Absenteeism has long been the thorn in the side of employers but a new workplace scourge is threatening to be an even greater problem — presenteeism.<\/p>\n
"Absenteeism is where people don’t turn up to work or they have
a sick day and take it off," says psychiatrist, researcher and University of Queensland professor Harvey Whiteford.<\/p>\n
"Presenteeism is when they feel obligated to turn up or they have run out of sick leave or they are highly driven and feel guilty for not going to work.<\/p>\n
"What you see . . . is a decline in a worker’s performance. The quality of the work product declines, there are mistakes in it and it takes them longer to do it."<\/p>\n
Medibank Private estimates presenteeism costs Australian employers more than $17 billion a year and a study, published in this month’s Australia And New Zealand Journal Of Psychiatry, found mental health is a major contributor to this.<\/p>\n
Whiteford helped conduct the study which monitored the work productivity of more than 60,000 full-time employees for chronic and acute physical and mental health conditions.<\/p>\n
The study found mental health caused the biggest decrement in productivity out of some 20 different physical and mental conditions.<\/p>\n
It also found depression, anxiety and other psychological distress cost Australian employers $5.9 billion in lost productivity each year.<\/p>\n
"Mental health is the single largest contributor to lost productivity," Whiteford says.<\/p>\n
Symptoms such as fatigue, decreased concentration and poor memory can severely affect the performance of employees.<\/p>\n
Beyond Blue national workplace manager Therese Fitzpatrick says indecisiveness, physical ailments, weight gain or loss, irritability and insomnia are also symptoms of depression and anxiety, which can severely hamper a person’s ability to function at work. "This is significant for employers because depression and anxiety disorders are most prevalent during peak working years," Fitzpatrick says.<\/p>\n
"The reality is that most organisations will have people experiencing mental health issues right now in their workplace.”<\/p>\n
Some of those people, particularly those getting treatment, will continue to work well but untreated depression costs an organisation about $10,000 per person through absenteeism and presenteeism.<\/p>\n
"Organisations need to have a look at what they can do in their workplace to look after the mental health of their staff," Fitzpatrick says.<\/p>\n
More information: www.beyondblue.org.au<\/p>\n
Tips for employers
* Raise awareness among staff: Get behind initiatives like Movember, distribute pamphlets or hold information sessions.
* Early intervention: Don’t wait until the situation is out of control before approaching the employee. Have the conversation and encourage the person to seek help.
* Prevention: Think about factors that may contribute to the mental health of staff. Include mental health in the company’s overall health policy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Absenteeism has long been the thorn in the side of employers but a new workplace scourge is threatening to be an even greater problem — presenteeism. "Absenteeism is where people don’t turn up to work or they have a sick day and take it off," says psychiatrist, researcher and University of Queensland professor Harvey Whiteford. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5,3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n