Predictors of sickness absence and presenteeism: Does the pattern differ by a respondent’s health?

Böckerman, Petri and Laukkanen, Erkki (2009): Predictors of sickness absence and presenteeism: Does the pattern differ by a respondent’s health?

Abstract

Objectives: We examine the predictors of sickness presenteeism in comparison with sickness absenteeism. The paper focuses on the effects of working-time match and efficiency demands and differentiates the estimates by a respondent’s self-assessed health. Methods: We use survey data covering 884 Finnish trade union members in 2009. We estimate logit models. All models include control variables such as the sector of the economy and the type of contract.

Results: Working-time match between desired and actual weekly working hours reduces both sickness absence and presenteeism in the whole sample that consists of workers with all health levels. The point estimates reveal that working-time match decreases the prevalence of sickness absence by 7% and presenteeism by 8%. However, the estimates that differentiate by a respondent’s health show that this pattern prevails only for those workers who have poor health. Hence, the point estimates for those who have poor health are much larger than the ones for the whole sample. Working-time match reduces the prevalence of sickness absence by 21% and presenteeism by 20% for those workers who have poor health. In contrast, working-time match has no influence whatsoever on the prevalence of work-related sickness for those who have good health. We also find that efficiency demands increase presenteeism in the whole sample. However, additional results reveal that this pattern prevails only for those workers who have good health. Conclusions: The effects of working-time match and efficiency demands on the prevalence of sickness absence and presenteeism are strongly conditional upon a worker’s self-assessed health level. Therefore, the worker’s initial health is an important attribute that has to be taken into account when one is designing appropriate policies to reduce sickness absence and presenteeism.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Absenteeism; Sickness absence; Presenteeism
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I10 - General

References

1. Goetzel RZ, Long SR, Ozminkowski RJ, Wang S, Lynch W. Health, absence, disability, and presenteeism cost estimates of certain physical and mental health conditions affecting U.S. employers. J Occup Environ Med 2004;46 (4):398-412.

2. Ahola K, Kivimäki M, Honkonen T, Virtanen M, Koskinen S, Vahtera J, Lönnqvist J. Occupational burnout and medically certified sickness absence: A population-based study of Finnish employees. J Psychosom Res 2008;64 (2):185-193.

3. Dew K, Keefe V, Small K. ‘Choosing’ to work when sick: Workplace presenteeism. Soc Sci Med 2005;60 (10):2273-2282.

4. Kivimäki M, Head J, Ferrie J, Hemingway H, Shipley MJ, Vahtera J, Marmot MG. Working while ill as a risk factor for serious coronary events: The Whitehall II Study. Am J Public Health 2005;95 (1):98-102.

5. Simpson, R. Presenteeism, power and organizational change: Long hours as a career barrier and the impact on the working lives of women managers. Br J Manag 1998;9(1):37-52.

6. Middaugh DJ. Presenteeism: Sick and tired at work. Dermatology Nursing 2005;19(2):172-185.

7. Schultz AB, Edington DW. Employee health and presenteeism: A systematic review. J Occup Rehabil 2007;17(3):547-579.

8. Böckerman P, Ilmakunnas P. Interaction of working conditions, job satisfaction, and sickness absences: Evidence from a representative sample of employees. Soc Sci Med 2008;67(4):520-528.

9. Webster J. Diversity management in the ICT Industry: Challenges and issues for social dialogue. Report prepared for Union Network International. London: UNI Global Union, 2007.

10. Aronsson G, Gustafsson K, Dallner M. Sick but yet at work. An empirical study of sickness presenteeism. J Epidemiol Community Health 2000;54:502-509.

11. Aronsson G, Gustafsson K. Sickness presenteeism: Prevalence, attendance-pressure factors, and an outline of a model for research. J Occup Environ Med 2005;47(9):958-966.

12. Hansen CD, Andersen JH. Going ill to work – What personal circumstances, attitudes and work-related factors are associated with sickness presenteeism? Soc Sci Med 2008;67(6):956-964.

13. Lehto A-M, Sutela H. Three decades of working conditions. Findings of Finnish Quality of Work Life Surveys 1977-2008. Helsinki: Statistics Finland, 2009.

14. Pauly MV, Nicholson S, Polsky D, Berger ML, Sharda C. Valuing reductions in on-the-job illness: Presenteeism from managerial and economic perspectives. Health Economics 2008;17(4):469-485.

15. Böckerman P, Laukkanen E. What makes you work while you are sick? Evidence from a survey of workers. Eur J Public Health 2009; Forthcoming.

16. Idler EL, Benyamini Y. Self-rated health and mortality: A review of twenty-seven community studies. J Health Soc Behav 1997;38(1):21-37.