The negative effect of presenteeism

Presenteeism in the workplace

Presenteeism is where employees keep going to work despite being sick. They are not able to be productive but due to one reason or another, they feel as if they have to be ‘present’ at work at all times.

Many jobs and positions only require a computer nowadays, and some offices are seeing a move to remote working. But even with this, some employees go into the office at every opportunity. Common reasons for this are expectations from management and peer pressure.

From an employer standpoint, it might seem like no harm is being done by having an always present workforce. Being around more to work around the office or work on a website like 1k daily profit and 1k daily profit review can seem advantageous. However, productivity can actually be negatively affected by the number of hours worked. Presenteeism can have a disastrous event on employee productivity.

Nowadays we must be very careful with sickness. Sick employees generally work less attentively and do not make clear decisions. On top of this, they could spread illness to other employees

What can a company or business do to prevent presenteeism in the workplace?

Flexible work

As mentioned previously, work is becoming increasingly remote. The pandemic has shown many businesses that they do not require to be in the office. As we return to the office, businesses should think about a flexible work schedule where employees can spend a few days of the workweek at home.

Having a flexible work schedule will accomplish a few things. The first point is that it would curve expectations from management. You will be showing employees that being present at work does not affect their performance. Peer pressure will affect them less as a result as well, as they won’t feel pressured to be at the office all the time. If you haven’t already, move to a cloud-based infrastructure. This will allow employees to work to their full potential from any remote point.

Sick leave policies

It is important to make sure employees have the right amount of paid sick days available to them. Research shows that there are huge differences across Europe concerning sickness benefits. Sick leave cover needs to be sure to cover the employee safely.

Many employees have financial obligations and people to support. If they become sick, they are much less likely to call in, as it would result in not getting a full day’s pay. Some employees may even feel they are expected to come in while sick, and it needs to be clear this is not the case. Presenteeism actually costs a business about three times more than absenteeism on average. Sick leave policies should work to combat presenteeism.

Promote employees health and wellbeing.

There is a certain level of responsibility that comes to the employee and business for the employee’s health. Providing training and awareness sessions can benefit employees to take their well-being more seriously. It also helps them learn advice and methods on how to improve their health. Focusing on health training can create a more open culture for disclosing health conditions. This removes peer pressure from the fear of being judge by others. Companies can also encourage fitness to their employees by either providing equipment on-site or subsidised fitness memberships. Annual leave should be encouraged to employees as it promotes mental and physical health.

Presenteeism is a serious issue and businesses need to treat it as such. It can lead a major decline in productivity. With how technology is so remote nowadays, businesses should not pressure employees to be in the office so often.