Points-Based Attendance Systems Associated With Presenteeism Despite Paid Sick Leave Protections

Presenteeism, or attending work despite being ill enough to warrant absence, is endemic among working Americans. Although research suggests that paid sick leave mandates reduce presenteeism, it has not considered whether workers exposed to points systems for work attendance are more likely to work while sick or how points systems may interact with paid sick leave mandates. We used 2024 data from the Shift Project on service workers employed at sixty-three large firms to study the relationship between points systems and presenteeism and to determine whether that relationship varied by employee coverage under a paid sick leave law. We found that exposure to a points system was associated with an 18.9-percentage-point increase in presenteeism, with effects observed even among workers who had not incurred points. Paid sick leave mandates did not moderate exposure to a points system or the association between exposure to points systems and presenteeism. Results suggest that points-based attendance systems undermine the public health benefits of paid sick leave mandates. To reduce presenteeism in jurisdictions with paid sick leave mandates, outreach to covered workers and employers and stronger enforcement efforts may be needed.