Company X introduced a mandatory employee wellness program that included gym memberships and ergonomic workstations. Over the subsequent twelve months, worker absenteeism dropped by 18 percent. The management concluded that the wellness program was responsible for the decline in absenteeism.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens management's conclusion?

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: B. During the same period, a major restructuring resulted in layoffs that made remaining workers fearful of taking sick leave

  1. Step 1: Identify the argument's causal structure: management concludes that the employee wellness program caused the 18 percent reduction in worker absenteeism.
  2. Step 2: To weaken a causal conclusion, introduce a plausible alternative cause that independently accounts for the observed drop in absenteeism over the same period.
  3. Step 3: If concurrent corporate layoffs caused workers to fear taking sick leave, attendance was maintained by job insecurity rather than wellness initiatives, directly severing the claimed causal link.
Answer
During the same period, a major restructuring resulted in layoffs that made remaining workers fearful of taking sick leave.

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