The absenteeism formula is missed divided by scheduled, times 100, and the reason people search for it is that the short version leaves out every decision that changes the answer: shifts or hours, whether an excused absence is missed, whether a same-day shift is scheduled, and what period the two counts cover. This page states the formula in its shift form and its hours form, works both on the tracker template's month, sets out the variants and what each does to the result, and shows how the definition the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses for the national series differs from the one a small employer needs. The employee attendance tracker template on this site applies the shift form from the roll call.
The shift form, which a crew on fixed shifts should use
Absenteeism rate equals missed shifts divided by scheduled shifts, multiplied by 100. On the tracker template's worked month a crew of ten was scheduled for 200 shifts and missed 12, so the formula gives 12 divided by 200, which is 6%. The attendance rate is its mirror, worked shifts divided by scheduled shifts, 188 over 200, or 94%, and the two always add to 100 when the same two counts are used. The shift form suits a crew on fixed shifts because both counts come straight off the roster and the roll call: a shift is on the roster or it is not, and it was worked or it was not. It needs no timesheet, which is why the tracker template on this site is built on it.
The hours form, and when it is the better one
Absenteeism rate equals hours lost divided by hours scheduled, multiplied by 100. Where shifts vary in length, a missed twelve-hour shift and a missed four-hour shift are not the same loss, and the hours form says so. It also lets a partial absence count: an employee who left three hours into an eight-hour shift lost five hours, which the shift form would record as a worked shift. The cost is that the hours form needs the scheduled hours per shift and the hours actually worked, which means a timesheet or a clock, and the Fair Labor Standards Act's own hours-worked rules in 29 CFR Part 785 then decide what counts as worked. For a small crew on fixed shifts the shift form is enough; for a crew on mixed shifts the hours form is more honest.
The variants that change the answer, and why the policy fixes them
Four choices move the result. Whether an excused absence is missed: hold it outside the count and the denominator drops by one; count it with its reason and the numerator rises by one; the worked month's 6% becomes 5.5% or stays 6% depending on the choice. Whether a same-day shift is scheduled: count it and a missed one raises the rate; exclude it and the rate ignores it. Whether a no-call is weighted: the formula counts it as one missed shift, the points policy scores it at 2, and the two are measuring different things on purpose. And the period: a month, a quarter or a rolling window, where a rolling window smooths a holiday month. None of these is wrong. Each has to be chosen once, written in the policy and applied the same way every month.
The national definition, and how it differs from a crew's
The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes an absence rate and a lost worktime rate for full-time wage and salary workers, and its table defines them: the absence rate is the share of workers who had an absence in the reference week, and the lost worktime rate is hours absent as a share of hours usually worked. Neither is the crew formula. The first counts people, not shifts, so a crew where one person missed four shifts and nine missed none would read as one absent worker in ten; the second is the hours form applied to usual hours rather than scheduled ones. An employer comparing a crew rate to the national figure is comparing two formulas, and should read the table's definitions before drawing anything from the comparison.
Questions people ask about absenteeism formula
What is the absenteeism formula?
Missed shifts divided by scheduled shifts, times 100, for a period. In hours: hours lost divided by hours scheduled, times 100. On the tracker's worked month, 12 missed of 200 scheduled is 6%.
Should I use shifts or hours?
Shifts when the crew works fixed-length shifts and the roll call is the record, because both counts come off the roster. Hours when shift lengths vary or partial absences matter, which needs a timesheet or a clock.
How does the BLS absence rate differ?
It counts workers with an absence in a reference week as a share of all workers, and its lost worktime rate is hours absent over hours usually worked. A crew formula counts shifts or hours against what was scheduled. The definitions are on the BLS table linked below.