Management of Absenteeism and
Presenteeism within Rail – An
Update
Our Strategy:
Governance
RSSB Board
Health and
Wellbeing Policy
Group
Health Economics
Group
Task and Finish
Groups
HWPG Members: Chris Jones, Network Rail / Steve Hails,
Crossrail / Michelle Smart, Abellio Greater Anglia / Andrew
Edwards, East Midlands Trains / Graham Candy, Atkins /
Jonathon Willcock, Alstom / Dr Olivia Carlton, TfL / Peter
Fisher, Costain / Mary Sithole, TSSA / Susan Murray, Unite /
Dave Bennett, ASLEF / Paul Clyndes, RMT / John Gillespie,
ORR
Health and
Wellbeing
Professions
Committee
Background
Absenteeism and Presenteeism are significant issues within the rail industry.
An industry wide report (‘Costs of impaired health across the network’) was undertaken to outline the costs to the
GB rail industry of poor health and wellbeing, this identified the cost of direct and indirect sickness absence to be
approximately £316m each year and the cost of presenteeism (reduced productivity at work due to health
problems) estimated at £474m per annum. The combined costs of impaired health are therefore in the region of
£790m per annum.
Absenteeism and presenteeism are difficult areas to work on within industry as absenteeism has strong
entrenched views of management surrounding it and presenteeism is not a term widely accepted within rail.
The term presenteeism is often interpreted in different ways. Robertson and Cooper (2011) suggest three
attributes to the term:
• Attending work when unwell
• Putting in long hours but not working all of the time (often known as ‘face time’)
• Working at a reduced level because of distractions (for example, going online)
The industry roadmapping workshops identified an additional attribute: People who have a health risk factor that
inhibits their ability to do their job (for example, obesity and manual work).
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Finding the right project
In trying to manage this area the RSSB health and wellbeing team attempted to put forward a number of
different projects to the Health and Wellbeing Policy Group to tackle the project area. None of these were
regarded as hitting the right spot to tackle the issue and many debates were held within the team to identify
what was appropriate.
Example Idea 1: Managing complex cases- a blueprint for industry
Aims and Objectives
• The aim of the project is to:
Develop a blueprint protocol which can be adapted by other companies or varying sizes to help them
manage complex and problematic absences.
• Once the protocol is developed then this can be trialled across other companies (pilot sites to be
identified) to ensure validity across industry
Key Deliverables
• The project deliverable will take the form of a blueprint protocol for managing complex cases of absence
which is relevant to wider industry. This blueprint will allow companies to:
• Approach complex cases from a knowledgeable position
• Help managers support and arrange appropriate help for those employees who have unaddressed
illnesses or problems which are causing a long-term/ complex absence
• Assist managers in dealing with wider issues such as job dissatisfaction which may be causing absences
among employees
• 5 Advise managers on how to utilise appropriate support and specialist knowledge.
Finding the right project
Example Idea 2: Validating a measure of presenteeism
Aims and Objectives
The aim of the project is to:
• Validate a measure of presenteeism which would allow companies to gauge the scale of presenteeism
within their organisation and the resulting impact of this. Difficulties in understanding the scale and
causes of presenteeism have been consistently raised by managers within industry, a measure of
presenteeism will allow them to gauge the breadth of the problem and know what needs to be changed
to reduce presenteeism.
The project’s objective is to provide an industry-relevant measure which can be widely used and which will
increase knowledge and understanding of presenteeism within organisations.
Key Deliverables
• The project deliverable will take the form of a validated measure of presenteeism, relevant to industry,
which will allow companies to:
• Gain a clear and quantifiable measure of the scale of presenteeism within their organisation
• Have a clear understanding of the underlying causes of presenteeism within the workplace
• Identify areas of work/ the company which could be changed in order to improve presenteeism
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A model of the influences on A&P Culture
In response to the problems found in identifying a project within this work space the RSSB Health and Wellbeing
team identified a model that sets out the many influences on the A&P culture.
This model is now being used to inform discussions on A&P training.
(See next slide for the model)
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Outcome
• At the December 2015 Health and Wellbeing Policy Group meeting it was decided
that the best way to improve the abseneeism and presenteeism culture within rail
was to provide better training for line managers.
• This project area will now be developed through the health training project area
identified within the Behavioural Change theme.
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Any comments please contact the RSSB
Health and Wellbeing Programme
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