How MSK pain leads to absenteeism

Take a second to think about how your body feels right now. Do you have a stiff neck and shoulders? Sore knees? A tight lower back?

That’s all musculoskeletal pain (or MSK pain)—a broad term for pain that affects the muscles, bones, joints, ligaments, and tendons, with pain levels ranging from discomfort to debilitating.

While most people are familiar with a little achiness every now and then, a whopping half of Amercans say they experience MSK pain. Unfortunately, this pain can go beyond a little stiffness and soreness and is associated with more than half of chronic pain conditions.

With so many people reporting and seeking help for musculoskeletal pain, employers are seeing the impact on their healthcare expenditure—musculoskeletal pain accounts for a significant portion of healthcare spend. Three-fourths of employers listed MSK pain in their top three healthcare cost drivers.

But the bottom line—costs for doctor appointments, physical therapy, pain medications, surgeries, and so forth—isn’t the only way employers are impacted by MSK pain. It also plays a major role in absenteeism.

What is absenteeism in the workplace?

Absenteeism in the workplace is when an employee repeatedly takes absences from work—often unplanned, but they can be planned, too. Put simply, missing work becomes routine rather than a rare occurrence.

Many employers track this metric by looking at their absenteeism rate. This is calculated by dividing the number of absent days by the number of available work days in a given period. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the total absenteeism rate in 2023 was 3.1%, but it differs across sectors:

• Public sector: 3.6%
• Private sector: 3.0%

Of course, things happen and it’s normal for employees to need to miss work occasionally for illnesses or emergencies (in addition to much need time off for more leisurely reasons, like vacation). However, absenteeism means an employee’s absence is habitual rather than happenstance. And that can cause some big issues for employers, including:

• Reduced productivity: Estimates state the productivity losses related to absenteeism range from 22.6% for planned absence to 36.6% for unplanned absence. When an employee misses work, employers don’t just miss out on the contributions of that single worker. Their colleagues and supervisor often need to scramble to cover for that person, which means they lose out on work time too.
• Increased costs: Less work translates to less production which often translates to less revenue. Absenteeism costs businesses $2,945 per employee per year. Other estimates say the loss can be as great as $3,600 per year for each hourly employee.
• Poor employee performance: When an employee repeatedly misses work, they lack the consistency and commitment they need to perform at their best. Additionally, their frequent absences usually mean they miss deadlines or are a bottleneck in team projects and workflows.
• Lower morale: Seeing someone who doesn’t pull their weight (no matter what the reason may be) is frustrating for the colleagues who do show up—especially if they need to pick up the slack. When an employee is chronically absent, it burdens their team members and can breed frustration.

How MSK pain connects to absenteeism 

It’s evident that absenteeism in the workplace can bring along a lot of problems. But here’s a question that’s important to ask: Why are employees missing work?

There’s a slew of potential reasons, but you might be surprised by the major role that MSK pain plays in employee absenteeism:

• MSK pain is one of the most common occupational diseases and a common cause of workplace absence
• People living with MSK pain miss an average of 10.3 days of work each year due to issues related to their pain, such as reduced mobility or mental health struggles
• MSK pain intensity increases the risk of long-term sickness absences
• MSK conditions—such as sprains, carpal tunnel syndrome, and pain in the lower back or joints—are the reason for many preventable absences

Put simply, being in physical pain makes it hard to do your work—and that’s especially true for people in positions that demand manual labor and strenuous activities.

But even for desk workers, MSK pain can impede their ability to get their work done, particularly when you look at the impacts of this pain on mental well-being. Among people who experience MSK pain:

• 44% also experience anxiety
• 32% also experience depression
• 26% also experience sleep disorders

All of those can make it increasingly difficult for them to focus at work, which goes a long way in explaining why 27% of people with MSK pain say it impacts their productivity. These ill effects only worsen as MSK pain increases. And, unfortunately, musculoskeletal conditions are often left untreated. In fact, they’re the leading contributor to disability worldwide.

How a value-based center of excellence program can help employees who have MSK pain

The math seems pretty straightforward: reducing MSK pain should help reduce workplace absenteeism. Fortunately, employers can help workers get ahead of chronic MSK pain by providing:

• Nutrition and physical activity support and programs, especially those that focus on stretching and muscle conditioning
• Consultations focused on ergonomic office setups to support good posture and healthy movements
• Proper protections for any type of physical labor to ensure safety and proper form, reduce repetitive movements, or improve the overall work environment

However, even if you do all of those things, the unfortunate truth is that some people will still deal with MSK pain. In those cases, a center of excellence program like Carrum Health can connect members to top-quality healthcare providers.

Employees will benefit from high-quality care and the ability to explore more conservative treatment options like physical therapy before opting for surgery. If they do need surgery, the high-quality care they receive through a program like Carrum means a lower likelihood of failure or needing a corrective or secondary operation in the future.

And while you might think this would come with a steep price tag, a center of excellence program offers this care at little to no cost for the worker while also being significantly more cost-effective for the employer.

When seemingly everybody has aches and pains every now and then, musculoskeletal pain is easy to dismiss and normalize. But preventing and treating this pain is crucial for helping employees achieve their best—both at home and at work.

The information contained on this page is for informational purposes only. No material is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.