This study tests the role of the full range leadership model’s leadership styles in employees’ job-stress-related presenteeism (JSRP). Further, the study tests a model that introduces mediating variables in the relationship between absent leaders and JSRP. Employees from four different types of organizations: police (N = 148), public service (N = 479, not-for-profit (N = 96), and construction (N = 214) completed the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire on their direct supervisor, as well as a self-report measures of JSRP, psychological distress, and work–life balance. Correlations and hierarchical linear regression models showed that laissez-faire leadership had the strongest influence on JSRP for all four organizations. The parallel mediation model results showed that both employee psychological distress and work–life balance partially mediated the relationship between laissez-faire leadership style and employees’ JSRP. These results underscore the importance of looking at absent leaders and how they affect employees negatively.
