In the workplace, employers must try to combat 'presenteeism'
Coming to work when sick can hurt the workplace, experts say.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- For 11 years, Judy Wolf suffered from intermittent but excruciating migraine headaches while on the job as a medical transcriptionist. She said she would never take a sick day for her illness, though, unless she was "dead."
Some days the pain was so bad that the 52-year-old St. Croix Falls, Wis., resident suffered double vision. Each minute seemed like an hour.
"I tried to do 110 percent all the time," Wolf said.
Some workers feel compelled to do anything just to endure another workday. Now researchers are trying to document the impact of health ailments on productivity. There's even a new workplace buzzword for it: "presenteeism," the practice of showing up for work but not being fully productive.
"It's a pretty new term, and people are looking at it in different ways," said Lori Rosen, a workplace analyst for CCH, an employment law information group in Riverwoods, Ill.
Cost
Productivity losses stemming from "presenteeism" amount to more than $150 billion a year in the United States, according to an article in October's Harvard Business Review.
In a study released recently by CCH, close to 40 percent of employers said presenteeism is a problem in their organizations.
The issue is simple: Workers plagued by presenteeism can spread illness to others and lower productivity. Health care consultants and employee assistance programs are launching products to try to quantify and lessen the impact of illness and health problems on today's workplace.
"Being in contact with contagious individuals jeopardizes the health and productivity of all employees," Rosen said. Employers need to emphasize to employees that while they need them at work, they first want a healthy workplace.