Introduction:

The employee absenteeism is a very frequent situation among the healthcare companies of Colombia; nevertheless, the company subject of study does not know the factors associated to such absenteeism.

Objective:

To identify the factors associated to employment absenteeism of the employees working in a healthcare institution.

Material and methods:

Empirical-analytical, quantitative cross-sectional study; the population studied were the employees who work in a healthcare institution in Medellin, Colombia. A structured survey was applied taking into account demographic, labor, familiar, personal and social variables.

Results:

140 out from 898 employees were surveyed, with an absence of proportionality of 8.4%. 84% from the employee absenteeism were women. Regarding age, a median age of 32 years old was identified. The academic level had a PR of 3.2, 4.8 in the assistance labor area, and 2.3 in the title support. These variables represented a significant statistical association related to the employment absenteeism.

Conclusions:

The factors associated to the employee absenteeism in the employees of the healthcare institution are given due to the low educative level, having a support title and performing attendance functions.