Cost of Presenteeism

If you ever wondered what presenteeism really costs employers, you need look no further than an article published earlier this year in the April issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (R. Goetzel)

The study showed that for many conditions, the costs of presenteeism were far greater than other employer-related health care costs, such as absenteeism or health and disability benefits. For example, presenteeism due to headaches accounted for 89% of the total cost of productivity losses using average estimates and 49% using low estimates. For allergies, the costs of on-the-job productivity losses accounted for as much as 82% and as little as 55%.
"All in all, this means that from about one-fifth to three-fifths of the total dollars attributable to common health conditions faced by employers appear to be the result of on-the-job productivity losses," says Goetzel.
When other costs were added to losses from presenteeism, absenteeism, and health and disability benefits, the most expensive condition for employers was high blood pressure, with an annual cost of $392 per employee per year, followed by heart disease ($368), mental health problems ($348), arthritis ($327), and allergies ($271).

Credit - Jennifer Warner, WebMD.com