Introduction: Physical inactivity is the fourth biggest risk factor for global mortality. In Brazilian metallurgical industries, workers present a high incidence of musculoskeletal symptoms as one of the main causes of absenteeism. Objectives: To investigate the impact of physical activity levels and leisure-time physical exercise on musculoskeletal symptoms and absenteeism among administrative and production workers of a metallurgical industry. Methods: This is a transversal study that included 206 workers. We applied the Modified Baecke Questionnaire, leisure-time physical activity and leisure-time physical exercise domains), as well as the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire regarding symptom occurrence and severity scores (1-4), and compared levels of absenteeism. Our sample was divided into 2 groups: production and office workers. Results: We observed a significant difference between the groups regarding symptom severity score 3 (p = 0.03) and absenteeism (p = 0.02); the production group presented higher results. There was a correlation between leisure-time physical exercise and absenteeism (r = -0.57, p = 0.01) and between leisure-time physical activity and absenteeism (r = -0.55, p = 0.01) in the production worker group, whereas in the office worker group, leisure-time physical activity and symptom severity score 4 were correlated (r = 0.63, p = 0.02). Conclusions: Production workers presented higher occurrences of symptom severity score 3 and absenteeism; increased levels of leisure-time physical activity and physical exercise reduced absenteeism. Leisure-time physical activity was correlated with severity score 4 in the office worker group.