Whether you should go to work when you have mild symptoms of illness is sometimes not so easy to answer – especially when you can work from home and thus practice so-called workahomeism. Working from home does not mean you are lazy and just playing Slotsgem. But it means you use your time more efficient.
You’re probably familiar with this situation: you’re a little ill but unsure whether you should or can stay at home. Many people then decide to go to work anyway – even though they would be better off resting and getting healthy.
Especially during the coronavirus pandemic, this phenomenon has gained more attention due to so-called workahomeism.
What is workahomeism?
Workahomeism is working from home despite illness. Workahomeism is people working from home even though they are ill or even officially on sick leave.
The phenomenon of workahomeism is not anything new, but a variation of presenteeism. The latter is also about working despite illness – but on-site in the office. According to a survey, one in two people go to work sick. This is much easier to do when working from home, as you can lie down for a while or use home remedies to alleviate a cold.
Since when has workahomeism existed, and what are the reasons?
Behind workahomeism are feelings of guilt. The phenomenon of workahomeism has been around for some time, but it has become particularly prevalent since the coronavirus pandemic: During the pandemic years, many employees moved their jobs to their own homes in order to avoid infecting anyone and avoiding contact with colleagues. So even if they only had mild symptoms of illness, such as a minor cold, people were advised to stay at home.
Even after the pandemic, workahomeism is still an issue, as many jobs involve working either partially or completely from home. Here in Germany, in particular, working from home is more common than in other countries.
According to a study, the reasons for workahomeism are usually based on feelings of guilt and fear of failure:
Those affected often feel bad about resting when they could simply work from home.
In addition, those affected also often feel guilty towards their colleagues, as they fear that they will harm them with their illness and fail to meet certain expectations. This is often due to pressure caused by staff shortages.
In addition, since the coronavirus, employees feel more guilty than before when they go to work sick. This leads to more workahomeism and has further lowered the inhibition threshold for working from home.
Negative consequences of workahomeism
Workahomeism has a lot to do with feelings of guilt. Employees often engage in workahomeism to avoid the feelings of guilt mentioned above. However, this can usually lead to new feelings of guilt. These concerns, for example
concerns about their health, or also
the question of whether their work performance is of high quality at all in their current state of health.
Interestingly, the study participants ultimately felt just as guilty or even more guilty about working from home while sick than if they had called in sick and rested.
And there is another negative effect: the fact that workahomeism can delay recovery is particularly serious. In the worst-case scenario, it can even lead to a lengthy illness. After all, you can’t recover at work when you’re in online meetings or completing tasks under pressure.
Always remember: if you’re tired and not productive for days on end, your employer won’t benefit from you working from home when you’re ill.
What you can do to combat workahomeism
When it comes to workahomeism, you should always question your motives. If you are facing the dilemma of workahomeism yourself, it may help if you ask yourself the following questions:
- Why do you want to work even though you are ill? What is behind it? Use self-reflection to uncover your possible feelings of guilt.
- How does it affect your quality of work if you work despite being ill? Both in the short and long term? Can you work efficiently and carefully as usual?
- What impact does it have on your colleagues if you recover and don’t work? Are you overloading them to such an extent?
