Society 4 min read By Callum Montgomery
Workers Who Come In Sick Lose Output, Experts Say
Presenteeism, meaning being present at the office while ill, can hide real productivity losses. Romania ranks last in Europe in the use of sick leave.
Many employees show up at the office even when they are sick, but physical presence does not necessarily mean efficient work. The phenomenon, known as presenteeism, describes situations in which a person works while affected by illness, and their actual capacity to produce drops considerably. Fatigue, pain and lack of concentration can reduce output, even if the employee stays at the workplace for eight hours.
The cost is also felt within the team. When the illness is contagious, colleagues may be exposed, and the organisation can lose more than it would through the temporary absence of a single person. Thus, an apparently useful presence can mask losses that do not appear in the usual statistics on attendance.
Data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) show a clear difference between Romania and the rest of Europe. Our country ranks last in Europe in terms of the use of sick leave. Romanian employees take, on average, less than one day of sick leave per year, while in Norway, Slovenia or Spain the average exceeds five weeks annually. Specialists cannot determine with certainty whether Romanians are healthier or whether they simply work even when they should be recovering.
Among the causes of presenteeism are fear of losing pay, a heavy workload and pressure within organisations. Likewise, a culture in which presence is confused with performance discourages employees from staying home. A study carried out in 2009 by Gary Johns showed that the phenomenon has both medical and organisational causes. The stigma attached to sick leave, in turn, prevents people from recovering their health honestly.
For managers, the conclusion is that attendance indicators do not capture real performance. A present employee may be less productive than an absent one, and evaluating people solely by the number of days spent at the office can lead to wrong decisions. Specialists recommend that employers encourage timely medical consultations and prevention programmes, eliminate the stigma surrounding sick leave, and show through their attitude that recovery is acceptable.
Practical measures include adjusting the volume of tasks, setting priorities and offering greater flexibility. Periodic monitoring of the team's wellbeing and of stress signals can help identify problems before they worsen. Occupational health programmes, which include counselling, health education and assessments, are other tools mentioned.
An analysis published in 2023 in the journal Work reviewed 14 reviews, covering approximately 1,390 studies. The authors identified 45 types of workplace health promotion programmes, 22 of which had positive effects on presenteeism or productivity. No single type of programme proved superior in all contexts, which suggests that the solution must be adapted to each organisation.
The goal, in the view of specialists, is not to maximise the number of people present at the office each day, but to maintain sustainable performance over the long term.
Source: economedia.ro
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