Presenteeism is a health and productivity issue receiving increasing attention from employers concerned about performance and productivity. First cousin to absenteeism, presenteeism is defined as an employee being at work but functioning at less than capacity.

Presenteeism is a complex phenomenon generated by a compound of at least six, often interacting, elements:

1. Burnout - the exhaustion of physical and psychological resources in the pursuit of unattainable goals. Stress is a primary contributor to burnout as a phenomenon and to how burnout contributes to presenteeism.
2. Physical Distress - employee present but under-functioning due to physical ailments and complaints (e.g., colds, flu, migraine headache, diabetes, cardiovascular disease). Stress-related illness and the physical distress of the illness itself make it difficult for the employee to function at full capacity.
3. Psychological Distress - employee present but under-functioning due to emotional or cognitive concerns (e.g., anxiety, depression, inability to concentrate, impaired decision making, poor judgment). An employee dealing with stress-related psychological distress problems has difficulty focusing, thinking, and performing at full capacity.
4. Work Distractions - employee present but under-functioning due to distractions on the job (e.g., office politics, uncooperative coworkers, difficulties with superiors, impending changes such as layoffs, mergers, or acquisitions). Many on-the-job distractions are stressful and create problems in concentration and productive thinking, as well as behaviors that undermine performance and productivity.
5. Life Distractions - employee present but under-functioning due to distractions outside the workplace (elder or childcare problems, transportation, home environment, marital difficulties, financial problems). The greater the stress associated with an outside concern, the greater the employee's preoccupation and the poorer his or her functioning.
6. Entitlement - employee present but under-functioning due to loafing, "goofing off," attending to personal affairs. Not seen as stress related, entitlement per se is beyond the scope of this report, but is represented in its entirety in residual presenteeism. Residual presenteeism in this analysis is the presenteeism unaccounted for by specific stress patterns within the workforce.

Presenteeism and Its Annual Dollar Costs:

In addition to comprehensive stress assessment scales, the Personal Stress Navigator (PSN) includes a scale upon which employees indicate their current level of functioning as a percentage of their full capacity. Percent presenteeism is defined as 100 percent minus the individual's self-reported percentage of full capacity. Individual employee presenteeism costs = presenteeism score X (annual salary/wages + company average benefits). Annual salary data are found in the demographic section of the PSN; company average benefits is defined as total benefits cost/number of employees. The influence of stress as a presenteeism driver and the costs associated with that influence are determined by extended statistical analyses.

See the Presenteeism and Productivity Analysis for a more complete understanding of the quantification of this complex phenomenon.