Diya looked at the records of Jose’s workstation logins, and she wasn’t pleased. Day after day, week after week, the record showed that Jose had consistently been at his computer, writing code and compiling data on user experiences. In the tech industry, long hours without a break are expected, but Diya knew that her friend Jose was pushing himself past the point of exhaustion. He had been suffering for weeks from an unidentified upper respiratory ailment, and she worried that without rest he’d never get better. But pressure for rapid progress from their supervisor left Jose feeling like he had little choice but to keep grinding out the long hours, sick or not.

The problem of absenteeism, not showing up for work when expected, is a classic struggle for managers. Recent attention has suggested, however, that absenteeism has an opposite with its own negative consequences— presenteeism. Presenteeism occurs when an employee continues to go to work despite illness. Unlike absenteeism, presenteeism may arise specifically because management is pushing for it.

An employee can engage in presenteeism for a variety of reasons, but as the story of Jose describes, sometimes it’s a response to work pressure. Companies that put extensive resources into monitoring employee attendance also tend to experience higher levels of presenteeism. In other words, empirical evidence suggests companies are sending signals to employees that attendance is required—even when they are too ill to work.

Questions 

1. How might presenteeism be an adaptive response to perceived performance pressure? How is it a response to work demand pressures? 

2. Do employers have an ethical responsibility to discourage presenteeism? Why or why not? 

3. How might a company work to change employee attitudes and behaviors about presenteeism? In other words, what would an effective presenteeism prevention program look like?