Investigating the Relationship between Presenteeism and Workforce Productivity and Job Stress

Objectives: Presenteeism is defined as a global phenomenon that causes problems for workers who are present at work but are not fully efficient due to illness, boredom, unwellness, or other medical conditions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between presenteeism and the levels of labor productivity and job stress among the employees of a company affiliated with the Ministry of Petroleum. Methods: The study subjects (n=59) were randomly selected from among the official employees of a provincial gas company according to the Cochran formula. The data of the study were collected using the Stanford Presenteeism Scale (SPS-6) and Health and Work Questionnaire (HWQ). The one-sample t-test was used to check the significance of presenteeism among employees. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 26 software. Results: In this research, it was found that 27 individuals (46%) participating in the project were presentees, while 32 people (54%) were not. The results showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between presenteeism and the subcategories of productivity (r=0.003) and the subcategories of job stress (r=0.016). Conclusion: In this research, it was found that higher levels of presenteeism led to lower productivity of the workforce and higher levels of job stress, which imposes high costs on the organization.