Journal of Managerial Psychology

Running head: LEGAL AND ETHICAL ASPECTS OF PRESENTEEISM
LEGAL AND ETHICAL ASPECTS OF PRESENTEEISM
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1LEGAL AND ETHICAL ASPECTS OF PRESENTEEISM
As stated by Holland and Collins (2018), registered nurses and the midwives are required
to show the highest amount of compassion or dedication towards the care or the treatment
services that they are offer to their patients. Rosen et al. (2018) are of the viewpoint that this
particular aspect is important since the recovery process or for that matter the wellbeing of the
patients greatly depends on this particular aspect of the work of the registered nurses or the
midwives. However, the important issue arises since it had been seen that because of the
problems of workforce shortage, the large number of patients that the healthcare organizations
offer healthcare services to and others, presenteeism had become an integral part of the nursing
profession (McLellan 2017). For instance, many times it had been seen that the nurses are
required to report to their jobs despite being physically or emotionally unwell since their job
roles requires them to attend to the patients. This as a matter of fact is not only in direct violation
of the Fair Work Act (2009) of the Australian government but at the same time unethical as well.
More importantly, it not only reduces the quality of care which is being offered by them to the
patients but also enhances the chances of the other healthcare professionals as well as the
patients infected from the health ailments that the nurses are suffering from. The purpose of this
essay is to discuss the legal and ethical aspects of presenteeism including barriers and enablers to
accessing sick leave.
Wang et al. (2018) are of the viewpoint that presenteeism refers to the situation wherein
the registered nurses or the midwives are required to attend even when they are unwell or for that
matter not completely well to perform their work roles. Adding to this, Sarker et al. (2016) have
noted that an important factor which had substantially contributed towards presenteeism can be
attributed to the Herculean amount of work that the registered nurses or the midwives are
required to perform within the healthcare organizations in the face of the shortage of adequate

2LEGAL AND ETHICAL ASPECTS OF PRESENTEEISM
number of healthcare staff. In addition to this, it is seen that the registered nurses or the
midwives have fixed patients whose medical histories they are familiar with and thus know
exactly the kind of care or treatment that they require (Gustafsson et al. 2019). However, if they
are absent from work it becomes very difficult for the other registered nurses or the midwives
who are filling in for them to administer the required care or treatment since they first need to go
through the medical history of the patients and after that administer the required care or
treatment (Cicolini et al. 2016). More importantly, psychologists have also noted that the process
of presenteeism can also be attributed to the psychological insecurity of the individuals wherein
they feel that if they are absent from work their place within the organization might be taken
away or for that matter they might be replaced (Aboagye et al. 2019). However, regardless of the
reasons for indulging in the process of presenteeism it can be said that the concerned process is
not only derogatory from the legal perspective but also from the ethical perspective as well.
As discussed by Gustafsson et al. (2019), the healthcare sector and the organizations
related to the same just like the other industries of the world are required to take into account the
different governmental policies, regulations, legislations and others not only for the management
of their workers but also for the management of their operations. Nelson, Shaw and Robertson
(2016) are of the viewpoint that the healthcare organizations operational within the nation of
Australia are required to ardently follow the different precepts of the Fair Work Act (2009) of the
Australian government for the adequate management of their human resources. More
importantly, as per the precepts of this particular act, “All full-time employees – except casuals –
are entitled to a minimum of 10 days paid personal leave each year (which includes sick leave
and carer's leave). This is accrued progressively for a full-time employee, and pro-rata for a part-
time” (Legislation.gov.au 2019). Moreover, the Australian government presently had also made