Work-Related Factors Affecting the Occurrence of Presenteeism － Recent Research Trends and Future Directions

Associations between work-related factors and sickness presenteeism: a prospective study using the national French working conditions survey

OBJECTIVES

The objectives were to assess the prospective associations between work-related factors, including psychosocial and physical work factors and working time/hours factors, and sickness presenteeism alone or combined with sickness absence.

METHODS

The study relied on prospective data of a national representative sample of 16 129 employees followed up from 2013 to 2016 in France. Work-related factors were assessed in 2013 and included 20 psychosocial work factors, 4 working time/hours factors and 4 physical work factors. Sickness presenteeism was studied using two items in 2016: the presence and duration of sickness presenteeism within the last 12 months. Weighted Hurdle and multinomial logistic regression models were performed to study the prospective associations between work-related factors at baseline and sickness presenteeism (both presence and duration) and sickness absence at follow-up. Models were adjusted for covariates.

RESULTS

Almost all psychosocial and physical work factors were predictive of sickness presenteeism (ORs ranging from 1.30 to 2.07 for men, and from 1.16 to 2.30 for women) but only some of them predicted its duration. Dose-response associations were observed between multiple exposures to these factors and sickness presenteeism. These factors predicted more sickness presenteeism alone or combined with sickness absence than sickness absence alone. Gender differences were observed in these associations, as some associations were found to be stronger among women than among men.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a need to study sickness presenteeism and sickness absence combined. Prevention oriented towards the psychosocial and physical work environment may contribute to reduce sickness presenteeism and sickness absence.

The mediating role of psychological safety on humble leadership and presenteeism in Japanese organizations1

BACKGROUND

Presenteeism-induced productivity loss is a global concern. This issue is equally serious in Japan. As a "super-aged society," maintaining and promoting Japanese employees' health is an urgent issue. The combination of these factors makes it imperative to identify the factors that affect presenteeism and clarify the mechanisms driving these factors in Japanese organizations.

OBJECTIVE

Only a few extant studies address presenteeism as a performance variable. Presenteeism can create serious productivity losses in Japan, as it is a "super-aged society." Hence, this study aims to clarify the relationships between humble leadership, psychological safety, and presenteeism in Japanese organizations.

METHODS

We hypothesized that psychological safety mediated the effect of humble leadership on presenteeism. The data of 462 employees from 11 companies were analyzed.

RESULTS

The results supported our hypothesis. Additionally, leader humility, as perceived by the followers, was positively correlated with leaders' own psychological safety in their teams.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings contribute to the existing literature by highlighting the roles of humble leadership and psychological safety in health and productivity management while accounting for cultural influences. The practical implications of our findings and future directions are also discussed.

Association between lifestyle habits and presenteeism

BACKGROUND

Presenteeism is affected by work-related and individual factors. Among individual factors, the effect of combining various lifestyle habits on presenteeism is unknown.

AIMS

This study aimed to determine the relationship between changes in multiple good lifestyle habits with a change in presenteeism and to examine the effect of psychological factors on this relationship.

METHODS

We performed a 1-year retrospective cohort study on employees of large Japanese companies. Data were collected from health check-ups and a self-administered questionnaire. Changes in presenteeism were measured using the Quality and Quantity method. Changes in lifestyle habits were measured using a modified form of Breslow's seven health practices. Psychological factors were measured using the Kessler 6-Item Psychological Distress Scale. Linear regression was used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS

The number of practised lifestyle habit changes was negatively correlated with a change in presenteeism. This result was consistent when adjusted for age, sex and company (B, -0.010; P < 0.05), but became non-significant when additionally adjusted for psychological distress (B, -0.006). When analysed separately, only an improvement in the body mass index (B, -0.054; P < 0.05) and a worsened sleep habit (B, 0.040; P < 0.01) influenced a change in presenteeism.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that improving various practised lifestyle habits in combination, rather than improving a single lifestyle habit, is beneficial in reducing presenteeism. Our finding that psychological distress altered the relationship of practised lifestyle habit changes with presenteeism indicates the importance of organizational-level intervention in presenteeism.

Perceived Supervisor Support for Health Affects Presenteeism: A Prospective Cohort Study

OBJECTIVE

We investigated how perceived supervisor support for health (PSSH) affects the occurrence of presenteeism 1 year later.

METHODS

A prospective cohort study was conducted using a questionnaire survey. In total, 10,718 nonmanagerial employees in seven companies in Japan were included in the analyses. We conducted multilevel logistic regression analyses nested by company to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) of the relationship between PSSH at baseline and high presenteeism at follow-up.

RESULTS

The ORs for high presenteeism at follow-up were significantly higher for high (OR, 1.31; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.14 to 1.51), low (OR, 1.63; 95% CI, 1.37 to 1.94), and very low PSSH (OR, 2.42; 95% CI, 1.88 to 3.12), compared with very high PSSH.

CONCLUSIONS

Lower PSSH can induce high presenteeism, suggesting that increasing PSSH is important to reduce the occurrence of presenteeism in companies.

Perceived Supervisor Support for Health Affects Presenteeism: A Cross-Sectional Study

We investigated the relationship between perceived supervisor support for health (PSSH) and presenteeism by adjusting for psychological distress and employee work engagement. These are the mediators of the two paths shown in the job demands-resources model. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire survey among 15,158 non-managerial employees from seven companies in Japan considered to have relatively high perceived organizational support for health (POSH). PSSH was evaluated with a single question, “My supervisor supports employees to work vigorously and live a healthy life”, on a four-point scale. Presenteeism was estimated using the quantity and quality method. Multilevel logistic regression analyses nested by company were conducted. Lower PSSH was more likely to be associated with presenteeism, but after adjusting for psychological distress evaluated by K6 and for work engagement, the relationship between PSSH and presenteeism weakened. Our results suggested that lower PSSH is linked to presenteeism through both psychological states because of its role as a resource, and other independent factors, even with relatively high POSH. Increased PSSH could act as a measure against presenteeism in the workplace. To achieve this, it is important to create an environment where supervisors can easily encourage employees to improve their health.