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Many people tend to go to office despite being unwell, especially those in higher work positions and with more responsibilities in office. The trend is called ‘presenteeism’ or ’sickness presence’. A new study shows that this trend is often linked to poor general health, work-family imbalance, and obesity, and can lead to even longer sicknesses at a later stage. A 2005 research in the UK had also found that such people have twice the chance of having heart problems compared to those who do not go to office during illness.

Danish researchers collected data from a sample of 12,000 people, all employed, regarding their general health and readiness to work throughout their illness. Around 8% of them reported to have gone to work more than 6 times, in spite of being unwell. Around 50% had worked during illness for 2 to 5 times, and the rest claimed to have never done so or just once.

Thereafter, for 18 months, data was collected from official records regarding future leaves that the people under study had taken. The 8% people who went to work even when they were unwell were found to have a 53% higher chance of taking leave of 15 days or more due to illness in future. They also had 74% higher chance of taking sickness leave of 60 or more days in comparison to those who did not work during their illness.

The new study conclusively shows the disadvantages of working during illness. People who usually do it to avoid taking a leave may be forced to take longer leaves in future due to more serious illnesses. It also shows that those who want to work during illness do not actually succeed in decreasing their absenteeism; instead, they end up doing exactly the opposite.

Employers need to keep themselves up to date with health and safety developments to avoid potential legal action from employers by taking a health and safety courses such as the iosh working safely from Workplace Law Training.