Impact of stress on absenteeism at divisional secretariats: a study at Ampara district

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the impact of Stress on Absenteeism in the divisional secretariats of Ampara District in Sri Lanka and which factors highly influence to develop stress in the organizations. A hypothesis was developed using deductive approach. The study was conducted by using a convenience sample of whole eight divisional secretariats in Ampara District in Sri Lanka. Type of investigation was correlational and it was crosssectional on time horizon. The unit of analysis was organizational level: each firm. Non managerial employees served as respondents on behalf of the firm. Measures of the study were of good quality after assuring reliability and validity. Data were collected from 80 respondents which was 100% response rate. In order to test the hypothesis that was concerned with relationship between perceived level of stress and perceived degree of employees' absenteeism the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation technique was applied. The results of the study showed a significant and positive relationship between perceived level of stress and perceived degree of absenteeism in Sri Lanka. Found relationship was strong (correlation coefficient was .548 that was significant at 0.01 level) implying that a divisional secretariat should adopt an effective working environment to reduce the level of stress so as to decline absenteeism.