| Summary: | The intention of this study is to explore the level of awareness, knowledge, understanding and perceptions of recently implemented health and attendance policies amongst the employees of an Icelandic hotel chain and how it affects absenteeism. The effects of other variables, such as age, gender, family responsibilities, stress levels and psychosocial factors at work, were tested simultaneously, to try to understand the relationship between individual decision making and absenteeism. A quantitative research method was used to conduct an online survey with 32 questions for the employees of the hotel chain. The responses were coded and then analysed through descriptive analysis. The results from the case study show that there seems to be a trend among the employees towards having fewer absences after the implementation of the policies. However, even though awareness of the policies is high, knowledge and understanding of their contents are lacking to a great extent. As for causes, illness was the mostly claimed reason for absenteeism, but stress was the second most highly cited reason for short-term absences and the number one cause of long-term absences. The results show that stress levels of employees are related to distorted psychosocial factors at work and an imbalance between their work and private lives. The main conclusion of this thesis, therefore, lays grounds for further investigation on the working environment of employees in the hospitality industry and what organizations can do to reduce the stressors that lead to absenteeism. Training employees in all aspects of their policies and facilitating programs for work-life balance is believed to be the key for reducing absenteeism at this particular organization and will lead to more profitability. Keywords: Absenteeism, Absence Management, Psychosocial Factors, Work-Life Balance, Human Resource Management, Iceland.
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