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3 November 2010 - NR 39/10

Health and safety body warns of increased presenteeism during time of austerity

Bosses must beware of the signs of ‘presenteeism’ among workers as austerity measures begin to bite across the public and private sectors - a leading health and safety organisation has warned.

With this year’s National Stress Awareness Day (Wednesday 3 November) falling ahead of a period of cost-cutting across Government departments, public bodies and suppliers, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health (IOSH) says cases of ‘presenteeism’ – where employees are less productive because of suffering ill-health at work – could increase as workers strive to show their worth.

This advice follows a poll*1 earlier in the year which revealed that nine out of every ten public sector workers have been to work when they were too ill to go. One in every three of those did so because they did not want to let people down or give colleagues extra work.

IOSH’s Head of Research and Technical Services Dr Luise Vassie said: “Presenteeism can become more common during times of economic struggle and job cuts. At the moment we are seeing a situation where some people who may be in fear of losing their jobs are taking on extra work – this could cause them to experience symptoms of stress and when they get ill they feel as though they cannot take time off.

“What we want to avoid is this dangerous catch 22 where a downward spiral develops. We want managers, in partnership with their colleagues in HR, to recognise this real issue, act upon it, and take steps to help their employees recover.”

Mental health problems can seriously affect performance with increased error rates, poor decision-making, loss of motivation and commitment and conflict.

UK figures*2 also show that mental health-related presenteeism accounts for one-and-a-half times as much working time lost as sickness absence, with an estimated £605 cost per employee annually. This amounts to £15.1billion nationally - over half of the total £26bn lost each year due to sickness absence, staff turnover and reduced productivity.

Dr Vassie added that organisations which helped to tackle stress in the workplace could reap a number of benefits, including reduced sickness absence costs.

“Companies often find that when they show they care, employees’ commitment to work rises and performance and productivity improves; staff turnover slows down, customers are more satisfied as they notice improved attitudes,” she said.

Released last week, Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Statistics 2009/10 from the Labour Force Survey revealed there had been an estimated 435,000 cases of stress, anxiety and depression that were put down to work.

Dr Vassie added: “People often don’t pay as much attention to their mental health when compared to their physical, because it’s not as easy to identify when something’s not quite right.

“There are telltale signs of someone who is stressed – headaches and eye strain, inability to sleep, rapid shifts in mood, apathy, anxiety, oversensitivity. It can even cause loss of appetite, comfort eating and also increases the likelihood of drinking, smoking and recreational drug taking.”

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Words: 492

Notes for editors:

IOSH is the Chartered body for health and safety professionals. With more than 37,000 members in 85 countries, we’re the world’s biggest professional health and safety organisation.

We set standards, and support, develop and connect our members with resources, guidance, events and training. We’re the voice of the profession, and campaign on issues that affect millions of working people.

IOSH was founded in 1945 and is a registered charity with international NGO status.

*1 TUC study, ‘The truth about sickness absence’ (www.tuc.org.uk/extras/absencerates.doc) revealed in March 2010:

• Within the last month, more than one in five public sector workers have been to work when they were really too ill to do so (21 per cent).
• A further 41 per cent (compared to 36 per cent of private sector workers) have gone into work poorly when they should have stayed off sick within the last year, though not in the last month.
• Only one in ten public sector workers (11 per cent) have never been to work when they were too ill to go.
• One in three public sector workers cited their reason for going into work when unwell was 'people depend on the job I do and I didn't want to let them down' (33 per cent).
• Others were concerned about the impact their absence would have on colleagues: 'I didn't want to give my colleagues extra work' (18 per cent of public sector workers compared with 12 per cent of private sector workers said this was the case).

*2 Figures taken from The Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health study http://www.centreformentalhealth.org.uk/pdfs/nehin_mental_health_at_work_business_case_michael_parsonage.pdf