Background

The decision of employees between calling in sick (sickness-related absenteeism) and working despite illness (sickness-related presenteeism) is influenced by the environment, the organization, workplace-related and personal factors. Both behaviours are associated with direct and indirect costs for organizations and individuals. Therefore, understanding and managing employee decisions in the event of illness is of great importance for organizations.

Objective

The aim of the research project is to identify the reasons for working despite illness and to make them measurable in order to record drivers and the experienced climate of presenteeism and to identify their effects.

Research design/procedure

In order to determine the reasons for employees to work sick, a systematic literature review is carried out and an overview of previous measurement approaches is compiled. Subsequently, a scale for the uniform and valid measurement of presenteeism climate at the workplace will be developed and validated across several data collections. Drivers and effects will be investigated using the scale.