#0070 Presenteeism and absenteeism: Implications from a study of job insecurity
Study Shows Workers with Job Insecurity Might Forego Sick Leaves
Perceived job insecurity or the fear of losing one’s job is a common occurrence among South Korean employees, both nonpermanent and permanent. This often leads to behavioral responses characterized by either turning up for work despite being ill (presenteeism) or staying absent from work due to illness likely caused by the perceived job insecurity (absenteeism).
I looked at a recent study published in Journal of Occupational Health by Kim et. al. who conducted a survey on 19,720 full-time waged workers in South Korea to understand how perceived job insecurity was associated with presenteeism or absenteeism, and whether this association was influenced by the cut-offs for presenteeism and absenteeism (determined by the minimum number of days per year the worker may have worked despite being ill or remained absent from work, respectively). The authors found that perceived job insecurity was associated with presenteeism for a cut-off of 2 days or more in a year but had no association with absenteeism for any of the cut-offs considered.
On one hand, the findings establish presenteeism as a more reliable marker of the perception of job security than absenteeism. The authors reasoned that insecure workers are more likely to work while sick than take a sick leave for fear of losing their job. On the other hand, they revealed that the relationship between presenteeism and perceived job security depends on the cut-off used to define presenteeism. Therefore, working conditions must be considered prior to defining the cut-off for presenteeism.
The study suggests that presenteeism (in addition to absenteeism) should be considered as an occupational health risk when implementing policy regarding the health of Korean workers. Furthermore, a cut-off value of 2 days or more per year can be utilized to specify a hitherto-undefined reference standard for presenteeism in future research.
Link to the original journal article:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/1348-9585.12158
Title of the paper:
Presenteeism and absenteeism: Implications from a study of job insecurity
Authors:
Tomohiro Ishimaru
