Absenteeism

Absenteeism is a habitual pattern of unexplained absence from a duty or obligation, generally referring to unplanned rather than scheduled absences. It has traditionally been treated as a sign of poor individual performance and as a breach of the implicit understanding between an employee and an employer, framed by management as an economic or quasi-economic problem to be minimized. More recent psychological scholarship instead treats a pattern of absenteeism as a potential indicator of a person's psychological, medical or social adjustment to their work, rather than only as a discipline or productivity issue.