HRpedia: 'Presenteeism'

Presenteeism, n.

If absenteeism is the state of being absent frequently, what is presenteeism? The state of being present frequently?

Don’t be so naive. It’s actually the quality of attending work while sick. Or maybe the quality of staying on at work longer than is necessary to be effective. Oh, and sometimes it’s grouped with that wonderful branch of -isms: racism, sexism, etc., in this case referring to discriminating in favour of those who are visibly present in an office over those who are not.

First, the idea that one might be pressured into being visible during work hours, be you sick or be you healthy. This happens when there is understood to be some kind of benefit to be ‘seen’ working, as opposed to really working. Because let’s face it, you aren’t doing your best work at death’s door. And sitting at your desk on Facebook for fear of being witnessed leaving the office before 4:30, even when your work is over, isn’t actually helping anyone.

And only God can help those who work from home. A notorious MIT study concludes that remote workers are passed over for promotion regardless of merit, and that those in the office are more likely to be rated as dedicated and responsible, irrespective of their output.

Managers are sort of like police officers: they want you to keep your hands where they can see them. So you go to an office to work,  despite the fact that the office is consistently shown to be one of the worst places to work, full of interruptions and distractions. When quizzed, few people say that the office is their best place to work. They prefer trains, coffee shops, a quiet corner at home; presumably a children’s ball pit, too.

So perhaps we can re-clarify the term to mean something closer to what it should be: pressure to stay or be at work even when it is un- or counter-productive. And with a crackdown on sickness absences, higher incidence of mental health issues, and a growing movement for telecommuting, expect ‘presenteeism’ to remain current jargon for the foreseeable future.

About the author

Jerome Langford

Jerome is a graduate in Philosophy from St Andrews, who alternately spends time writing about HR and staring wistfully out of windows, thinking about life’s bigger questions: Why are we here? How much lunch is too much lunch? What do you mean exactly by ‘final warning’?