High job demands, stress behind 'presenteeism'

London: High job demands, stress and job insecurity are among the main reasons why people go to work even when they are ill, according to new research.

The study by researchers at University of East Anglia (UEA) in the UK found that presenteeism - employees going to work when sick - not only stems from stress, but from raised motivation, for example high job satisfaction and a strong sense of commitment to the organisation.

One of the significant links to presenteeism is the severity of organisational policies used to monitor or reduce staff absence, such as strict trigger points for disciplinary action, job insecurity, limited paid sick leave, or few absence days allowed without a medical certificate.

Lead author Mariella Miraglia, a lecturer at UEA's Norwich Business School, noted that presenteeism is associated with work and personal factors, not just medical conditions.

Also, that these factors are more strongly related to, and so more able to predict, presenteeism than absenteeism.

In previous research presenteeism has been linked to errors, lower performance, exacerbating health problems and affecting wellbeing, with more productivity loss than absenteeism.

"Working while ill can compound the effects of the initial illness and result in negative job attitudes and withdrawal from work," said Ms Miraglia, who worked with Gary Johns of Concordia University in Canada.

"However, the possible negative consequences of being absent can prompt employees to show up ill or to return to work when not totally recovered," said Ms Miraglia.

The research analysed data from 61 previous studies involving more than 175,960 participants.

Ms Miraglia developed an analytical model to identify the most significant causes of presenteeism and absenteeism, with work and personal characteristics relating differently to presenteeism depending on whether they followed a 'health impairment' or 'attitudinal/motivational' path.

Job demands, such as workload, understaffing, overtime and time pressure, along with difficulty of finding cover and personal financial difficulties, were found to be key reasons why people might not take a day off.

Conflict between work and family, and vice versa, and being exposed to harassment, abuse, and discrimination at work were also positively related to presenteeism.

This is because these negative experiences can exacerbate stress and harm health, requiring employees to choose between going to work and staying away.

Those who had a supportive work environment, for example supportive colleagues and a good relationship with managers, felt they did not have to go to work when ill, and were both more satisfied with their jobs and healthier.

Optimism was linked to presenteesim, in that those with a positive outlook were more willing to carry on with their work while ill, researchers said.

The study was published in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.

 

 

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