Voluntary presenteeism: through the lens of employee engagement

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to give a new perspective to presenteeism. Traditionally, there are two approaches to it. In our study, we have tried to empirically prove that there is a third approach to looking at presenteeism from the lens of employee engagement.Design/methodology/approachThe research design used a mixed-method approach and was carried out in two parts. In Part I of the study, survey research was carried out to study presenteeism. In part II, a vignette on presenteeism was designed to study whether respondents exhibit presenteeism more in a crisis than other modes of handling the situation.FindingsThe findings from Study 1 showed that high employee engagement led to high presenteeism. Study 2 showed that in crisis situation employee engagement led to voluntary presenteeism in the form of work–from–home as the most preferred response.Research limitations/implicationsThe study's limitations were the small sample size and cross-sectional survey research design. The same was offset by using the vignette study to show the relationship between employee engagement and presenteeism.Practical implicationsVoluntary presenteeism is different from forced presenteeism and often is a mark of engaged behaviour of employees.Social implicationsIf work-from-home when sick is managed correctly and supported with adequate resources, attending work during illness can benefit health and performance in the long run.Originality/valueThe study provides a unique perspective on presenteeism in general and voluntary presenteeism in particular.