19 February 2013

presenteeism

[prez-uhn-tee-iz-uhm]

noun

1. the practice of coming to work despite illness, injury, anxiety, etc., often resulting in reduced productivity.
2. the practice of working long hours at a job without the real need to do so.

Example sentence:

‘Employers often try to reduce absenteeism, but a more insidious threat to productivity is presenteeism’.

Today’s aphorism

‘A synonym is a word you use when you can’t spell the other one’.

– Baltasar Gracián

On this day

19 February 1950 – Cyprus independence is granted with the signing of a joint agreement by Britain, Greece and Turkey.

19 February 2006 – Hamas leader, Ismail Haniya, becomes Prime Minister of Palestine following Palestinian Legislative Council elections.

19 February 2008 – Fidel Castro retires as leader of Cuba after 49 years at the helm, following the revolution he led in 1959. At 81 years old, Castro had been unwell.