Employers have been urged to improve their support for sick workers after a survey revealed almost a quarter (23 per cent) of employees would only take time off work if they were hospitalised.
The figure, which equates to around seven million UK workers, revealed employers still have more to do to discourage ‘presenteeism’ – working while ill – according to protection provider Canada Life.
A survey of 1,004 full and part-time employees in July 2017 also showed nine in 10 (89 per cent) workers had gone into work when feeling ill – down just 1 percentage point on last year - while nearly half (47 per cent) said they would come into work with a stomach bug.
In addition, more than half (55 per cent) would go into work if they had the flu – even if that meant putting colleagues at risk of infection.
The main reason employees gave for going into work when unwell, cited by 69 per cent of respondents, was feeling their illness did not warrant a day off.
But the trend is also being driven by high workloads (34 per cent) and financial concerns (22 per cent).
The survey also showed people were deterred from taking time off by negative perceptions of absence, with almost a fifth (17 per cent) of respondents saying they worried about coming across as weak for taking time off with a short-term illness.
More than two in five (43 per cent) respondents said they were not aware of any form of sickness absence support in their organisation, while 14 per cent said their employer definitely did not offer anything.
Just 10 per cent said their employer had an employer assistance programme in place - a tool that provides preventative and practical health support in the workplace.
Paul Avis, marketing director at Canada Life Group Insurance, said: “It is incredibly worrying it would take something as serious as being hospitalised to dissuade a quarter of British employees from going into work, showing that a ‘stiff upper lip’ culture of presenteeism still pervades the British workforce.
“People suffering from illnesses like flu and stomach bugs are unlikely to be productive and risk making their colleagues unwell as well by struggling into work. We need to be clearer with employees - they should only come in to work when fully fit and able to do so, be it physically or mentally.”
Roy McLoughlin, associate director at London-based Cavendish Ware, said: "A good group income protection plan gives both employer and employee peace of mind, so that if anything were to go wrong, both parties are covered.
"Most of the major insurers have employee assistance programmes and early intervention aligned to these schemes, which are excellent methods of monitoring and aiding in recovery."
simon.allin@ft.com
