Presenteeism at work

Article written by Lukas Monfette, Human Resources Advisor and Coordinator of Calls and Interventions at Brio EAP.

Have you ever come to work knowing full well that you wouldn’t be able to give your best to get the job done? Perhaps you had a cold or were preoccupied with a personal problem? If your answer is yes, you are or have been a presenter. Be aware that this is a normalized and widespread behavior that can have unsuspected impacts.

With this article, we’d like to raise awareness of presenteeism and help you understand whether your presence at work (physical or virtual) is always the best choice compared to absence, for both you and your employer.

Definition

When physical or psychological health problems affect you, you have the choice of being present at work or being absent. The first alternative describes presenteeism, i.e. working in spite of health problems. The second refers to sick leave (hereafter referred to as absenteeism ), i.e. not attending work for health reasons. Simply put, these behaviours are complementary rather than independent (Gosselin and Lauzier, 2011).

How to choose?

Presenteeism is a resilient behavior. You choose to adapt to the situation (health problem) in order to achieve a goal (for example, completing your work tasks within the allotted time). In other words, you try to balance your health and your performance. However, this choice is not always the most appropriate in the long term.

Indeed, “taking time off can serve to prevent a deterioration in health, reduce tension or recuperate from an uncomfortable situation and thus promote future presence” ( Foucher, 2019 ).

Consider the type of presenteeism and your current situation

Absenteeism and several types of presenteeism coexist in everyday organizational life. According to the model proposed by Karanika-Murray and Biron (2020), there are four types of presenteeism that you need to be aware of in order to make the right decisions for your health and performance at work (see Figure 1).

Consider the factors that influence you

Many individual and organizational factors can influence this choice, making each situation unique in terms of motivations and pressures.

That said, the statistics show widespread concerns: “Over half (54%) of respondents do so because they feel they have too much work to do, and 33% don’t want to use a sick day”.

Reviewing this with your manager can help you put adaptive measures in place. We invite you to take a look at Table 1.

Conclusion

Absenteeism and presenteeism will remain unavoidable phenomena in organizations, because each has a distinct function. That’s why it’s important to consider presenteeism as a complementary alternative to absenteeism. To do this, you need to consider the aspects and consequences of presenteeism on your health and performance. It would be wrong to think that it’s always better to show up for work. To help you think about this, and to encourage conversation with your employer, here are a few pertinent questions to ask yourself:

• Does my work have a positive effect on my well-being (for example, does it give me a sense of satisfaction, fulfillment or belonging)?
• Is my recovery significantly slowed by my presence at work?
• Is my productivity enough to justify my salary?
• Can I transmit a contagious disease to my colleagues at work?
• Can I postpone some less urgent or less important tasks?
• Does my work offer me support resources to help me through this difficult period?

By reflecting on these questions, you can determine the tipping point that applies to your reality. At Brio PAE, we’re convinced that your health and well-being as employees must be the top priority in this choice.