The moral orders of work and health: a case of sick leave due to burnout

Abstract

Being on sick leave due to burnout entails a high level of accountability. Persons suffering from burnout do not automatically play a legitimate sick role because of the fuzziness of the burnout concept. In addition, while being on sick leave, they are in a non-working position, which is against the ideals of work-centred society. Therefore, they are required to explain their ‘deviant’ situation. Drawing on the interview data, the article explores how sick leave is explained and justified in narrative accounts by Finnish burnout sufferers. Results show that sick leave makes the moral orders of work, health and illness visible. Sick leave as a process involves negotiation of one's status and worth in the categories of ‘respectable employee’ and ‘credible patient’. A transition to sick leave requires causal explanations of burnout, which aim to legitimate ill-being. Being on sick leave creates an obligation for activity and productivity that is ‘work-like’ management of health. The study shows the fundamental level at which work structures everyday life, routines, and habits in the work-centred society. In this context, burnout sufferers struggle to legitimise their work-related distress and absence from work and restore their morally worthy identities.