The Pandemic has taught us new lessons that perhaps needed to be learned many years ago: absence from work is not always an absence. Some people are highly engaged in job tasks when they work from home, while others reach their maximum potential working from the office. For some employees, working from home is not an option due to the job specifics, as well as personal or housing context. Frontline workers, including health workers, have no other possibility but to work at their workplace. We have also learned that coming to work while sick (sickness presenteeism) is not a noble thing to do, but can represent a threat to themselves and others. Staying at home while sick (sickness absenteeism), has become a new noble and mandatory act.In this Research Topic, we would like to gain a deeper insight and understanding from both workers’ and/or employers’ perspective on the absence from work and working life in general, during the pandemic. What level of engagement did employees have during the pandemic? How did this new context influence the health and well-being of workers, as well as economic processes? Additionally, we are strongly interested about the “users’ experience”. Did the “new normal” come with a price? Was the new normal, ‘normal’, or not, according to the human experience? Should we remain in the new normal once the pandemic is over or should we go back to the old?The aim(s) of this proposed Research Topic are: to determine the predictors and effects of absenteeism and presenteeism during the pandemic; to examine the health, well-being, or economic effects of working during the pandemic; to analyze the determinants and outcomes of psychological workplace context; to capture the users’ experiences at different levels during the pandemic. This Research Topic aims to address, but is not limited to, the following themes:• What was it like to work during the pandemic?• Current information analyzing how workers’ health and wellbeing were affected• The state of the workforce during the Pandemic• The evidence and arguments regarding workers’ rights, pay, absence and sick pay policies during the Pandemic• Have workforce and employers adapted during the Pandemic?• Changes in work and health policies during the Pandemic• Preventive measures in maintaining workers’ mental health during the Pandemic• What lessons learned could benefit future generations?
The Pandemic has taught us new lessons that perhaps needed to be learned many years ago: absence from work is not always an absence. Some people are highly engaged in job tasks when they work from home, while others reach their maximum potential working from the office. For some employees, working from home is not an option due to the job specifics, as well as personal or housing context. Frontline workers, including health workers, have no other possibility but to work at their workplace. We have also learned that coming to work while sick (sickness presenteeism) is not a noble thing to do, but can represent a threat to themselves and others. Staying at home while sick (sickness absenteeism), has become a new noble and mandatory act.In this Research Topic, we would like to gain a deeper insight and understanding from both workers’ and/or employers’ perspective on the absence from work and working life in general, during the pandemic. What level of engagement did employees have during the pandemic? How did this new context influence the health and well-being of workers, as well as economic processes? Additionally, we are strongly interested about the “users’ experience”. Did the “new normal” come with a price? Was the new normal, ‘normal’, or not, according to the human experience? Should we remain in the new normal once the pandemic is over or should we go back to the old?The aim(s) of this proposed Research Topic are: to determine the predictors and effects of absenteeism and presenteeism during the pandemic; to examine the health, well-being, or economic effects of working during the pandemic; to analyze the determinants and outcomes of psychological workplace context; to capture the users’ experiences at different levels during the pandemic. This Research Topic aims to address, but is not limited to, the following themes:• What was it like to work during the pandemic?• Current information analyzing how workers’ health and wellbeing were affected• The state of the workforce during the Pandemic• The evidence and arguments regarding workers’ rights, pay, absence and sick pay policies during the Pandemic• Have workforce and employers adapted during the Pandemic?• Changes in work and health policies during the Pandemic• Preventive measures in maintaining workers’ mental health during the Pandemic• What lessons learned could benefit future generations?