Presenteeism
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Presenteeism or working while sick is the act or culture of employees continuing to work as a performative measure, despite having reduced productivity levels or negative consequences. Reduced productivity during presenteeism is often due to illness, injury, exhaustion, or other conditions, but presenteeism can also describe working while contagiously sick, which has the added risk of creating a
workplace A workplace is a location where someone Work (human activity), works, for their employer or themselves, a place of employment. Such a place can range from a Small office/home office, home office to a large office building or factory. For Indust ...
epidemic An epidemic (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics ...
. Many different motives can lead to presenteeism.Johns, G. (2010): Presenteeism in the Workplace: A review and research agenda. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31, 519-542. An employee may come to work because they simply need the money and cannot afford to take time off due to illness. Doctors may attend work while
sick Sick may refer to: Medical conditions * Having a disease or infection * Vomiting (British) Music * The Sick, a Swedish band formed by two members of Dozer Albums * Sick (Loaded album), ''Sick'' (Loaded album), 2009 * Sick (Massacra album), ' ...
due to feelings of being irreplaceable. Additionally, one could go to work due to a love and devotion to the job; in this case, it could be considered an act of organizational citizenship and inspire admiration from colleagues. Other reasons include feeling that career prospects may be damaged if they take time off, and an expectation of presence driven from management. Presenteeism is engrained in the culture of certain industries and regions of the world. In Singapore and other East Asian countries, it is a common practice for employees to stay in the office even after their work is done, waiting until their boss leaves. Jobs with large workloads are often associated with presenteeism. Certain occupations such as
welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
and teaching may be more prone to presenteeism.
Workaholic A workaholic is a person who works compulsively. A workaholic experiences an inability to limit the amount of time they spend on work despite negative consequences such as damage to their relationships or health. There is no generally accepted ...
s and people who base their self-esteem on performance typically exhibit higher levels of presenteeism. While the contrasting subject of
absenteeism Absenteeism is a habitual pattern of absence from a duty or obligation without good reason. Generally, absenteeism is unplanned absences. Absenteeism has been viewed as an indicator of poor individual performance, as well as a breach of an implici ...
has historically received extensive attention in the
management science Management science (or managerial science) is a wide and interdisciplinary study of solving complex problems and making strategic decisions as it pertains to institutions, corporations, governments and other types of organizational entities. It is ...
s, presenteeism has only been studied recently.


Construct validity

Scholars have provided various descriptions of the concept. For instance, Simpson claimed that presenteeism is "the tendency to stay at work beyond the time needed for effective performance on the job."Simpson, R. (1998). Presenteeism, power and organizational change: Long hours as a career barrier and the impact on the working lives of women managers. ''
British Journal of Management The ''British Journal of Management'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal, which was established by David T. Otley in 1990, and is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the British Academy of Management. The current editors-in-chie ...
'', 9, S37–S50.
Aronsson, Gustafsson, and Dallner wrote that it means attending work even when one feels unhealthy.Aronsson, G., Gustafsson, K., & Dallner, M. (2000). Sick but yet at work. An empirical study of sickness presenteeism. ''Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 54, 502–509. In a recent review of the literature, Johns highlighted the lack of agreement between the many definitions. The author claimed that many of the definitions lack utility and that the term is most often defined as going to work while ill. He further noted that definitions of presenteeism, which are centered on attending work while sick, have received more evidence of
construct validity Construct validity concerns how well a set of indicators represent or reflect a concept that is not directly measurable. ''Construct validation'' is the accumulation of evidence to support the interpretation of what a measure reflects.Polit DF Beck ...
. In other words, when defined as coming to work while sick, presenteeism seems to relate more to logical outcome variables and correlates. Simply viewing presenteeism as a negative act that leads to productivity loss and decreased health may be restricting potential analysis of the construct.


