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Higher staff absence among female employees: five causes and practical solutions

18 March 2026 - Written by Minke Sonneveld
Female absenteeism. Image shows four women in the workplace, sitting and standing around two desks with laptops on them.

In short

  • Women have a significantly higher absence rate than men in the workplace. Sickness absence is caused, among other things, by health complaints specific to women.
  • Failure to recognise these health complaints in a timely manner leads to billions in extra costs for the employer due to aspects such as mandatory wage continuation, necessary replacements, and lower productivity.
  • Employers can retain female talent by focusing on timely recognition of health complaints, and by creating a safe, open company culture in which taboos surrounding hormonal complaints are broken down.

From recent figures from the National Working Conditions Survey1 Data from 2024 show that the absenteeism rate in the Netherlands among women (5.8%) is significantly higher than the absenteeism rate among men (4.0%).

Women-specific health complaints – such as endometriosis, hormonal issues, and mental health problems – are not always identified in a timely manner, leading to an additional cost of €7.6 billion annually.2. These additional costs are partly due to lower productivity and increased absenteeism. By focusing on timely recognition and treatment of complaints, costs associated with absence can be saved. Additionally, psychosocial workload (PSA) a role in female absenteeism3.

However, many taboos and assumptions still surround this subject. According to TNO, over 20 percent of working women feel that discussing hormone-related health complaints at work would hinder their career. By better understanding female absenteeism and focusing on prevention, employers can not only retain staff but also save costs.

What are the causes of female absenteeism?

Hormonal complaints From the TNO report Hormone-related health problems in women: the impact on work (2025) it turns out that 80 percent of working women experience hormone-related health complaints, with 34 percent even experiencing complaints regularly.

Caregiving tasks According to this report, women spend an average of 13.6 hours per week on care and household tasks, compared to just 9.7 hours for men. On top of this, women more often find these tasks burdensome than men do.

Increased absenteeism due to pregnancy: In 2024, 2.9% of female absenteeism outside of official maternity leave was (in)directly related to pregnancy symptoms, according to the NEA.

Burn-out in (young) women: One in five employees reported suffering from burnout or exhaustion in 2024, according to the NEA. These complaints are more common among women than men. Furthermore, there appears to be a link: the target group of women who regularly experience hormonal health problems are more likely than average to suffer from burnout complaints.

Psychosocial risks (PSR): Women are more likely to experience stressful work than men. Stressful work is defined as work with high workload and low autonomy. Work in the hospitality, healthcare, and education sectors is experienced as most stressful by both men and women, and these are precisely the sectors where many more women (65.2%) than men (33.3%) are employed, according to TNO. This type of work leads to more than average risk of overexertion or burnout complaints.

Low eNPS: A low organisation eNPS means, among other things, that employees feel less engaged with the organisation. This results in a higher absence rate compared to an organisation with more engaged employees.4

What are the effects of absenteeism?

Sickness absence directly incurs extra costs for the employer. Continued wage payment during absence, staff turnover, and productivity all play a role in this.

  • Salary payment and replacement: Sickness absence often leads to a double financial burden: in addition to statutory wage continuation, extra costs must be incurred for deploying replacement staff.
  • Lower productivity: Employees with health complaints are often less productive. According to TNO, women with hormone-related complaints (29%) are more likely to report not being able to perform their work as well than employees with general complaints (18%).
  • Progress and trust Ultimately, the above points lead to higher staff turnover and less trust in the workplace. The effect is greater for women with hormone-related health conditions.

Hoe ondersteun je vrouwelijke medewerkers om ziekteverzuim te voorkomen?

Data from the National Working Conditions Survey (NEA) and TNO shows that hormone-related complaints can significantly impact the productivity of female employees. In practice, this sometimes leads to employers having less confidence in hiring female employees who are pregnant or going through the menopause. As well as being undesirable, this unfairly places the responsibility for absenteeism on the women themselves. So, what *does* help?

  • Ensure correct diagnosis: Because menopausal symptoms strongly resemble those of burnout, this can lead to diagnostic uncertainty and hinder treatment, according to the RIVM. 5
  • Improve the work atmosphere One in five respondents (20.3%) in the TNO study indicate that there are sometimes crude jokes made at work about menstruation, pregnancy, or the menopause. Women experience this slightly more often (23.1%) than men (17.6%).
  • Create a safe working culture: More than one in five women (21.7%) in the TNO study believe that you should not show any hormone-related health complaints if you want to advance your career, while only 5.6%of men share this opinion. An inclusive and open company culture is essential for retaining female talent.

Conclusion

The sickness absence rate among female employees is significantly higher than among men. This difference arises, amongst other things, from women-specific health complaints, a higher Psychosocial workload a heavier Care tasks. Failure to recognise these factors in a timely manner not only leads to lower productivity and unnecessary absenteeism, but can cost employers billions annually.

To effectively reduce absenteeism, an active role from the employer is required. By focusing on prevention, diagnostics, work atmosphere and work culture, employers can better support their staff while also saving costs.

Bibliography

  1. Van Dam, L., Pleijers, A., Hulsegge, G., & Van Den Heuvel, S. (2025). National Survey of Working Conditions 2024: results at a glance. In TNO Repository. ︎
  2. Bosmans, J., & Schotanus, A. (2024). Cost-benefit analysis WOMEN Inc. WOMEN Inc. ︎
  3. KM, O. H., Van Veelen, R., De Vries, A., Couzy, P., & Soeter, M. (2025). Hormone-related health complaints in women: the impact on work: an in-depth study of the National Working Conditions Survey. In TNO Repository. ︎
  4. Gallup, Inc. (2026, 16 February). The Benefits of Employee Engagement. Gallup.com. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236927/employee-engagement-drives-growth.aspx ︎
  5. National Institute for Public Health and the Environment. (2022, 31 May). Working during the menopause. https://www.rivm.nl/publicaties/werken-tijdens-overgang ︎