Sickness Presenteeism and the Law: A Comparative Study Across Four Countries

“Presenteeism” – as a notion created as a counterpart to absenteeism – is being given increasing attention in socio-economic sciences as the phenomenon of attending work despite sickness. The present book investigates legal issues in relation to this phenomenon – and ultimately the question to what degree legal rules concerning sickness-related absence can and should take the risk of presenteeism into account. For this purpose, a closer look is taken into current legal regulation in four European countries (Austria, the Czech republic, Hungary and the Netherlands) with respect to monetary benefit schemes under labour and social security law, with a specific focus on their degree of inclusiveness, additional measures to avoid sickness-related job losses, risk distribution between employees, employers and society, and the likelihood of striking a reasonable balance between the aims of income security and the prevention of abuse.

Dr. Christina Hießl, Bakk.phil., LLM.: studies of Austrian, European and international social, labour and economic law in Innsbruck, Brno, Tilburg and Vienna. Prior research and lecturing activities at Innsbruck University, WU Vienna, the ILO (Budapest Office) and the Austrian Supreme Court. Currently Invited Professor of Yonsei University (Seoul).