Headcount, FTE and absence data

Skills you'll practise

• Distinguish headcount from FTE and calculate FTE from contracted hours and a stated full-time week
• Reconcile opening headcount, starters and leavers to closing headcount
• Calculate a lost-time absence rate and a person-based absence measure, stating each denominator
• Recognize when small groups or a single long absence make a figure misleading or identifying
• Report absence as totals that don't identify individuals or their health conditions

Course outline

1. 1.Headcount, FTE and absence dataVideo · 2 min
2. 2.Headcount and FTELesson · 15 min
3. 3.Measuring absenceLesson · 15 min
4. 4.Reporting absence without exposing peopleLesson · 15 min
5. 5.Headcount, FTE and absence data: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 17 questions
6. 6.Final exam9 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out

Sources it draws on

The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.

• US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey table 46: Absences from work (US example: absence rate = workers with absences ÷ full-time wage and salary employment; lost worktime rate = hours absent as a percent of hours usually worked)
• UK Office for National Statistics: Sickness absence in the UK labour market (UK example: sickness absence rate = hours lost to sickness or injury ÷ total hours × 100)
• UK ICO: Employment practices and data protection: How do we handle sickness and injury records? (UK example: absence records vs sickness records; no individual 'league tables'; totals by department only where people can't be identified)