Working During Short-Term Illness Is Detrimental to Health

According to an editorial piece published in the latest issue of the esteemed British Medical Journal (BMJ), working during so-called short-term illnesses can have severe, long-term health effects.

Recently, managers began having the habit of asking their employees to be present at the work while they are sick, provided that the condition is not overly-severe. But this habit is extremely harmful, experts now say, and should be discontinued immediately.

This is a new issue that people in the workforce have to deal with. The habit, in which management encourages people to come in even if they are not feeling well, is called presenteeism.

But applying it leads to health and productivity impairments later on, which make employers lose a lot more money than if they'd simply given their workers the much-needed day(s) off. Experts no classify presenteeism as a health-debilitating behavior.

Victoria University of Wellington sociologist Dr. Kevin Dew says that the vast majority of people who work when sick are under a great deal of stress and pressure, which is precisely what they should be avoiding as they recover from their condition.

Nowadays, presenteeism is also encouraged by factors other than company management, such as for example by the fear of being laid off, or the current economic decline, which makes the job market volatile and untrustworthy.

Those who have a job are desperate to keep it, and would go at any lengths to make sure of this, including showing up for work when they are sick. Employees who do not have backups while they are away, or whose work accumulates as they are gone, are also more inclined to practice this behavior.

Other factors that press employees towards working against their health include concerns about promotions, fear of being fired, high job demands, limited sick leaves, and low or no job satisfaction.

Furthermore, employers do not recognize depression and migraine as legitimate reasons for taking a day off. Given that these are chronic conditions, they only get worse with time. They can lead to musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, enhanced depression, and serious coronary events.

“Presenteeism should be taken seriously if we are concerned with occupational health or workplace productivity,” Dew says. Discouraging over-commitment to work should also become a priority for management, which shouldn't ask super-human feats from their employees.

“Presenteeism is a complex phenomenon that needs to be approached from several different levels including workplace culture, workplace policies, and carefully considered interventions from health practitioners,” the expert adds.

“Managers and occupational physicians need to be alert to the findings that even though presenteeism may have some positive effects in the short term […] it is likely to be negative in the long term,” Dew concludes, quoted by PsychCentral.