Relationship with absenteeism

In some cases, scholars relate presenteeism to
absenteeism Absenteeism is a habitual pattern of absence from a duty or obligation without good reason. Generally, absenteeism is unplanned absences. Absenteeism has been viewed as an indicator of poor individual performance, as well as a breach of an implici ...
, which is the tendency not to show up for scheduled work. Furthermore, Johns described the notion that some believe that factors that reduce
absenteeism Absenteeism is a habitual pattern of absence from a duty or obligation without good reason. Generally, absenteeism is unplanned absences. Absenteeism has been viewed as an indicator of poor individual performance, as well as a breach of an implici ...
will increase presenteeism. He stated, however, that this is plausible but not always the case because he pointed out that Aronsson et al. found high rates of presenteeism in industries where absenteeism was also high. Additionally, research that examines absenteeism is at times used to draw conclusions about presenteeism. For example, Virtanen, Kivimaki, Elovainio, Vahtera, and Ferrie found that employees exhibited much higher rates of absenteeism once they became permanent workers.Virtanen, M., Kivimaki, M., Elovainio, J., Vahtera, J., & Ferrie, J. E. (2003). From insecure to secure employment: Changes in work, health, health related behaviors, and sickness absence. ''Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine'', 60, 948–953. The authors thought that this increase could have been due to decreases in the preexisting levels of presenteeism. However, they did not directly measure presenteeism. Commenting on such research behavior, Johns said in his review of the literature that researchers should not infer presenteeism from absenteeism data. Instead, the author noted that both constructs should be measured at the same time.


Antecedents


Temporary and permanent employment

Temporary and
permanent employment Permanent employees work for an employer and are paid directly by that employer. Permanent employees do not have a predetermined end date to employment. In addition to their wages, they often receive benefits like subsidized health care, paid vac ...
are often considered when examining the antecedents of presenteeism. More specifically, researchers have studied these positions with the thought that lack of
job security Job security is the probability that an individual will keep their job; a job with a high level of security is such that a person with the job would have a small chance of losing it. Many factors threaten job security: globalization, outsourcing, ...
will cause those who do not have permanent positions to come to work more often even if they are sick. This hypothesis, however, has not received complete support. Aronsson et al. discovered that permanent employees were more prone to presenteeism than those in more seasonal positions. In contrast, Aronsson and Gustafson found no effect of job type.Aronsson, G. & Gustafsson, K. (2005). Sickness presenteeism: Prevalence, attendance-pressure factors, and an outline of a model for research. ''Journal of Occupational and Environmental'' ''Medicine'', 47, 958–966. Furthermore, Heponiemi et al. found that fixed-term employees as opposed to permanent employees were less likely to report working while ill, and the work of Bockerman and Laukkanen supported this finding.Heponiemi, T., Elovainio, M., Pentti, J., Virtanen, M., Westerlund, H., Virtanen, P., Oksanen, T., Kivimäki, M., Vahtera, J. (2010). Association of contractual and subjective job insecurity with sickness presenteeism among public sector employees. ''Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine'', 52, 830-835. Bockerman, P. & Laukkanen, E. (2010). What makes you work while you are sick? Evidence from a survey of workers. ''European Journal of Public Health'', 20, 43-46. Based on these inconclusive results, Johns noted that researchers had to reconsider the job insecurity hypothesis.


Occupations and work environments

Individuals working in certain occupations may be more prone to presenteeism. In a study in Sweden, Aronsson et al. found that those offering welfare and teaching services demonstrated higher rates of presenteeism. The authors pointed out that these employees often worked with those in more vulnerable populations such as the elderly. Outside of education and healthcare, most of the occupations had lower rates of presenteeism; however, the results did suggest that higher risks jobs, which had more physical workload and
stress Stress may refer to: Science and medicine * Stress (biology), an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition * Stress (linguistics), relative emphasis or prominence given to a syllable in a word, or to a word in a phrase ...
, saw increased levels of presenteeism. Certain work environments may stimulate presenteeism. To explore this topic, Dew, Keefe, and Small qualitatively examined a private hospital, a large public hospital, and a small factory.Dew, K., Keefe, V., & Small, K. (2005). 'Choosing' to work when sick: Workplace presenteeism. ''Social Science & Medicine'', 60, 2273–2282. In the private hospital, there was little pressure from management to exhibit presenteeism; however, a sense of family seemed to exist between the staff, and a strong loyalty to coworkers pushed employees to come to work while unhealthy. The public hospital had a distant management, but presenteeism was fostered by "loyalty to professional image, colleagues, and the institution as a whole." Finally, in the factory, there was strong pressure from management for employees to exhibit presenteeism. Furthermore, workers often had few other employment options, which often resulted in increased presenteeism.


