NepalHRM
HR systems & metrics

Absenteeism Rate

Definition

Absenteeism rate measures unplanned absence: days lost to unscheduled absence divided by the days that should have been worked, expressed as a percentage. Planned leave is excluded, because it is not the thing being measured.

Also called: absence rate, unplanned absence, absenteeism metric

Key facts

Numerator
Unplanned absence daysNot approved leave.
Denominator
Scheduled working daysExcluding holidays and weekly offs.
Read
By team, over timeA single company figure hides the signal.

What counts as absenteeism

Unscheduled absence: the days somebody was expected and did not come, without approved leave. Approved home leave, public holidays and the weekly rest day are not absenteeism, and including them turns the metric into a measure of the holiday calendar.

Sick leave sits on the boundary. Most companies count it as unplanned absence for measurement while treating it as a full entitlement for policy, which is the right way round.

Reading it

The company-wide figure is close to useless on its own. The signal is in the comparison: one team consistently above the others, or a team whose figure climbs over a quarter. That is almost never a health pattern. It is usually workload, a manager, or a shift pattern people cannot sustain.

Which is why the metric is worth calculating and worth acting on, but not worth putting in front of individuals as a scorecard.

Common questions

Absenteeism Rate, answered

Divide unplanned absence days by the number of scheduled working days in the period, then multiply by one hundred. Approved leave, public holidays and weekly offs are excluded from both figures.

No. Absenteeism measures unscheduled absence. Counting approved leave turns the metric into a measure of the leave policy rather than of attendance.

Last reviewed 2026-07-29

This page explains general practice in Nepal. It is not legal or tax advice, and statutory figures are revised from time to time. Check the current Act, rule or notice before acting on it.

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