Skip to the main content.
Talk to an expert
Talk to an expert
Featured Offer
Ambitious 50 →
6 months of Hire and Engage free for businesses under 50 people.

Hey Compono!

A coach that actually gets you.

Get 10 minutes free, then $15 a month. Cancel anytime.

Get Started ≫
‹ Free tools for HR leaders

Absenteeism Cost Calculator

Put a dollar figure on the sick days, cover, and lost output that rarely make it into a single report.

Your numbers

Estimated annual cost
 
Share
How is the cost of absenteeism calculated?

Add up the daily wage for every absent day, then add the lost productivity that absence creates and any overtime or replacement cover you pay to fill the gap. This calculator also works out your Lost Time Rate, which is total absence hours as a percentage of total hours available, so you have both a dollar cost and a rate to track.

Where Compono fits

A cost figure tells you absence is expensive. It does not tell you how much of it is burnout, disengagement, or people quietly checking out before they leave. Compono Engage reads the behavioural signals behind the absence, so you can deal with the cause rather than keep paying for the symptom. Compono holds 4.8 out of 5 on Capterra and is built on decades of psychometric research, not AI hype.

See how it works

How it's calculated

For each absent day we apply the daily wage, add the lost productivity that comes with it, then add any overtime or cover cost you enter. We also show your Lost Time Rate, which is total absence hours divided by total hours available, multiplied by 100. That gives you both a dollar figure and a rate you can trend over time.

New to the term? Read the plain-English definition of absenteeism in the HR Glossary.

Common questions

What is a normal absence rate?

Australian averages tend to sit around eight to ten days per employee a year, though it varies by industry and role. What matters more than the headline number is the trend. A rate that is climbing, or sitting well above peers in your sector, is worth a closer look.

Does this include unplanned absence only, or planned leave too?

The calculator is built for unplanned absence, mainly sick days and unexpected time off, because that is what carries the cover and productivity cost. Planned annual leave is budgeted for and resourced around, so including it would overstate the real cost to the business.

Why does so much absence trace back to engagement?

Because a lot of it is not about illness. More than half of Australian workers report taking a sick day while not physically unwell (ELMO Employee Sentiment Index, Q3 2025), and burnout is one of the leading reasons reported. When people are disengaged or burnt out, absence is one of the first places it shows up, which is why the cause usually sits in how people feel about work.

This page is general information, not legal advice. We check figures annually and update them on a best-efforts basis, but employment rules change and we cannot promise everything here is current or complete. Before you act on it, confirm the detail with the relevant authority in your country or your own adviser. Last reviewed July 2026.