IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ese/iserwp/2010-15.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Unionization and sickness absence from work in the UK

Author

Listed:
  • Veliziotis, Michail

Abstract

Does union membership increase sickness absence from work and, if so, by how much? And which specific channels does this effect operate through? Using UK Labour Force Survey data for 2006-2008 we find that trade union membership is associated with a substantial increase in the probability of reporting sick and in the amount of average absence taken. This result can be largely attributed to the protection that unions offer to unionized employees. Supportive evidence is also found for a reduction in “presenteeism” (attending work when sick) among union members. The results are robust to different modelling and estimation approaches.

Suggested Citation

  • Veliziotis, Michail, 2010. "Unionization and sickness absence from work in the UK," ISER Working Paper Series 2010-15, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:ese:iserwp:2010-15
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.iser.essex.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/files/working-papers/iser/2010-15.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alison L. Booth & Mark L. Bryan, 2004. "The Union Membership Wage-Premium Puzzle: Is There a Free Rider Problem?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 57(3), pages 402-421, April.
    2. Andrea Ichino & Enrico Moretti, 2009. "Biological Gender Differences, Absenteeism, and the Earnings Gap," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 183-218, January.
    3. John W. Budd & Karen Mumford, 2004. "Trade Unions and Family-Friendly Policies in Britain," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 57(2), pages 204-222, January.
    4. Rainer Winkelmann, 1999. "Wages, firm size and absenteeism," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(6), pages 337-341.
    5. repec:bla:manchs:v:69:y:2001:i:3:p:276-84 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Monojit Chatterji & Colin J. Tilley, 2002. "Sickness, absenteeism, presenteeism, and sick pay," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 54(4), pages 669-687, October.
    7. Harris, Mark N. & Zhao, Xueyan, 2007. "A zero-inflated ordered probit model, with an application to modelling tobacco consumption," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 141(2), pages 1073-1099, December.
    8. John T. Addison & Clive R. Belfield, 2001. "Updating the Determinants of Firm Performance: Estimation using the 1998 UK Workplace Employee Relations Survey," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 39(3), pages 341-366, September.
    9. Brown, Sarah & Sessions, John G, 1996. "The Economics of Absence: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 23-53, March.
    10. Stewart, Mark B & Swaffield, Joanna K, 1997. "Constraints on the Desired Hours of Work of British Men," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(441), pages 520-535, March.
    11. Engellandt, Axel & Riphahn, Regina T., 2005. "Temporary contracts and employee effort," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 281-299, June.
    12. Robert Drago & Mark Wooden, 1992. "The Determinants of Labor Absence: Economic Factors and Workgroup Norms across Countries," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 45(4), pages 764-778, July.
    13. David Blanchflower & Alex Bryson, 2002. "Changes over time in union relative wage effects in the UK and the US revisited," NBER Working Papers 9395, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Jane Waldfogel, 1998. "Understanding the "Family Gap" in Pay for Women with Children," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 12(1), pages 137-156, Winter.
    15. Allen, Steven G, 1981. "An Empirical Model of Work Attendance," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 63(1), pages 77-87, February.
    16. Sarah Bridges & Karen Mumford, 2001. "Absenteeism in the UK: A Comparison Across Genders," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 69(3), pages 276-284, June.
    17. Debra Leaker, 2008. "Sickness absence from work in the UK," Economic & Labour Market Review, Palgrave Macmillan;Office for National Statistics, vol. 2(11), pages 18-22, November.
    18. Garcia-Serrano, Carlos & A. Malo, Miguel, 2008. "The influence of disability on absenteeism: an empirical analysis using Spanish data," ISER Working Paper Series 2008-29, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    19. John T. Addison & Claus Schnabel (ed.), 2003. "International Handbook of Trade Unions," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2705.
    20. Paringer, Lynn, 1983. "Women and Absenteeism: Health or Economics?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(2), pages 123-127, May.
    21. Marco G. Ercolani, 2006. "UK Employees' Sickness Absence: 1984-2005," Discussion Papers 06-02, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham.
    22. Sue Fernie & David Metcalf, 1995. "Participation, Contingent Pay, Representation and Workplace Performance: Evidence from Great Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 33(3), pages 379-415, September.
    23. Kenyon, Peter & Dawkins, Peter, 1989. "A Time Series Analysis of Labour Absence in Australia," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(2), pages 232-239, May.
    24. Barmby, Tim & Larguem, Makram, 2009. "Coughs and sneezes spread diseases: An empirical study of absenteeism and infectious illness," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(5), pages 1012-1017, September.
    25. Francis Green, 1997. "Union Recognition and Paid Holiday Entitlement," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 35(2), pages 243-255, June.
    26. Papke, Leslie E & Wooldridge, Jeffrey M, 1996. "Econometric Methods for Fractional Response Variables with an Application to 401(K) Plan Participation Rates," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(6), pages 619-632, Nov.-Dec..
