Presenteeism rife in today's workplace
Dated: 08/02/2012
Headlines from Nuffield Health's poll of 1600 workers that revealed 72% had gone into work despite being sick on at least one oaacsion in the past year, will probably come as no surprise to many HR and health and wellbeing professionals.
This study, which is reported in the latest issue of People Management magazine, indicates that this trend is set to continue as 30% of respondents say they were more likely to practice such 'presenteeism' now than before the downturn.
Amanda K Smith, executive committee member of UK EAPA and clinical director at Amian EAP argues it's smaller organisations and those that don't pay employees for the first few days of absence that are also at significant risk of presenteeism. "Although these organisations tend to record fewer reported sickness absence days than their larger counterparts offering more comprehensive sickness policies, smaller businesses are at the mercy of employees who are more likely to come into work before they’re well enough so they don’t lose out on pay or support from their colleagues," she says.
Despite this, Amanda Smith argues, many employers continue to question why they need to provide employee support services, such as EAPs, for non-work related issues. "Too many employers have not realised the potential, devastating impact of an employee who is in work but distracted, anxious, depressed and less productive that they would ordinarily be. The impact of this situation on the business is, all too often, underestimated," she explains.
"In fact, employees bring their whole selves to work and as a result, those who are suffering from issues in their personal life are likely to bring these problems into the workplace – as well as taking work-related issues into their home life. With this in mind, EAPs are a popular solution that employers can make available to address personal and professional issues and enable employees to remain in work, productive and well," says Amanda Smith.
"By offering swift access to immediate support by telephone or face-to-face counselling, for example, encourages individuals to understand their options and access the advice, information and support that enables them to focus on work while they’re present in the office," she says.
You can read People Management's news story on the Nuffield Health research here.
