Absenteeism, Health, and Disability in a Large Working Cohort

Because transitions from employment to disability leave are often the process of gradual health declines, these effects could operate through labor market mechanisms before the onset of disability. Specifically, increased absenteeism may be a precursor to eventual disability leave. Efforts to elucidate answers on this topic have been stymied by limited data available on absenteeism in the American workforce. We utilize a unique database of daily absenteeism records of nearly 10,000 employees at a large firm to examine the patterns of absenteeism and health that are associated with the use of employer-sponsored disability benefits. We answer the following questions: What are the patterns of absenteeism in this working cohort and are they disease-specific? Do these patterns differ for workers experiencing disability leave? Are patterns of absenteeism predictive of subsequent disability leave, and if so, for what diseases? Finally, do workers use absenteeism as a short-term substitute for disability benefits when opportunities for disability benefits are unavailable or limited? We find strong evidence that absenteeism predicts subsequent short-term disability leave at work, and that these relationships are patterned across diseases. We show that absenteeism increases substantially when disability applications are denied, suggesting that absenteeism may be used as a substitute for disability insurance when benefits are unavailable.