Association Between Presenteeism and Mistreatment at the Workplace During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan: A 1-Year Prospective Cohort Study.

Abstract

Objective: Workers were subject to both presenteeism and workplace mistreatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to examine their association during the pandemic in Japan.

Methods: An internet-based, 1-year prospective cohort study was conducted from 2020 to 2021. The Work Functioning Impairment Scale (WFun) as an indicator of presenteeism at baseline and workplace mistreatment experience at follow-up were assessed. Multilevel logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate their association.

Results: The analysis of 18,170 subjects showed that those with moderate and severe work function impairment were significantly associated with workplace mistreatment compared with those with less impairment (adjusted odds, 1.89 [95% CI, 1.67-2.14; P < 0.001] and 3.00 [95% CI, 2.69-3.35; P < 0.001], respectively).

Conclusions: Increasing severity of baseline presenteeism was associated with increasing likelihood of workplace mistreatment. Efforts to reduce presenteeism may help reduce workplace injustice and improve morale.