ORIGINAL ARTICLE No Rest for the Stigmatized: A Model of Organizational Health and Workplace Sexism (OHWS) Sara K. Manuel 1 & Kristina Howansky 1 & Kimberly E. Chaney 1 & Diana T. Sanchez 1 # Springer Science+Business Media New York 2017 Abstract Employee sick attendance at work — presenteeism—poses a significant threat to both employee health and organizational productivity. However, despite the wealth of literature examining organizational predictors of presenteeism, little research has investigated the impact of stigmatized status on employee work attendance when sick. We argue that gender discrimination in the workplace pro- motes negative job perceptions and poorer health, ultimately contributing to increased rates of presenteeism among female employees. In two studies assessing U.S. women’ s percep- tions of workplace sexism, job security, job autonomy, job stress, reported health, and workplace sick-related attendance, we develop the framework for the Organizational Health and Workplace Sexism (OHWS) model. Study 1 utilized a large nationally representative dataset to conduct a secondary data analysis that preliminarily investigated the unique impact of perceived workplace discrimination. Results found that wom- en who experienced workplace sexism reported more negative job perceptions and poorer health outcomes, yet they did not stay home from work more often than non-stigmatized wom- en did—suggesting sick work attendance. Study 2 surveyed employed women through a paid online survey service in a more detailed assessment of the variables. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) revealed that workplace sexism negatively related to reported health, job security, and job autonomy, which were positively associated with perceived job stress. Job factors also were negatively related to health, which di- rectly correlated with rates of presenteeism. Therefore, the OHWS provides a novel addition to the presenteeism litera- ture by bridging the health, stigma, and organizational literatures. Keywords Presenteeism . Sexism . Health . Job security . Job autonomy Despite social and legal efforts to reduce prejudice, stigma- tized individuals continue to experience discrimination during their daily lives. While undoubtedly exerting a considerable toll in numerous aspects of life, perceived discrimination may distinctively impact the health of stigmatized group members (Banks et al. 2006; Pascoe and Smart-Richman 2009; Williams and Mohammed 2010). Mental and physical health detriments for those who experience discrimination arise in response to the uncontrollable and unpredictable nature of prejudice because stigmatized individuals contend with in- creased psychological and physiological stress reactions in volatile environments (Pascoe and Smart-Richman 2009). Daily discrimination may become a chronic stressor which depletes stigmatized individuals of their self-protective re- sources over time, thus increasing their vulnerability to illness (Gee et al. 2007). Common self-reported health afflictions associated with perceived discrimination include chronic mental and physical ailments such as depression and Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11199-017-0755-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Sara K. Manuel sara.manuel@rutgers.edu Kristina Howansky kristina.howansky@gmail.com Kimberly E. Chaney kimberly.chaney@rutgers.edu Diana T. Sanchez disanche@rci.rutgers.edu 1 Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, 53 Avenue E, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA Sex Roles DOI 10.1007/s11199-017-0755-x