Sickness presenteeism: a rampant phenomenon in industrialized countries

Sickness presenteeism – employees who go to work when they are sick – is a reality heads of businesses know little of in western countries.  Yet it’s real, as real as absenteeism, and can be expensive: up to 30 percent of productivity loss.  Denis Monneuse, sociologist at the IAE (the Sorbonne Graduate Business School) in Paris and associated expert at the Institut de l’Entreprise, which recently analyzed the phenomenon in detail, calls this “overpresenteeism.”  He examines its effects and gives us an overview.  (Ref.  130548)
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In average, 40 percent of European employees worked at least one day in the year when their physical or mental health was poor (mostly depression, migraine, asthma, arthritis or musculoskeletal disorders). This figure, taken from the 2010 European Conditions Survey carried out by the Dublin foundation, is a first. Until then, Europe had never used “overpresenteeism” as a criterion, whereas north-American, UK and Scandinavian countries have been looking at this factor since the end of the 90s,

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