Incentives and penalties as means of influencing attendance: a study in the UK public sector

Despite being the largest single source of lost productivity in business and industry, absence from work has not featured as prominently as might have been expected in studies in human resource management. But if, as a new discipline, human resource management is to stimulate fresh insights into perennial problems this matter should be addressed. Drawing upon data from the UK public sector, this article examines various aspects of absence from work with a view to placing the research in this broader context. It is concluded that the indiscriminate application of methods to reduce absence are often ineffective and some measures may actually change employees' work attitudes and perceived equity. This may, in turn, hinder effective human resource management.