Absenteeism Reduction

We use a 16% absenteeism reduction based on historical BMI data from our clients.

Body Mass Index (BMI): is a simple, low-cost, screening tool used by doctors to estimate body fat and assess potential risks for chronic diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure.

BMI improvement is closely tied to absenteeism, though it does not account for other factors (e.g., improved mental wellbeing). Therefore, the actual reduction is likely higher. Calculating this number involves a few steps, which are explained in this section.

1. Absenteeism - BMI relation: To identify the correlation between absenteeism and BMI we use this study conducted by the National Institutes of Health on obesity and absenteeism. The study reports absenteeism for different BMI classes relative to a healthy BMI:

   BMI Class	Absenteeism (adjusted OR)
   Normal (healthy weight)	1
   Overweight	1.14
   Obesity class I	1.1
   Obesity class II	1.32
   Obesity class III	1.6

   then convert to:

   BMI	Absenteeism %
   18.5	0
   25	14
   30	10
   35	32
   40	60

2. Absenteeism formula:
   Using these data points, we plot the chart and fit a linear trendline. The trendline results in the following formula, which helps us calculate absenteeism compared to normal BMI, at any given BMI.

   % Absenteeism = 0.0257 × BMI - 0.532
3. Calculate absenteeism reduction:
   From our former Chefshealth's clients we got:

   Average starting BMI = 41.95 Average ending BMI= 35.79

   Plug these into the trendline formula to get average Absenteeism at each point:

   Average starting Absenteeism = 55%Average ending Absenteeism = 39%

   Absenteeism reduction based on the difference between the starting and ending BMI absenteeism values:

   Average starting Absenteeism (55%)

   Average ending Absenteeism (39%)

   Absenteeism reduction (16%)

Cost of Absence to Payroll

According to SHRM's report Total Financial Impact of Employee Absences in the U.S., the total costs of paid time off as a percentage of payroll ranged from 20.9% to 22.1%. We use the average of 21.6% in our calculation (this includes both direct costs - such as wages paid to absent employees, overtime, temporary staff, and benefit costs - and indirect costs - including lost productivity, reduced quality, administrative overhead, and loss of team morale). This highlights the importance of tracking paid time off to control organizational costs.

Average trainee salary

This is the average salary of employees to be enrolled in the program, provided by you as input to the ROI Calculator. It sets the financial baseline for estimating the cost of absenteeism. Since absenteeism costs are calculated as a percentage of payroll, knowing the trainee salary allows us to quantify the monetary impact of absences for your organization.