Ease of replacement

The ease with which one can be replaced on the job also affects levels of presenteeism. Specifically, if one feels that he or she cannot be replaced, that individual is more prone to attend work while sick. Doctors are often examined in this regard. For example, Jena et al. studied residents in training and noted high rates of presenteeism, which they concluded were the result of feeling irreplaceable.Jena, A., Baldwin, D., Daugherty, S., Meltzer, D., & Arora, V. (2010). Presenteeism among resident physicians. ''Journal of the American Medical Association'', 304, 1166-1168. Further extending the examination of the medical field, McKevitt, Morgan, Dundas, and Holland studied hundreds of healthcare professionals and found that more than 80 percent of respondents had worked while ill. Individuals listed some of the reasons they had not taken sick days, and many cited the fact that they felt large pressure to work.McKevitt, C., Morgan, M., Dundas, R., & Holland, W. W. (1997). Sickness absence and 'working through' illness: A comparison of two professional groups. ''Journal of Public Health Medicine'', 19, 295–300. In some cases, general practitioners did not want to burden their partners, and many felt a strong commitment to the job that prevented them from taking
sick leave Sick leave (or paid sick days or sick pay) is paid time off from work that workers can use to stay home to address their health needs without losing pay. It differs from paid vacation time or time off work to deal with personal matters, because sic ...
.


Workloads and job demands

Jobs that have large
workload The term workload can refer to a number of different yet related entities. An amount of labor Workload is the amount of work an individual has to do.Jex, S. M. (1998). Stress and job performance: Theory, research, and implications for managerial ...
s and many demands are often associated with higher levels of presenteeism. Caverely, Cunningham, and Macgregor studied Canadian firms and noted that presenteeism was often not the result of job insecurity.Caverley, N., Cunningham, J. B., & MacGregor, J. N. (2007). Sickness presenteeism, sickness absenteeism, and health following restructuring in a public service organization. ''Journal of'' ''Management Studies'', 44, 304–319. Instead individuals felt they had to come to work while ill or injured because they believed they had high workloads, many deadlines, and often very little backup support. Complementing this finding, McKevitt et al. also found that individuals feared their work would pile up if they did not go to their job. Moreover, Demerouti, Le Blanc, Bakker, Schaufeli, and Hox examined job demands and found that they had a positive relationship with presenteeism.Demerouti, E., Le Blanc, P. M., Bakker, A. B., Schaufeli, W. B., & Hox, J. (2009). Present but sick: A three-wave study on job demands, presenteeism and burnout. ''Career Development'' ''International'', 14, 50–68. In the case of this study, the authors defined job demands as aspects of the job that require physical and/or psychological effort.


Workaholism

Those who exhibit
workaholism A workaholic is a person who works compulsively. A workaholic experiences an inability to limit the amount of time they spend on work despite negative consequences such as damage to their relationships or health. There is no generally accepted ...
tend to demonstrate higher levels of presenteeism. As defined by Schaufeli, Bakker, van der Heijden, and Prins, workaholics tend to work excessively and compulsively, and they are internally motivated to work to an excessive extent.Schaufeli, W., Bakker, A., van der Heijden, F., & Prins, J. (2009). Workaholism among medical residents: It is the combination of working excessively and compulsively that counts. ''International'' ''Journal of Stress Management'', 16, 249-272. In addition to their high levels of presenteeism, Schaufeli et al. discovered that workaholics also displayed the highest burnout and lowest happiness levels relative to other groups who were not defined as workaholics.


Performance-based self-esteem

Performance-based
self-esteem Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) d ...
(PBSE) has also been considered another antecedent of presenteeism. This term describes the idea that individuals' self-esteem may depend on their performance.Love, J., Grimby-Ekman, A., Eklof, M., Hagberg, M., & Dellve, L. (2010). "Pushing oneself too hard": Performance-based self-esteem as a predictor of sickness presenteeism among young adult women and men—A cohort study. ''Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine'', 52, 603-609. Employees who demonstrate high levels of this construct have to prove their worth while on the job. Love et al. found that PBSE positively predicted presenteeism; however, the authors also discovered that the relationship between PBSE and presenteeism was strengthened when workers experienced high physical and psychological work demands. This finding suggested that demanding work environments could interact with employees' overambitious work styles, which could result in over performance and increased levels of presenteeism.


Health factors

Certain health factors serve as risk factors for presenteeism as opposed to absenteeism. Boles, Pelletier, and Lynch examined a variety of emotional and physical health symptoms and noted that the odds of reporting presenteeism were largest for those with high stress compared to those without stress.Boles, M., Pelletier, B., & Lynch, W. (2004). The relationship between health risks and work productivity. ''Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine'', 46, 737–745. Those with poor diet and less emotional fulfillment also reported higher levels of presenteeism than those without these conditions. The researchers noted that individuals with diabetes tended to report higher levels of
absenteeism Absenteeism is a habitual pattern of absence from a duty or obligation without good reason. Generally, absenteeism is unplanned absences. Absenteeism has been viewed as an indicator of poor individual performance, as well as a breach of an implici ...
as opposed to those without the condition. Individuals who partook in no physical activity were more prone to report higher levels of both absenteeism and presenteeism compared to those who took part in some physical activity.


