Absenteeism because of illness of workers from a hospital kitchen service

Abstract

The objective of this study was to understand absenteeism due to illness in the second semester of 2004, of workers of the nutrition and diet service of the University Hospital of the Federal University of Minas Gerais. The data was collected through interviews with manager, using a semi-structured outline and files from the human resources division of the hospital. They were organized into simple frequencies, percentages and relative frequencies. The population of the study was 156 workers distributed in 9 categories. Of the 132 workers who were part of the sample, 118 had been contracted through public competition and 14 through an administrative contract. The results showed that 70 workers (53%) were absent from work in the period studied, of which 94. 2% because of illness and 5.8% for other reasons. Analyzing the relative frequency of absences, it was found that they were due to health treatment of the regular workers (92%). The health leaves of absence were concentrated on the low schooling group and the categories that most asked for these leaves of absence were kitchen auxiliaries and waiters. The highest number of leaves of absence lasted up to 30 days (81%). The age of most of the workers on leave was between 41 and 60 years old, with a time of employment between 16 and 20 years. It is concluded that illness absenteeism in this nutrition service is a significant problem that needs to be studied and analyzed considering the causes of the health-disease process to which these workers are subject.