Costs of Absenteeism in Front Office Secretary Role

Reading Assignment #6
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Absenteeism
I have held the position of a front office secretary in a medium-sized clothing firm. My key roles included scheduling meetings, answering phones, welcoming clients, and offering administrative support. A front office secretary's role is critical, and absenteeism would be costly. Absenteeism means not attending work or not being present during all the scheduled work hours (Cascio et al., 2019). The direct costs associated with absenteeism for this role include continued payment of salary and benefits and seeking temporary staffing to cover for the absence. Indirect costs include reduced productivity, a negative impact on customer service, and placing an administrative burden on other employees or the manager.
One day of absence in the position of a front office secretary would incur significant direct and indirect costs. In terms of direct costs, the firm would incur costs in salary and benefits, seeking a temporary replacement for that day and paying overtime. Assuming that the annual pay is $50,000, and the staff works for 300 days in a year, the cost that would be incurred for that one day of absence would be $167. In seeking a temporary replacement, the firm would incur a cost higher than the front office secretary usually pays in a day. The pay would depend on the qualifications required and the firm's location. This fee would be between $180 to $250. Paying overtime would result when other employees work overtime to cover for the absent staff. The additional pay would depend on the firm's hourly rates and the extent of extra time taken. Approximately, this would be between $17 to $25 per hour.