Mental Ill-Health and the Differential Effect of Employee... : Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (original) (raw)

Original Articles

Mental Ill-Health and the Differential Effect of Employee Type on Absenteeism and Presenteeism

Hilton, Michael F. PhD; Scuffham, Paul A. PhD; Sheridan, Judith M Clin Psych; Cleary, Catherine M. Grad Dip App Sc; Whiteford, Harvey A. MBBS, MPH

From the School of Population Health (Dr Hilton, Mr Whiteford), The University of Queensland, Herston; Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research (Dr Hilton, Mr Whiteford, Ms Sheridan, Ms Cleary), Queensland, Wacol; and School of Medicine (Dr Scuffham), Griffith University Logan Campus, Meadowbrook, Queensland, Australia.

CME Available for this Article at ACOEM.org

Michael F. Hilton, Paul A. Scuffham, Judith Sheridan, Catherine M. Cleary, and Harvey A. Whiteford have no financial interest related to this research.

Address correspondence to: Michael Hilton, PhD, Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, Locked Bag 500, Richlands, QLD 4077, Australia; E-mail: [email protected].

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Abstract

Objective:

Mental ill-health results in substantial reductions in employee productivity (absenteeism and presenteeism). This paper examines the relationship between employee psychological distress, employee type and productivity.

Method:

Utilizing the Health and Performance at Work Questionnaire, in a sample of 60,556 full-time employees, the impact that psychological distress (Kessler 6) imposes on employee productivity by occupation type is examined.

Results:

Comparison of white-collar workers absenteeism rates by low and high psychological distress reveals no statistically significant difference. Nevertheless, the same comparison for blue-collar workers reveals that high psychological distress results in an 18% increase in absenteeism rates. High K6 score resulted in a presenteeism increase of 6% in both blue and white-collar employees.

Conclusion:

The novel finding is that mental ill-health produces little to no absenteeism in white-collar workers yet a profound absenteeism increase in the blue-collar sector.