Introduction
Status of health is a significant predictor of the labor force, and a growing contributor is chronic diseases to morbidity related outcomes of the labor market. One of the largest causes of bad employment performance is chronic diseases. Diabetes is one of the significant contributors to labor force deaths after coronary heart disease. The significant risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes are well known, such as lack of physical activity, diet, smoking, genetic predisposition to diabetes, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure. Commentators and researchers have expressed alarm and concerns at the overweight and obesity rate among the workforce. Consequently, physical inactivity and obesity have been promoted worldwide as the main focus on preventing diabetes (Harris, 2008).
The risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease are positively correlated to each other not only because inadequate physical activity and low diet are risk factors for both chronic diseases, but additionally because abdominal obesity and blood fats are elevated by high blood pressure are risk factors for chronic heart disease, common with diabetes. This analysis aims to evaluate the effects of major chronic diseases on the labor force and manage those chronic diseases to improve labor performance.
Chronic Diseases Impact on Labor Force
Chronic disease can shake the labor market. One moment an employee is perfectly fine and healthy, giving 100 percent operational performance. And, the next moment, an employee is seriously sick and struggling to complete even the simplest working tasks. Careful planning and thought are required and the most challenging efforts to manage the simple working activities. Working activities that an employee once took for granted are challenging, and he or she is worried and stressed about managing the balance in working life. However, an employee’s primary concern is making working life balance to the next day from one day without experiencing the severe and severe health crisis (Ngo, 2017). The following table shows the labor market outcomes of major chronic diseases and behavioral risk factors:
Source: https://www.greenfacts.org/en/chronic-diseases-labour/l-2/index.htm
Although ADA and FMLA kinds of laws were designed to protect the labor force from being fired because of medical or disability reasons, the reality is different. Maintaining employment while suffering from some chronic disease is still a challenge for the labor force. Yet many chronically ill laborers are facing severe health concerns. Still, they need to continue their working life so that they could be able to manage financial burden along with health insurance and massive medical bills (Ngo, 2017). Following are the major chronic diseases the labor force is suffering with:
- Obesity: the literature has supported the fact that obesity negatively impacts the labor market as it reduces the employment prospects, employment and wages, and labor productivity. Obesity, not exclusively, but significantly affects women. Obese people’s chances to be employed are less likely than normal-weight persons, and they earn up to 18% less than the non-obese people while discharging the same tasks and having equivalent positions. Due to more sick leave days, obese people are comparatively less productive, ultimately reducing their operational performance (GreenFacts, 2018).
- Use of Alcohol: Besides the pattern of consumption and quantity consumed, alcohol consumption on employment and labor productivity varies throughout the life cycle. Employment opportunities are better for long-term light drinkers than other groups such as abstainers, long-term heavy drinkers, former abstainers, and former drinkers. The association between wages and moderate drinking is festive as moderate drinkers have better job performance and better health than abstainers and heavy drinkers. However, employment opportunities are less for heavy alcohol consumers as they are less productive because of reduced performance and sickness absences at the workplace (GreenFacts, 2018).
- Diabetes: It is significantly associated with the increase in the labor-force exit rate while this association differs from disease gravity. Employees who have diabetes have less resistance power that reduces their productivity (Marcial, 2017).
- Cancer: It is one of the most severe chronic diseases that negatively impact working hours and employment probability leading to work absence. Low socioeconomic status and lower qualification levels worsen the cancer impacts on the employment and labor force (GreenFacts, 2018).
- Cardiovascular Heart Disease and High Blood Pressure: These diseases may not be associated with increased illness absence necessarily; however, it makes employees suffer from their working life balance and making hard for them to manage even everyday working tasks, ultimately reducing their operational performance (Marcial, 2017).
- Smoking: It imposes a significant burden on the labor force and society through increased health care system costs. The employment status is likely to be affected by smoking due to the well-known adverse health effects (GreenFacts, 2018).
Manage Chronic Diseases
To maintain employee productivity, labor market outcome, and working life balance, it is essential to manage chronic diseases. There are multiple carefully designed strategies to prevent chronic diseases that may lead to significant labor productivity and economical production through a more productive and healthier environment. Policies for chronic disease prevention and their risk factors have significant social outcomes other than the health benefits that should be considered to evaluate such policy impacts. Chronic disease prevention should be considered the means of better and broader social welfare (Muse, 2013). Following are some of the practical and convenient ways to manage the chronic disease:
- Be Honest With Your Employer: It is unnecessary to inform the supervisor about chronic diseases if a person doesn’t want to. However, if the disease affects working life from the beginning or at any working stage, it would be adequate to speak up with the employer and ask him or her to compensate the employee according to laws and rules.
- Know Your Rights: Although the organizations usually do their best and have proper rules to accommodate the employees suffering from chronic disease, they could run into resistance. Some employees will not be eager to accommodate the chronically ill employee, especially if they don’t look visibly ill. It is better to search the state’s legal rights and then speak with the human resource manager or employer to avail of the accommodation.
- Treatment: Some medical centers and hospitals help chronically ill people manage their disease through proper medication and regular checkups. It will be better to follow-up with the family doctor or some physician to manage chronic disease and working life balance.
Conclusion
In a nutshell, chronic diseases impact the important detrimental labor market along with its risk factors. Smoking and obesity impair the employment wages, prospects, labor productivity, and, most importantly, exit from the labor force in the form of early retirement in an obvious way. Diabetes and cardiovascular heart diseases negatively impact wages and employment prospects. Labour productivity lowers due to chronic diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, and cancer. Alcohol use, high blood pressure, arthritis, and cancer have mixed impacts on wages and employment; moreover, this is not always connected with increased illness absence.
However, caution is required to interpret the labor market’s outcome evidence of chronic disease that negatively affects labor productivity. To maintain employee productivity, labor market outcome, and working life balance, it is essential to manage chronic diseases. Policies for chronic disease prevention and their risk factors have significant social outcomes other than the health benefits that should be considered to evaluate such policy impacts.
