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'Choosing' to work when sick: workplace presenteeism

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  • Dew, Kevin
  • Keefe, Vera
  • Small, Keitha

Abstract

Presenteeism is a concept used to describe the phenomenon of working through illness and injury. This paper is based on interviews and focus groups undertaken at three different work sites in New Zealand: a small private hospital, a large public hospital and a small factory. The research suggests that presenteeism is a prominent phenomenon in the lives of workers at these different sites, but the way in which it is rationalised and the factors that foster presenteeism are quite distinct. Exploring the way in which presenteeism links to economic and social constraints and workplace cultures provides insights into these rationalisations. The powerful forces promoting presenteeism tempers the research community's concern with absenteeism. A presenteeism discourse needs to be more prominently articulated to oppose both the absenteeism discourse, and to moderate the views taken by some postmodernist theorists on choice in relation to health practices in workplace settings.

Suggested Citation

  • Dew, Kevin & Keefe, Vera & Small, Keitha, 2005. "'Choosing' to work when sick: workplace presenteeism," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 60(10), pages 2273-2282, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:60:y:2005:i:10:p:2273-2282
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Dorman,Peter, 2009. "Markets and Mortality," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521123044, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Barnes, Maria Carla & Buck, Rhiannon & Williams, Gareth & Webb, Katie & Aylward, Mansel, 2008. "Beliefs about common health problems and work: A qualitative study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(4), pages 657-665, August.
    2. Goven, Joanna, 2008. "Assessing genetic testing: Who are the "lay experts"?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 1-18, January.
    3. Ahn, Thomas & Yelowitz, Aaron, 2016. "Paid Sick Leave and Absenteeism: The First Evidence from the U.S," MPRA Paper 69794, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Marina Taloyan & Gunnar Aronsson & Constanze Leineweber & Linda Magnusson Hanson & Kristina Alexanderson & Hugo Westerlund, 2012. "Sickness Presenteeism Predicts Suboptimal Self-Rated Health and Sickness Absence: A Nationally Representative Study of the Swedish Working Population," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(9), pages 1-8, September.
    5. Carlo Alberto Biscardo & Alessandro Bucciol & Paolo Pertile, 2015. "Who should monitor job sick leave?," Working Papers 18/2015, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    6. Böckerman, Petri & Laukkanen, Erkki, 2008. "What makes you work while you are sick? Evidence from a survey of union members," MPRA Paper 10556, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Elena Grinza & François Rycx, 2020. "The Impact of Sickness Absenteeism on Firm Productivity: New Evidence from Belgian Matched Employer–Employee Panel Data," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(1), pages 150-194, January.
    8. Thomas, Felicity, 2016. "Young people's use of medicines: Pharmaceuticalised governance and illness management within household and school settings," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 150-158.
    9. Datta Gupta, Nabanita & Jürges, Hendrik, 2012. "Do workers underreport morbidity? The accuracy of self-reports of chronic conditions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(9), pages 1589-1594.
    10. Carlo Alberto Biscardo & Alessandro Bucciol & Paolo Pertile, 2019. "Job sick leave: Detecting opportunistic behavior," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 373-386, March.
    11. Chrystal Jaye & Claire Amos & Lauralie Richard & Geoff Noller, 2021. "Hidden in Plain Sight: Transactions of Moral Capital in Sick Leave Management Within the Corporate University," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, April.
    12. Alenka Skerjanc & Metoda Dodic Fikfak, 2020. "Sickness Presence among Health Care Professionals: A Cross Sectional Study of Health Care Professionals in Slovenia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-13, January.
    13. Zhang, Wei & Sun, Huiying & Woodcock, Simon & Anis, Aslam, 2015. "Illness related wage and productivity losses: Valuing ‘presenteeism’," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 62-71.
    14. Stefan Pichler & Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2020. "Labor Market Effects of U.S. Sick Pay Mandates," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 55(2), pages 611-659.
    15. Manzoor Ahmad Malik & S. P. Singh & Jyoti Jyoti & Falguni Pattanaik, 2022. "Work stress, health and wellbeing: evidence from the older adults labor market in India," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-8, December.
    16. Richard, Sébastien & Skagen, Kristian & Pedersen, Kjeld Møller & Huver, Benjamin, 2017. "Assessing the Propensity for Presenteeism with Sickness Absence Data," DaCHE discussion papers 2017:1, University of Southern Denmark, Dache - Danish Centre for Health Economics.
    17. Jeroen Nieboer, 2022. "Positional enhancement in effort-based social comparisons," Discussion Papers 2022-02, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham.
    18. Konstantinos, Pouliakas & Ioannis, Theodossiou, 2010. "An Inquiry Into the Theory, Causes and Consequences of Monitoring Indicators of Health and Safety At Work," MPRA Paper 20336, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    19. Jianwei Deng & Yuangeng Guo & Hubin Shi & Yongchuang Gao & Xuan Jin & Yexin Liu & Tianan Yang, 2020. "Effect of Discrimination on Presenteeism among Aging Workers in the United States: Moderated Mediation Effect of Positive and Negative Affect," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-19, February.
    20. Hansson, Margareta & Boström, Carina & Harms-Ringdahl, Karin, 2006. "Sickness absence and sickness attendance--What people with neck or back pain think," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(9), pages 2183-2195, May.
    21. Michael Quinlan, 2012. "The ‘Pre-Invention’ of Precarious Employment: The Changing World of Work in Context," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 23(4), pages 3-24, November.
    22. Davies, Rhys & Jones, Paul & Nuñez, Imanol, 2009. "The impact of the business cycle on occupational injuries in the UK," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 178-182, July.

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