Social cohesiveness and absenteeism: The relationship between characteristics of employees and short-term absenteeism

This study tries to explain the relationship between characteristics of the employees (e.g., gender and working hours) and short-term absenteeism by examining the social cohesiveness of a team. Hypotheses are formulated concerning gender and working hours of employees, social cohesiveness, and short-term absenteeism. To test these hypotheses, network data on 56 employees in 8 comparable teams within an organization were collected. The results show that similarity in gender and percentage of full-time employees within a team were positively related to the social cohesiveness of a team and that social cohesiveness is negatively related to short-term absenteeism.