Presentism at work: what is it and why is it a problem?

The labor presenteeism It is one of the most important problems facing companies today. Many factors can affect the performance of an organization, and the socio-economic and social environment is extremely important in this regard.

Since the economic crisis began in Spain, the working conditions of many employees have changed, and the fear of losing a job can lead many workers to hold out in their jobs despite not being fully motivated or unhappy.

Labor presentism or "empty chair syndrome": causes and consequences

In our article “Survivor Syndrome: working in times of crisis can harm your health”We are talking about the negative consequences of the crisis for the well-being of the worker. The presenteeism, on the other hand, it negatively affects the organization as productivity and employee performance decline.

Presentism at work or absenteeism: what is it?

The face-to-face absenteeism or labor presenteeism, refers to go and be present at the job, but dedicating part of the working day to other functions that are not proper to the job

. Among these functions we can find: connect to social networks, consult web pages, make calls, and so on.

Although presenteeism is the opposite of work absenteeism, its consequences for the organization are just as damaging.

Negative consequences of labor presenteeism

In the past, the main problem of organizations was the work absenteeism, but as it has been declining due to the economic crisis, the percentage of employees who suffer from presenteeism has increased. According Adecco, one out of every two Spanish companies admits having up to 10% of present workers. On the other hand, a study of Harvard Business Review seems to indicate that presenteeism costs American companies about $ 150 billion a year.

Despite the reduction in absenteeism, there has been no improvement in productivity and work performance of the companies, since what has happened is that the phenomenon of absenteeism has given way to that of presenteeism. Employees seem to know the difficult situation in the labor market and do not want to risk losing their jobs. Then, they go to the workplace so that they cannot be blamed for absenteeism, but nevertheless your dedication in those hours is not as efficient as it should be.

Negative effects for the company

Knowing this, it should be mentioned that labor presenteeism affects the organization in different ways:

• Decreasing productivity of the worker and the organization

• Worsening employee occupational health: Presentism eventually causes fatigue and boredom (also called 'Boreout syndrome')

• Favoring the transmission of diseases: when the person is ill but decides to go to the job so as not to lose their job, it can promote the transmission of diseases

Factors influencing labor presenteeism

If these are the consequences of having presenters at work, we must ask ourselves what reasons lead employees to carry out behaviors related to labor presenteeism. Here is a list of the most common causes:

• Lack of job security can cause an individual to not want to be absent from their job despite being ill or unmotivated, since the Uncertainty about being able to get a job again may cause you to not want to lose your job under any circumstances. concept.

• Individuals who work certain jobs may be more prone to presenteeism. Research seems to indicate that teachers and health professionals they are more vulnerable to it.

• Jobs with a higher workload are associated with more cases of presenteeism, as workers may want to avoid the accumulation of tasks if they are absent from their position.

• Excessive pressure from superiors is also a factor that causes labor presenteeism.

• Lack of motivation is behind many presenteeism cases. In addition, other possible causes may be: the lack of promotion and the performance of monotonous tasks in their jobs