Last month in an article on this website, you were able to read about group health insurance and how you can use it to reduce absenteeism and absenteeism costs. In this article, I will inform you about the impact of absenteeism on your organization. And specifically, the risks posed by business acquisitions.

High absenteeism, high costs

The absenteeism rate in the Netherlands is high, averaging above 5%. High absenteeism has a significant impact on the business. This manifests itself, among other things, in costs for continued pay, replacement costs, expenses for the occupational health and safety service, and the time HR professionals and managers must spend on counseling. The direct costs of absenteeism are therefore considerable: in the Netherlands, the average cost per day of absenteeism quickly rises to €300.

Impact on business operations

In addition to direct costs, absenteeism also has indirect costs. Consider, for example, loss of productivity, loss of quality, increased workload and motivation problems:

• Absentee employees are unable to perform their tasks, reducing team productivity.
• Loss of quality: the absence of experienced staff may reduce the quality of products or services.
• Increased workload: the tasks of absentee employees fall to other employees, increasing the workload.
• Motivation problems: long-term absenteeism can lead to motivation problems in other employees.

Business acquisitions and absenteeism

In business acquisitions, it is crucial to pay special attention to absenteeism. Employees of the acquired party often find themselves in a period of uncertainty where many changes are taking place, often resulting in an increase in absenteeism. The acquirer faces a new absenteeism risk because the employees of the acquired company have different working conditions, work environment and absenteeism policies.

For example, the acquired party may have absenteeism insurance and the policy is to refer all absenteeism cases to the health and safety service and insurer. If the acquiring party decides to discontinue the absence insurance, in accordance with the organization’s policy, this may result in a lack of support for the acquired party. This can create risks of inadequate absence support, which can lead to cost increases.

Therefore, it is essential to align the acquired company’s absence policy with that of the acquirer. This provides clarity and consistency in absence management.

Attention should also be paid to the current long-term sick and (former) employees receiving WGA benefits. Depending on the situation of both the acquiring and acquired parties, significant costs may result. If both the acquiring and the acquired parties are not self-insured for the WGA, an acquisition may result in significantly higher premiums for the work resumption fund decision.

In the event that the acquiring party is self-insured and the acquired party is not, the inflow into the WGA will be directly borne by the acquiring party. These claims will not be covered by the insurer since they originated elsewhere. Therefore, it is crucial to pay adequate attention to this before closing the deal.

Counseling current sick in acquisitions

The acquiring party must also pay attention to counseling the currently ill. It is important to inform these employees about the acquisition and the impact on their benefits and work environment. In addition, it is also important to reintegrate these employees as quickly and as sustainably as possible.

Strategic absence management: at Kröller Boom you can rely on a well-considered approach

To reduce the impact of absenteeism, it is important to have a strategic absenteeism policy. This includes proactively investing in absence prevention and reintegration.

As a consultant on strategic absence management, Pim van de Wiel is happy to help you develop and implement a strategic absence policy for your company: contact Pim.