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

Abstract

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. 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. 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). 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.