Meanings
- UKuncountableThe fact of being present at work, especially if one is too sick to be productive, or working beyond the expected hours.First known use 20th c.
Research shows that presenteeism, apart from the obvious danger of contamination of other workers, can lead to longer absence from work later on.
2016, Slavina Spasova, Denis Bouget and Bart Vanhercke, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, December 20163 more examples
Organisations that have noticed an increase in presenteeism are nearly twice as likely to report an increase in stress-related absence and more than twice as likely to report an increase in mental health problems among their staff too.
2016 September 19, Peter Cheese, The GuardianEmployers should guarantee sick pay, including for contacts of known cases, and do everything they can to discourage the practice of “presenteeism”.
2020 March 15, William Hanage, “I’m an epidemiologist. When I heard about Britain’s ‘herd immunity’ coronavirus plan, I thought it was satire”, in The Guardian"This also contributes to 'presenteeism', where people work when they are not at their most productive, and the newer trend of 'leaveism' where employees feel they must work outside of their normal hours."
2020 June 1, Paul Stephen, “Mental health in the workplace”, in Rail, page 50
Origin
From presentee + -ism, after absenteeism, coined by academic Cary Cooper.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Chinese Mandarin 出勤主義 /出勤主义
- 出勤主義 /出勤主义 (chūqín zhǔyì)being at work when sick
Finnish presenteismi
- presenteismibeing at work when sick
French présentéisme
- présentéismebeing at work when sick
German Präsentismus
- Präsentismusbeing at work when sick
Romanian prezentism
- prezentismbeing at work when sick
Spanish presentismo
- presentismobeing at work when sick
Cite this entry
presenteeism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/presenteeism
“presenteeism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/presenteeism. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “presenteeism,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/presenteeism.
Source: presenteeism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.