    27. Jeffrey Balchin & Mark Wooden, 1995. "Absence Penalties and Work Attendance," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 28(4), pages 43-58, October.
    28. Jody Heymann & Hye Jin Rho & John Schmitt & Alison Earle, 2009. "Contagion Nation: A Comparison of Paid Sick Day Policies in 22 Countries," CEPR Reports and Issue Briefs 2009-19, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Arne Mastekaasa, 2013. "Unionization and Certified Sickness Absence: Norwegian Evidence," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 66(1), pages 117-141, January.
    2. Dawson Chris & Veliziotis Michail & Hopkins Benjamin, 2014. "Assimilation of the migrant work ethic," Working Papers 20141407, Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol.
    3. Goerke, Laszlo & Pannenberg, Markus, 2015. "Trade union membership and sickness absence: Evidence from a sick pay reform," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 13-25.
    4. Athina Economou & Ioannis Theodossiou, 2015. "Join the Union and Be Safe: The Effects of Unionization on Occupational Safety and Health in the European Union," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 29(2), pages 127-140, June.
    5. Mark L. Bryan & Andrew M. Bryce & Jennifer Roberts, 2021. "The effect of mental and physical health problems on sickness absence," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(9), pages 1519-1533, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dawson Chris & Veliziotis Michail & Hopkins Benjamin, 2014. "Assimilation of the migrant work ethic," Working Papers 20141407, Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Bristol.
    2. Pichler, Stefan & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2019. "Reprint of: The pros and cons of sick pay schemes: Testing for contagious presenteeism and noncontagious absenteeism behavior," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 86-104.
    3. De Paola, Maria, 2010. "Absenteeism and peer interaction effects: Evidence from an Italian Public Institute," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 420-428, June.
    4. Pichler, Stefan & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2017. "The pros and cons of sick pay schemes: Testing for contagious presenteeism and noncontagious absenteeism behavior," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 14-33.
    5. Pichler, S,; & Ziebarth, N.R,;, 2015. "The Pros and Cons of Sick Pay Schemes: A Method to Test for Contagious Presenteeism and Shirking Behavior," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 15/03, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    6. Stefan Pichler & Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2015. "The Pros and Cons of Sick Pay Schemes: Testing for Contagious Presenteeism and Shirking Behavior," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1509, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    7. John S. Heywood & Laurie A. Miller, 2015. "Schedule Flexibility, Family Friendly Policies and Absence," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 83(6), pages 652-675, December.
    8. René Böheim & Thomas Leoni, 2014. "Firms' Sickness Costs and Workers' Sickness Absences," NBER Working Papers 20305, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Sabine Chaupain-Guillot & Olivier Guillot, 2010. "Les déterminants individuels des absences au travail : une comparaison européenne," Working Papers of BETA 2010-17, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    10. Moral De Blas, Alfonso & Corrales-Herrero, Helena & Martín-Román, Ángel, 2012. "Glass Ceiling or Slippery Floors? Understanding Gender Differences in the Spanish Worker’s Compensation System/¿Techo de cristal o suelo resbaladizo? Comprendiendo las diferencias de género en el sist," Estudios de Economia Aplicada, Estudios de Economia Aplicada, vol. 30, pages 311-340, Abril.
    11. Ilias Livanos & Alexandros Zangelidis, 2013. "Unemployment, Labor Market Flexibility, and Absenteeism: A Pan-European Study," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 492-515, April.
    12. Pouliakas, Konstantinos & Theodossiou, Ioannis, 2010. "An Inquiry Into The Theory, Causes And Consequences Of Monitoring Indicators Of Health And Safety At Work," SIRE Discussion Papers 2010-120, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    13. Sebastien Menard, 2021. "Optimal sickness benefits in a principal–agent model," Social Choice and Welfare, Springer;The Society for Social Choice and Welfare, vol. 57(1), pages 5-33, July.
    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. Konstantinos Pouliakas & Nikolaos Theodoropoulos, 2012. "The Effect of Variable Pay Schemes on Workplace Absenteeism," Research in Labor Economics, in: Research in Labor Economics, pages 109-157, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    16. Garcia-Serrano, Carlos & A. Malo, Miguel, 2008. "The influence of disability on absenteeism: an empirical analysis using Spanish data," ISER Working Paper Series 2008-29, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    17. Mark L. Bryan & Andrew M. Bryce & Jennifer Roberts, 2021. "The effect of mental and physical health problems on sickness absence," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 22(9), pages 1519-1533, December.
    18. Zhang, Xuelin, 2007. "Gender Differences in Quits and Absenteeism in Canada," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2007296e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    19. Andrén, Daniela, 2001. "Short-Term Absenteeism Due To Sickness: The Swedish Experience, 1986 - 1991," Working Papers in Economics 46, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.
    20. Lorenz, Olga & Goerke, Laszlo, 2015. "Commuting and Sickness Absence," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 113173, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ese:iserwp:2010-15. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Jonathan Nears (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/rcessuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.