Remote Work and Gender Differences in Absenteeism and Presenteeism Behavior

Abstract

This study aims to examine whether the transition from working in an office to working remotely, forced by the Covid-19 pandemic, impacts employee absenteeism and presenteeism over time. Based on conservation of resources theory, we hypothesize that changing from an office to a remote work setting leads to decreased absenteeism and increased presenteeism among employees. We further assume that these relationships differ between gender subgroups as women experience the boundaries between the work and life area as more permeable, take over more domestic responsibilities, and, thus, have fewer resources available to cope with work tasks. We investigated how absenteeism and presenteeism developed using a sample of 514 white-collar workers tracked over two years. In a discontinuity growth model framework, zero-inflated negative binomial regressions showed decreased absenteeism and increased presenteeism after the transition to remote work. Contrary to our assumptions, subgroup analyses revealed that women showed a stronger decrease in absenteeism than men and a similar level of presenteeism. We discuss our contributions and the implications for corporate leadership and occupational health management.