When workers call in sick, employers who feel annoyed should rethink their reaction. They’ve just heard good news.
According to a Swedish study, sick employees who drag themselves to work have higher rates of future absences due to illness than colleagues who stay home and recuperate. Working while ill for more than five days in one year results in a 40 to 50 percent chance of requiring more than 30 sick days in the next two years.
By coming to work sick, people risk lengthening their own recovery, infecting coworkers and customers, and diminishing their productivity. “Presenteeism – arriving at work impaired by an illness, injury, or medical condition – is twice as big as absenteeism in the USA and accounts for two-thirds of company productivity losses,” says Ronald Kessler, a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School. “Productivity losses eclipse the costs of absenteeism and medical and disability benefits.”
Guilt and fear
So why do employees stumble to work and slog through the day when common sense tells them to stay in bed? CCH, a provider of research information, found that 65 percent of those interviewed have too much work and dread returning to the huge backlog, 56 percent have no one to cover for them, and 55 percent are reluctant to use vacation time for illnesses.
Some people fear being fired. For others, coming to work reflects their level of commitment and dedication. They often feel responsible if something does not go well in their absence, and guilt for overburdening their colleagues with their responsibilities. Many more punch in to avoid a loss of pay. Whatever the reason, researchers addressing presenteeism are finding options for employers to curb the problem.
Presenteeism is a costly threat. According to one study, it accounts for 61 percent of workers’ total lost productivity and medical costs. Absenteeism, however, accounts for 21 percent of production loss, or an average of 5.3 days per year. Presenteeism costs employers an estimated $2,000 per year per employee, or $250 billion per year.
Even minor illnesses such as asthma, arthritis, or allergies, diminish production. Diminished capacity also includes hobbling around after spraining an ankle. In that case, activity prolongs recovery and risks re-injury. A day or two of rest pays big dividends when employees return to work.
The ‘company cold’
Most companies have paid sick leave policies that help reduce the rate of contagious infections, but extensive research shows that employers must still remind sick workers to go home. Some businesses, after rethinking the psychology of sick leave, eliminated the distinction between being ill and on vacation. They give their employees a single block of paid time-off days.
Research by Watson Wyatt, a consulting firm, shows that the number of companies using that approach increased from 20 to 30 percent in three years. “The policy gives employees more confidentiality and flexibility,” says Shelly Wolff, national leader of health and productivity for Watson Wyatt. “Employers benefit from it, too, as employees are less likely to fake an illness to get a day off.”
Some small businesses with 10 or fewer employees find an unlimited sick time policy effective. “A ‘company cold’ is devastating in such situations,” says Wolff. “Because employees are often treated as and feel like family, they don’t abuse the policy and rarely take more than three sick days per year.”
For the kids
Research by ComPsych Corpo-ration, the largest provider of employee assistance programs, showed that more people go to work ill during a soft economy or recession. In 2003, some 81 percent of workers surveyed said they went to work sick, and 29 percent said they did so because taking time off seemed too risky.
A year later, with a rebounding job market, 77 percent of 627 employees said they worked while ill. One-third of those said they did so because their workload made taking time off too difficult, while 26 percent said they felt that taking time off was too risky, or that they saved their sick leave for when their children were ill. “It’s clear that when the economy struggles, people do everything possible to get to work,” says Richard A. Chaifetz, chief executive of ComPsych.
Employers can take steps to recover some, if not all, of the productivity lost to employee illness. They must ensure that their managers and supervisors are sensitive to employees’ illnesses and personal issues.
Preventive healthcare is another option. Examples are company-administered annual flu shots, warm-up or fitness exercises, diet and hygiene classes, and seminars on topics such as cold prevention, proper lifting techniques, and travelers’ sicknesses. Hints that productivity gains offset the direct cost of providing allergy and depression medications are driving further research in that area.
Choosing the most effective programs begins with understanding the root causes of the cultural traits that lead to presenteeism. Employers must collect and analyze trends, and train supervisors and managers to review employees’ job performance. They must believe that healthy employees are an asset meriting investment, and that coming to work sick is not a virtue.
