Job 'Presenteeism' Is Not the Most Brilliant Idea

A new study finds that employees who ignore medical discomfort in order to be present in the workplace – a phenomenon called presenteeism – may not be making the best decision. The work also looks at the categories of workers that are most likely to make these decisions.

There are various motives that drive people to come to work even if they are sick, but these reason are extremely diverse. The team did find that people working in early education, for example, tended to do this more than others.

In this particular case, the reason is that educators feel a social responsibility to attend their jobs even if they are not feeling up to the task. Other employees feel like their job is insecure, especially in the current economic climate, and seek not to give their employers any reason to kick them out.

This is further evidenced by the fact that – statistically speaking – those in positions of greater security tend to take days off when they are sick. Details of the new study appear in the latest issue of the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.

“Secure employees don’t fear retribution for an occasional absence because of sickness,” says Concordia University research scientists and study author Gary Johns, PhD, quoted by PsychCentral.

The trends the group identified were found to exist in people suffering from acute, chronic or episodic illness. Interestingly, it was found that health professionals were among the most likely to show up for work even though they are sick.

“Often, a person might feel socially obligated to attend work despite illness, while other employees feel organizational pressure to attend work despite medical discomfort,” Johns goes on to explain.

He and his team carried out a survey of 44 individuals from a host of professions. The questionnaires the scientists applied monitored aspects such as absenteeism, presenteeism, job requirements and work experience, among others.

The participants were asked to fill out these questionnaires based on their work behavior over the past six months. On average, test subjects reported 1.8 absenteeism days and 3 presenteeism days.

“Respondents who viewed absenteeism as more legitimate reported more absences, more sick days and fewer presenteeism days,” Johns explains. People in interdependent projects or who worked in teams reported more presenteeism days on average.

Human resources departments should start quantifying the effects that presenteeism has on the work place. While job continuity is important without a doubt, it is worthwhile to note here that productivity will lack in both quantity and quality.