Presenteeism facts for kids

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 epidemic.

Many different motives can lead to presenteeism. 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 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 and teaching may be more prone to presenteeism. Workaholics and people who base their self-esteem on performance typically exhibit higher levels of presenteeism.

While the contrasting subject of absenteeism has historically received extensive attention in the management sciences, presenteeism has only been studied recently.