New research funding from the "Ideas and Risk Fund" of the University of HamburgWhy do people go to work even when they are sick?

1 August 2023, by Christina Krätzig

New research project on the phenomenon of "presenteeism" by HCHE junior professor Eva-Maria Wild is funded by the University of Hamburg's Ideas and Risk Fund. Wild is investigating why employees do not take sick leave but continue to go to work even though they are sick.

Researchers at the University of Hamburg can apply for funding from the "Ideas and Risk Fund" to prepare a major third-party funded project. Among this year's projects is a research by HCHE core member Eva-Maria Wild on "presenteeism", a phenomenon that describes workers not taking sick leave when they are not healthy. Wild suspects that this is not just an expression of the individual personalities of individuals, but that the corporate culture in companies or organizations can contribute to such behavior. With consequences: "Presenteeism can lead to burnouts, to psychological and, in the longer term, to physical illnesses," says the junior professor of healthcare management, explaining the problem. With 18,000 euros from the "Ideas and Risk Fund", she wants to develop a scale that will help her measure presenteeism culture. She will survey between 500 and 1,000 people in Germany in several rounds.

Further information on the project and the "Ideas and Risk Fund" of the University of Hamburg can be found here (in german).