Productivity costs before and after absence from work: as important as common?

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Health Economics
• Workplace Productivity

Background:

• Traditional methods for estimating productivity losses rely on absence data (human capital, friction cost).
• Productivity losses without absence are recognized for some conditions (e.g., migraine) but often overlooked for diseases primarily causing absence.
• Previous research suggests productivity losses without absence are significant even for common illnesses.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify productivity losses occurring before and after employee absence due to illness.
• To assess the impact of including pre- and post-absence productivity losses on overall productivity cost estimations.
• To determine if current methods solely based on absence data underestimate the true economic burden of illness in the workplace.

Main Methods:

• A study was conducted on employees of a Dutch trade firm (n=51) returning to work after illness-related absence.
• Participants completed the 'Ill and Recovered' questionnaire to report productivity experienced before and after their absence.
• Data on absence duration and reduced productivity were collected and analyzed.

Main Results:

• Approximately 25% of employees reported productivity losses before their absence.
• Around 20% of employees reported productivity losses after their absence.
• Incorporating pre- and post-absence losses increased total estimated productivity costs by approximately 16% compared to absence-only data.

Conclusions:

• Productivity costs estimates based solely on absence data likely underestimate the true economic impact of illness.
• Pre- and post-absence productivity losses represent a substantial, often unaccounted for, component of total productivity costs.
• Further research and revised methodologies are needed to accurately capture the full spectrum of productivity costs associated with illness in the workplace.