Examining absenteeism in the public and non-profit sectors

Using the Steers and Rhodes (1978) model of absenteeism behavior, this paper examines ability to attend and attendance motivation factors for public and non-profit managers. Attendance motivation factors utilized in this study include public service motivation, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. T-tests and OLS regressions suggest that there are significant differences between absenteeism in the public and non-profit sectors and between genders. The results also suggest that organizational commitment, especially in terms of stakeholdership, is negatively associated with absenteeism. Perceptions of flexibility are found to be positively associated with the number of days missed.