Sickness presenteeism, sickness absenteeism, and health following restructuring in a public service organization
Sickness presenteeism, sickness absenteeism, and health following restructuring in a public service organization
Caverley N., Cunningham J.B., MacGregor J.N. Journal of Management Studies (UK), March 2007, Vol. 44 No. 2, Start page: 304, No of pages: 16
Purpose – To determine the relationship between sickness presenteeism,absenteeism and employee health. Design/methodology/approach – Puts forward how greater attention is being paid to the issue of sickness presenteeism, described as where people carry on working but suffer from reduced productivity due to illness or disability. Refers to recent relevant studies concerned with sickness presenteeism; outlines how the literature suggests that the problem of sickness presenteeism is on the rise due to the fact that employees are substituting sickness presence for sickness absence. Undertakes to test the “substitution proposition”; presents a number of hypotheses that were then tested on data collected from employees working at a Canadian public service organization that, prior to the study, had implemented a multi-year downsizing initiative and workforce reduction of over 30 percent. Findings – Reveals how, on average, employees attended work while they were ill or injured significantly more often than they stayed away while sick;considers that presenteeism was being substituted for absenteeism and was a better indicator of the health of the workforce; identifies those factors that influenced employees decision to work when ill or injured. Research limitations/implications – Self-reported absence, presenteeism, overall health, job security and overtime; makes suggestions for further research. Originality/value – Focuses on the issue of sickness presteeism as an important indicator of the health of a workforce.ISSN: 0022-2380Reference: 36AG962
Keywords: Absenteeism, Sick leave, Employee behaviour