Consequences


Productivity loss

One consequence of presenteeism is
productivity Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proces ...
loss, and scholars have attempted to estimate these productivity numbers. While examining productivity decrements, however, it is implied that losses are measured relative to not having a particular sickness or health issue. Furthermore, in comparison to being absent from a job, those exhibiting presenteeism may be far more productive. Nonetheless, a large study by Goetzel et al. estimated that on average in the United States, an employee's presenteeism costs or lost on-the-job productivity are approximately $255.Goetzel, R. Z., Long, S. R., Ozminkowski, R. J., Hawkins, K., Wang, S., & Lynch, W. (2004). Health, absence, disability, and presenteeism cost estimates of certain physical and mental health conditions affecting U.S. employees. ''Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine'', 46, 398–412. Furthermore, the authors concluded that of all the health related costs faced by employers, one fifth to three fifths of those expenses could be attributable to on-the-job productivity losses. Complementing that study, Schultz and Edington provided a detailed review of the effects of certain health conditions on productivity.Schultz, A. B., & Edington, D. W. (2007). Employee health and presenteeism: A systematic review. ''Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation'', 17, 547–579. These authors examined conditions such as allergies, arthritis, chronic pain, diabetes, and mental health disorders. The studies in the review showed, for example, that increases in pollen are associated with decreased performance.Burton, W., Conti, D., Chen, C., Schultz, A., & Edington, D. (2001). The impact of allergies and allergy treatment on productivity. ''Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine'', 43, 64-71. Moreover, Schultz and Edington noted that chronic pain had to be studied more thoroughly to better understand its effects on productivity.


Poor health and exhaustion

Exhaustion Fatigue describes a state of tiredness that does not resolve with rest or sleep. In general usage, fatigue is synonymous with extreme tiredness or exhaustion that normally follows prolonged physical or mental activity. When it does not resolve ...
and future poor health are often other consequences of presenteeism. For example, Bergstrom, Bodin, Hagberg, Aronsson, and Josephson found that sickness presenteeism was a risk factor for future
sick leave Sick leave (or paid sick days or sick pay) is paid time off from work that workers can use to stay home to address their health needs without losing pay. It differs from paid vacation time or time off work to deal with personal matters, because sic ...
.Bergström, G., Bodin, L., Hagberg, J., Aronnson, G., & Josephson, M. (2009). Sickness presenteeism today, sickness absenteeism tomorrow? A prospective study on sickness presenteeism and future sickness absenteeism. ''Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine'', 51, 629-638. Furthermore, in their study of job demands and presenteeism, Demerouti et al. found that presenteeism resulted in increased exhaustion. Presenteeism can also have an effect on occupational injuries for workers. A 2012 study from the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH, ) is the United States federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related injury and illness. NIOSH is part of the C ...
showed that workers with access to paid sick leave were 28% less likely overall to sustain nonfatal injuries than workers without access to paid sick leave.Asfaw, A., Cryan, R., & Rosa, R.(2012). Paid sick leave and nonfatal occupational injuries. ''American Journal of Public Health'', 102(9), e59-e64.


Workplace epidemics

In the case of an infectious disease such as influenza, a culture of presenteeism will inevitably also lead to further infections throughout the workforce, compounding the ill-effects and leading to a much wider problem. In a 2014 survey by Canada Life Insurance, over 80% of respondents stated that they had become ill as a result of an infection contracted in the workplace.


