The impact of leadership on employee presenteeism: A comparison between police and non-police samples

Abstract

Leader support is an essential factor influencing worker health and stress. Police officers are part of a class of workers who must deal with a high level of stress. Significant stress can lead to the onset of symptoms of psychological distress, which can lead to presenteeism (employees are present but suffer from mental health symptoms). However, we note that few studies focus on police leadership and job-related-stress presenteeism. Therefore, the current research is relevant and aims to demonstrate the link between the leadership style (Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire) on presenteeism (Job-Stress-Related Presenteeism measure) for police and non-police samples. A total of 252 employees, police officers (municipal organization) and blue-collar workers (public organization) completed the questionnaires. The results indicated that, for both samples, transformational leadership did not significantly influence job-stress presenteeism. Laissez-faire leadership had a strong negative effect on police and non-police employees’ job-related stress presenteeism scores. Finally, a transactional leadership style predicted higher levels of job-related-stress presenteeism for our non-police (blue-collar) sample; it did not significantly influence job-stress-related presenteeism for our police sample. These results highlight the importance of leadership style on employee well-being, and the implications of these results are discussed.