Abstract
This chapter presents an overview of key findings related to health-related productivity costs, as a consequence of sickness absence, and productivity loss at work. It shows that the costs of disease-related absence from work and productivity loss at work can be substantial, especially for musculoskeletal and mental disorders. Regarding the monetary valuation of absenteeism, the current methodological debate focuses on the extent of compensation mechanisms and the impact of team production, deadlines etc. on the value of productivity loss. In addition, we observed several ways to measure and value productivity loss at work (presenteeism). Initiatives to improve the measurement and valuation of presenteeism are currently being undertaken worldwide. Especially, the measurement and valuation of long-term presenteeism (for example due to chronic and/or episodic disorders) should become subject of future research, as it might have a substantial impact on the employability and working careers of these chronically ill persons.
As observed, the number of cost-effectiveness studies of occupational health interventions is growing, but is still too small to guide policy makers in choosing between interventions.
A complication for policies that potentially reduce productivity costs is the fact that costs and benefits (both financial and health) often don’t fall upon the same actor, limiting the will to implement these. There is no simple solution for this, but showing the total societal gains and designing (financial) incentives for various actors might help to motivate parties to work toward common goals.
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Koopmanschap, M., Burdorf, A., Lötters, F. (2013). Work Absenteeism and Productivity Loss at Work. In: Loisel, P., Anema, J. (eds) Handbook of Work Disability. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6214-9_3
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