Measurement of presenteeism and its impact on productivity

Scholars have often measured presenteeism in terms of how often an individual attends work while unhealthy. For instance, Aronsson et al. asked participants to what extent over the past year they had gone to work despite feeling they should have taken sick leave. Respondents could choose from never, once, between two and 5 times, and more than 5 times. Other researchers have examined the frequency of presenteeism by asking participants a similar question. The responses, however, were on a scale of "spells of one day presenteeism, spells of 2-4 day presenteeism, and spells of 5 day or more presenteeism."Munir, F., Yarker, J., Haslam, C., Long, H., Leka, S., Griffeths, A., & Cox, C. (2007). Work factors related to psychological and health-related distress among employees with chronic illnesses. ''Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation'', 17, 259–277. Aside from measuring the frequency of presenteeism, scholars often look to measure the effects of poor health on job productivity. The Work Limitations Questionnaire (WLQ) is often used to perform this task.Lerner, D., Amick, B. C., Rogers, W. H., Malspeis, S., Bungay, K., & Cynn, D. (2001). The work limitations questionnaire. ''Medical Care'', 39, 72–85. With 25 items, it examines the extent to which respondents can handle time, physical, mental-interpersonal, and output demands. Additionally, The Stanford Presenteeism Scale seeks to determine the effects of health on productivity. It measures participants' abilities to concentrate and perform work despite having a primary health problem.Koopman, C., Pelletier, K. R., Murray, J. F., Sharda, C. E., Berger, M. L., Turpin, R. S. (2002). Stanford Presenteeism Scale: Health status and employee productivity. ''Journal of Occupational and'' ''Environmental Medicine'', 44, 14–20. Using six items, respondents determine the extent to which they agree with statements that describe how their health condition may or may not affect their work. The scale measures two factors that the authors labeled as completing work and avoiding distraction. Finally, another measure often used is the World Health Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ).Kessler, R., Barber C., Beck A., Berglund, P., Clearly, P., McKenas, D., Pronk, N., Simon, G., Stang., P., Ustun, T., & Wang, P. (2003). The World Health Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ). ''Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine'', 45, 156-174. This self-report measure acquires information about respondents' health conditions and has them provide perceptions of their
job performance Job performance assesses whether a person performs a job well. Job performance, studied academically as part of industrial and organizational psychology, also forms a part of human resources management. Performance is an important criterion for org ...
. The WLQ and HPQ have become the two most popular instruments; however, one can access more thorough reviews of instruments that have been created to estimate the effects of health on productivity.Lofland, J. H., Pizzi, L., & Frick, K. D. (2004). A review of health-related workplace productivity loss instruments. ''Pharmacoeconomics'', 22, 165–184. doi: 1170-7690/04/0003-0165/$31.00/0


Implications for practice

Given the prominence and costs of presenteeism, scholars have suggested a variety of courses of action for employers. Companies should implement wellness programs for their employees aimed at increasing health and productivity. These organizations, however, must be aware that the effects of these programs may have an immediate impact on presenteeism as opposed to simply absenteeism. Firms must be cognizant of this fact when evaluating the effectiveness of their programs. Complementing this suggestion, Schultz and Edington wrote that employees must be educated effectively so they can better manage their health. They also commented that employers need to consider the health of workers who are low risk along with those who have high-risk health conditions. In the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, one other proposed response has been to require that paid sick and family leave be provided to all workers. In November 2006,
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
became the first jurisdiction to pass such a law.Zappone, Christian "Paid sick leave may be next big cause." CNN Money (November 17, 2006)


Future directions and research

While progress has been made in regards to understanding presenteeism, many possible topics of inquiry still remain. In his literature review, Johns said that presenteeism had to be related to other constructs such as work attitudes and personality. Additionally, lessons from absenteeism could be applied to presenteeism. For instance, absenteeism can be defined as voluntary and involuntary, and scholars could consider applying such ideas to presenteeism. Lastly, the construct could be related to other elements of the work. Specifically, how does presenteeism relate to
remote work Remote work, also called work from home (WFH), work from anywhere, telework, remote job, mobile work, and distance work is an employment arrangement in which employees do not commute to a central place of work, such as an office building, ware ...
? Is an individual who works from home while he or she is sick exhibiting presenteeism?


See also

*
Absenteeism Absenteeism is a habitual pattern of absence from a duty or obligation without good reason. Generally, absenteeism is unplanned absences. Absenteeism has been viewed as an indicator of poor individual performance, as well as a breach of an implici ...
*
Karoshi , which can be translated into "overwork death", is a Japanese term relating to occupation-related sudden death. The most common medical causes of karoshi deaths are heart attacks and strokes due to stress and malnourishment or fasting. Menta ...
* Leaveism * Perfect attendance award *
Self-esteem Self-esteem is confidence in one's own worth or abilities. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs about oneself (for example, "I am loved", "I am worthy") as well as emotional states, such as triumph, despair, pride, and shame. Smith and Mackie (2007) d ...
*
Sick leave Sick leave (or paid sick days or sick pay) is paid time off from work that workers can use to stay home to address their health needs without losing pay. It differs from paid vacation time or time off work to deal with personal matters, because sic ...
*
Work–life balance Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an animal tr ...
*
Workaholic A workaholic is a person who works compulsively. A workaholic experiences an inability to limit the amount of time they spend on work despite negative consequences such as damage to their relationships or health. There is no generally accepted ...
*
Workload The term workload can refer to a number of different yet related entities. An amount of labor Workload is the amount of work an individual has to do.Jex, S. M. (1998). Stress and job performance: Theory, research, and implications for managerial ...


References

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