Research on absenteeism has led to the development of models that emphasize individual-level variables of satisfaction and job involvement but fail to recognize the social framework of absenteeism. Most studies investigate chiefly blue-collar workers in fairly routinized jobs; few studies cross industrial and occupational lines to white-collar or professional work. Our social model examines absenteeism in terms of alternatives available to employees each day and the consequences of absenteeism for workers and for employers. Beyond psychological and aggregated demographic variables, we consider the role of occupational and organizational processes and point to needs for cross-industry and cross-occupational studies of absenteeism.
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