Mental Health and Productivity at Work: Does What You Do Matter?

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2766100

Paper

Mental Health and Productivity at Work: Does What You Do Matter?

Published Apr 17, 2016 · Melisa Bubonya, D. Cobb-Clark, M. Wooden

Labor: Personnel Economics eJournal

UNKNOWN SJR score

168

Citations

6

Influential Citations

Full textSemantic Scholar

Abstract

Much of the economic cost of mental illness stems from workers’ reduced productivity. We analyze the links between mental health and two alternative workplace productivity measures – absenteeism and presenteeism (i.e., lower productivity while attending work) – explicitly allowing these relationships to be moderated by the nature of the job itself. We find that absence rates are approximately five percent higher among workers who report being in poor mental health. Moreover, job conditions are related to both presenteeism and absenteeism even after accounting for workers’ self-reported mental health status. Job conditions are relatively more important in understanding diminished productivity at work if workers are in good rather than poor mental health. The effects of job complexity and stress on absenteeism do not depend on workers’ mental health, while job security and control moderate the effect of mental illness on absence days.

Observational Study

Highly Cited

Study Snapshot

Key takeawayPoor mental health leads to 5% higher absenteeism rates, and job conditions impact productivity, with job security and control moderating the impact of mental illness on absence days.

PopulationOlder adults (50-71 years)

Sample size24

MethodsObservational

OutcomesBody Mass Index projections

ResultsSocial networks mitigate obesity in older groups.

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Mental Health and Productivity at Work: Does What You Do Matter?

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References

Coming to Work While Sick: An Economic Theory of Presenteeism with an Application to German Data

Long-Term Consequences of Workplace Bullying on Sickness Absence

Determinants of the Annual Duration of Sickness Presenteeism: Empirical Evidence from European Data

Sickness absence and mental health: evidence from a nationally representative longitudinal survey.

How are work-related characteristics linked to sickness absence and presenteeism? Theory and data

Citations

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The Impact of Leave Practices on Employees’ Well-being and Organizational Performance: The Case of Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania

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Effective Integration and Use of Non-Development LLMs in Software Development

Non-development large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT can improve productivity and well-being in software development, particularly for practitioners with mental health disorders.

Mental health and financial risk attitudes: Panel data evidence from Australia

Poor mental health leads to a 10.3 percentage point increase in the likelihood of taking financial risks in Australia.

Recognition of the importance of personal demands and resources in employee well-being: Lessons for management at The State Hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic – a critical evaluation of NHS employee perceptions

During the Covid-19 pandemic, NHS employees' well-being was impacted by personal demands and resources, and management development, workload issues, and communication strategies can enhance their well-being during crises.

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Employee mental health is crucial for business success, as it impacts productivity, performance, turnover rates, absenteeism, and overall work functioning.