Sickness absenteeism in a federal public education institution.

Introduction: Knowledge on the profile of sickness absenteeism among civil servants reveals their health and working conditions and provides valuable information for the creation of policies aimed at surveillance of servants' health.

Objectives: To investigate sickness absenteeism in a federal public education institution.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional, documentary, descriptive-exploratory study with a quantitative approach that dealt with the occurrence of sickness absenteeism among federal civil servants at National Institute of Northern Minas Gerais (Instituto Federal do Norte de Minas Gerais).