'Sickness presenteeism' rising due to economic downturn
Mentor news update 19/01/2011
The poor economic climate is seeing an increasing number of
people going into work when they are not well, according to a new
survey on employee health.
The study carried out by Nuffield Health showed that 30 per cent
of the 1,600 people they surveyed said the economic downturn has
made them more inclined to go into work on days when they might
have previously called in sick. Of the half of those people who did
actually go to work while ill in the last year, they said job
security was the biggest influence on their decision.
Marcus Powell, who heads Nuffield’s Corporate Wellbeing
department, said that in total, around three-quarters of all the
people surveyed had gone into work while ill in the last year – an
action that could well have hurt rather than helped their
company.
“Employees going into work sick costs business dearly – up to
£15 billion a year,” he said. “Our research shows the economic
downturn has made people more likely to go into work sick often
because they fear losing their job.”
‘Sickness presenteeism’ was found to be most prevalent among the
16 to 24-year-olds surveyed, with 85 per cent of them stating that
the had worked while sick in the last year, and 48 per cent of them
admitting that the economic climate put more pressure on them not
to miss work.
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