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Here but not present

Have you heard this word? It’s part of some new lexicon I haven’t quite got a handle on. The word was created to describe people who are less productive at work because of health issues. For instance, I worked with a woman once who had an allergic reaction to a bee sting on her face. It was disfiguring and awful, but she was hoarding her sick days so she could get paid for them at the end of the year. She was in pain, distracted and a real freakshow for the rest of us. That is presenteeism.

Apparently, people who know such things say this kind of thing costs the employer three times as much as the employee being absent.

Or do they? Researchers at the University of Michigan think the whole study is flawed. Susan Hagen, an analyst from the U-M School of Kinesiology Health management Research Center (HMRC) reveals a new opinion which states that the tools for measuring and quantifying hours of lost productivity and translating that lost time into dollars is unreliable only catches a partial picture.

They’ve asked for a moratorium on studies of presenteeism that end with a dollar sign conclusion. Presenteeism is found in conditions like asthma, back pain, allergies, or depression. That’s a normal day as far as I’m concerned.

“It’s hard to be 100 percent effective every moment you’re at work,” Hagen said, again to my relief. “We’re talking about the lack of productivity that stems from a health condition, or because you’re worried about your health.”

One of the problems with measuring this kind of data is that all of it is self-reported. Results vary widely. Some studies show minimal presenteeism while some suggest presenteeism in all employees at some point during the day. That would be the study I’d participate in.

“Our concern is that organizations may be making financial or future decisions based on data that may not support those decisions,” Hagen said. What kind of decisions are companies making I wonder? I imagine it may have something to do with offering healthcare, but like in the case of my bee stung friend, insurance made no difference. She had it.

Source: University of Michigan, ScienceDaily

 

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