What Happens to Work if you’re Unwell? Beliefs and Attitudes of Managers and Employees With Musculoskeletal Pain in a Public Sector Setting

Springer Science and Business Media LLC - Tập 21 - Trang 31-42 - 2010
Gwenllian Wynne-Jones1, Rhiannon Buck2, Carol Porteous3, Lucy Cooper3, Lori A. Button4, Chris J. Main1, Ceri J. Phillips3
1Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre, Primary Care Sciences, Keele University, Keele, Staffordshire, UK
2Mental Health Research and Development Unit, School For Health, University of Bath, England, UK
3Institute For Health Research, School of Health Science, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
4School of Medicine, Swansea University, Swansea, UK

Tóm tắt

Introduction: Musculoskeletal complaints can impact on work in terms of productivity, sickness absence and long term incapacity for work. While employee attitudes and knowledge can drive absenteeism and presenteeism behaviour, managers also play an important role in influencing this via the quality of their relationships with employees and their role in implementing organisational policies and procedures. The aims of this study were to investigate the beliefs and attitudes of managers and employees with musculoskeletal pain about sickness absence, presenteeism, and return to work and to identify areas of consensus and conflict. Methods: 18 employees with musculoskeletal pain and 20 managers from two large public sector organisations in South Wales, UK, took part in individual face-to-face interviews. Data were analysed thematically using NVivo. Results: Employees’ and managers’ reports indicated that there was a strong culture of presenteeism in these organisations. Establishing the legitimacy of complaints was a salient theme for both managers and employees, although their views were in conflict. Employees reported feeling that contact with employers was intrusive when sickness absence was legitimate. Managers were supportive of those who they felt were ‘genuinely’ unwell, but also cited examples of people ‘working the system’ and not reporting absences appropriately. Conclusions: These issues require careful consideration of the rights and responsibilities of both employees and employers, where strategies for improving communication, trust, and creating an environment conducive to successful return to work need to be investigated.

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Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Tập 21

31-42

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