least important of the nine factors provided. A higher percentage of small and medium-sized firms perceived last year’s prices as more important in price establishment compared with large firms. A high percentage of large landscape companies said the ability to hire competent hourly employees was an important factor in business growth and management, but this was true only for about half of the small and medium-sized landscape companies.

Data & Civil Rights: Employment Primer

Employees and prospective employees produce more data than ever - in the workplace, on social media, and beyond. Employers and the third party companies that assist them increasingly apply analytical tools to these various data streams to measure factors that influence employee performance, attrition rates, and workplace profitability. While some of the data - such as past performance - are unquestionably relevant to such analysis, other data that produces strong correlations to performance are more surprising. For instance, Evolv, a recruiting software company, analyzed 3 million data points about 30,000 hourly employees and identified that those who installed newer browsers, like Chrome or Firefox, onto their computers stay at their jobs 15% longer than those who use default browsers that come pre-installed on their computers, like Safari for Macs. Job candidates may rightly worry that they will be excluded from or included in job opportunities based on data that seem arbitrary and are outside their field of vision. For example, a job candidate’s resume could be excluded from a talent pool because of her online browsing habits, but she is unlikely to find that out directly. The complexity of hiring algorithms which fold all kinds of data into scoring systems make it difficult to detect and therefore challenge hiring decisions, even when outputs appear to disadvantage particular groups within a protected class. When hiring algorithms weigh many factors to reach an unexplained decision, job applicants and outside observers are unable to detect and challenge factors that may have a disparate impact on protected groups.

Employment characteristics and retention predictors among hourly employees in large US theme parks and attractions

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to evaluate and analyze hourly line-level employees' characteristics and their perceptions of their employment experience in large US theme parks and attractions, as well as to explore predictors for their retention. Design/methodology/approach – The research instrument adopted a theoretical framework based on previous retention studies of hourly employees in various industries. Following a qualitative phase with theme park employees, the survey was tailored to the uniqueness of the industry. Since major theme park companies are protective of their employee database, a “snowball” sampling technique was adopted using a variety of Social Networking Sites (SNS). A total of 307 usable responses were attained. Findings – The results indicated that of the 27 employment characteristics studied, the most important were perceived to be advancement opportunities, humane approach to employees, and a fun and challenging job. Importance-Performance analysis revealed that the largest gaps were recorded in the areas of pay, advancement opportunities, and a humane approach to employees. The results also confirmed that hourly employees' retention was predicted by employees' level of satisfaction, better experience with pay, and better experience with employee development training classes. However, hourly employee retention was also predicted by the employees' negative experience with flexible working hours and performance reviews. Research limitations/implications – Data collection through Social Networking Sites (SNS) may not necessarily be as reliable a source for data collection as other methodologies, though some contemporary research justifies its reliability. Utilizing the “snowball” technique and the absence of random sampling may have slanted the responses. Although demographic data on the typical theme park employee is unavailable, the data was skewed towards younger employees who may not necessarily represent other age groups. Due to the US theme park industry's leading presence in Central Florida, the sample primarily represented hourly employees working for the Central Florida theme park industry. Practical implications – As the labor pool continues to decline, employers must adopt new creative strategies to keep their employees and attract new ones at the same time. This may be attained by developing and revising mission statements, values, and corporate visions that may be applicable to hourly employees: the largest labor segment in the theme park and attraction industry. Originality/value – While recent hospitality turnover research focused on its antecedents, this study explores the predictors of why employees stay. Previous retention studies have focused on hotels or restaurants and not on the unique group of theme park hourly employees that work in different settings and employment conditions. Knowing why people stay can help reduce turnover and thus lower the cost of staffing.