Absent or half present?

Olia | Sep 10, 2025Sep 09, 2025

LESSON OVERVIEW

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

• engage in discussing time off and leave policies;
• review expressions with ‘take’ used for breaks from work;
• explore an infographic and talk about absenteeism and presenteeism.

In this lesson, students revise phrases with ‘take’ for discussing time away from work (e.g. take a long weekend, take unpaid leave, take the afternoon off). They talk about their experiences of time off and discuss types of leave. Students investigate absenteeism and presenteeism through an infographic, compare different work situations and debate dilemmas about working while sick. They also reflect on workplace policies, suggest their own ideas and role-play choosing the best solutions.

VOCABULARY AND WARM-UP

Before this lesson starts, students do a vocabulary activity to revise useful phrases with ‘take’. In the task, they complete the missing letters in different words. Then, students complete gaps with the verb ‘take’ to create phrases (e.g. take a day off, take sick leave, take a break). Afterwards, they get into discussing time off and leave policies and do a warm-up. Students think about the last time they took a day off. They talk about why they took it or what they did that day. Moving on, students look at types of leave (e.g. paid holiday, sick leave, maternity/paternity leave). They think about their country or company and discuss questions about taking time off from work. 

DISCUSSION

In this part of the lesson, students look at part of an infographic related to ‘absenteeism’ and ‘presenteeism’. They discuss what they think those words mean in the context of work. After that, students look at the whole infographic and talk about work attendance issues. Moving on, they look at pairs of jobs or contrasting work situations (e.g. a freelancer vs. a full-time employee) and discuss who is more likely to engage in presenteeism. Students give reasons for their choices. Afterwards, they engage in discussing time off and leave policies. Students read situations related to dilemmas about working while sick and discuss different decisions. Finally, they look at ideas for work policies (e.g. mental health day, unlimited holidays). Students then reflect on the policies, add their own ideas and role-play choosing the best solutions to presenteeism.

WORKSHEETS

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