Analysis: It’s time to dispel the notion that anyone benefits if you come to work ill – or work remotely while unwell
This article is now available above as a Brainstorm podcast. You can subscribe to the Brainstorm podcast through Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
You wake up with a cough and a slight fever so should you go to work? For too many workers, the answer is yes. Working while sick is sometimes referred to as “presenteeism”, the notion that you should be present in the workplace even if you are in no shape to contribute to your work group. Presenteeism does not help employees or organisations, and it is time to dispel the notion that anyone benefits if you come to work sick.
Often, the pressure to come to work when you are sick comes from the company. Many firms limit the number of sick days their employees are allowed to take or have cultures that strongly discourage calling in sick.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Radio 1’s Morning Ireland, workers entitled to 5 sick days a year
Even when they do not directly limit sick days, organisations might indirectly pressure people to work while sick if they understaff key roles, making the impact of a lost day of work especially severe and noticeable. Sometimes, this pressure can be so indirect that employees are not fully aware that they are being pressured. For example, workers who do not feel confident in their standing and prospects in a company may feel that it is better to be present, even if they are not well enough to be effective at work.
Even without pressure from their employers, workers may decide to go to work when they are sick because they feel a sense of responsibility to their work team, or because they are so strongly work-oriented (maybe even workaholic) that they cannot imagine missing work. Some workers come to work sick simply because they need the pay and will not receive it if they miss work.
There are many reasons why you should not come to work if you are sick. First, you are likely to make your co-workers sick. Second, coming to work sick might delaying your recovery and increase the likelihood of burnout. Working while sick is also likely to increase the likelihood of performing poorly and making mistakes.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Radio 1’s Today with Claire Byrne, should we delay introducing more statutory sick days to help businesses?
The long-term costs of coming to work sick are often substantially larger than the benefits workers or their organizations receive when employees come to work sick. Recent studies in the UK suggest that working while sick might cost the economy almost twice as much as absenteeism.
Much of the discussion of presenteeism focusses on people working in traditional offices and workplaces, but presenteeism can also be an issue for remote workers. Should remote workers work when they are sick? Some of the arguments against working while sick might not apply to remote workers (you will not expose co-workers to germs), but the issues that drive presenteeism are often surprisingly similar for remote workers and regular office workers.
Many organisations keep close tabs on their remote workforce, sometimes resorting to video monitoring or software to monitor employee productivity, and they may put pressure on workers to continue to perform even when they are sick. Similarly, remote workers sometimes put pressure on themselves, much in the way employees in more traditional setting.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From RTÉ Brainstorm, why workers don’t like their HR departments
Regardless of the setting, employees who believe that their standing in the business will suffer if they miss work may press themselves to work while sick. Remote workers often have the same responsibilities for tasks and projects as workers in more traditional settings, and they may feel that they are letting the team down when they take time off from work.
In the best remote work systems, employees have considerable autonomy and flexibility if key tasks are accomplished, and key metrics are met. This suggests that remote workers should be less likely to feel pressure to work while sick. The fact that remote workers often do feel that they must work even when sick suggests that some employers (and workers) are not fully on board with an autonomous remote work model.
Organisations and workers who think that presenteeism is a good idea are missing the big picture. It is worse for workers and employers to pressure or even to allow employees to work while they are sick than it is to let them take time off to rest and recover. Working sick is not working smart.
Follow RTÉ Brainstorm on WhatsApp and Instagram for more stories and updates
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
