The cumulative impact and associated costs of multiple health conditions on employee productivity.

Abstract

This study investigates and provides comparative data on the relative contributions of multiple physical and psychological health conditions on work productivity. A total of 667 employees from the headquarters office of a multinational consumer goods manufacturing firm in Germany completed a purpose-designed self-report questionnaire addressing the presence of 13 common health conditions, and associated absenteeism and presenteeism. Adjustments for comorbidity and self-report bias were made using an innovative approach. A total of 34.8% of participants experienced absenteeism and 78.4% experienced presenteeism for at least one health condition. The overall annualized productivity loss due to the 13 health conditions was more than 27 days, equating to 12.3% of employee capacity and about &OV0556;8.78 million for the 1298 persons employed at the site. The combined effects of multiple health conditions on productivity account for a significant proportion of total employee costs.