19 OCT 2021
Nobody is taking sick days. That’s bad
People who work while ill make more mistakes, while sickness presenteeism also lowers productivity and performance
Sniffling? Bit of a cough? Running a fever? Log out and take a sick day.
After a year of such symptoms inducing Covid terror and necessitating a gag-inducing test, it should go without saying that illnesses are better off kept at home — after all, it’s bad for productivity if you infect your coworkers with a disease that’s killed millions globally. But you should also take your sick days even if you’re working from home.
British people don’t tend to call in sick. In 2019, workers in the UK surveyed by CIPD averaged only six sick days per year. It’s difficult to say how the pandemic has impacted sickness presenteeism, as such figures are obscured by furlough, quarantine and other factors, meaning the illness absence rate in the UK actually fell to 1.8 per cent in 2020 – the lowest figure since records began in 1995. The CIPD’s 2021 research found that 70 per cent of respondents to its 2021 survey reported staff using annual leave for sickness or to catch up on work, suggesting that sickness presenteeism remained prevalent despite Covid.
Indeed, one workplace survey suggested at least a third of people worked despite being unwell during lockdown, with another suggesting people are worried about letting down their team or being seen as slacking by employers. “A common culprit is job pressure – feeling that you can’t step away because the work will pile up in your absence, or feeling concerned that others will think negatively of you if you don’t keep working,” says Blaine Landis, assistant professor of Organisational Behaviour at UCL School of Management.
Working from home exacerbates that behaviour, with further research suggesting people who can work from home take fewer sick days. On the positive side, those ill workers are at least avoiding the office rather than spreading germs to colleagues, and – if well enough – keeping up with emails means you don’t have to wade through an overflowing inbox when you do feel better.
Landis says it’s reasonable to predict that working from home would reduce the number of sick days. “Some people might feel awkward taking sick days when they’re working from home if they can still complete their work,” he says. “Rather than taking a full sick day, what may actually happen is that working from home increases the capacity for people to adjust their effort throughout the day. Not being around others in the office environment means you might be able to take more breaks throughout the day, making the work more manageable when you’re sick.”On the downside, working when ill – even from home – can lead to more sick days in the longer term, according to researcher Alison Collins, a reader at Manchester Metropolitan University, who studies the idea of sickness presenteeism. A systematic review by Collins found that sickness presenteeism was a risk factor for future absences from illness and people rating their own health poorly. “ suggests that not taking time off to rest and recuperate when ill could be problematic,” she says, adding that “it really depends on the context, the type of illness, and how serious the illness is”.
Beyond physical health, she’s found that feeling like you must show up for work when ill – virtually or in the office – can also have a negative impact on psychological well-being and increase the risk of depression within two years, even in people with no noticeable signs of mental-health problems at the time. It also understandably leaves workers feeling like their manager doesn’t care about them.
There are other downsides to businesses beyond the impact on staff: one study shows that working when ill can lead to mistakes, while another suggests sickness presenteeism lowers productivity and performance. Overall, studies from the US and Australia show that presenteeism costs more to the overall economy than absenteeism.
That said, Collins stresses that the nature of the illness and the type of work matters. Generally – and this isn’t medical advice, so do call your GP if you’re unwell – that means you can probably check your emails when you’ve got a bit of a cold without long-term implications, for example, but more serious illnesses should be allocated time for recovery. On the flip side, she adds, that when voluntary rather than required by an unsympathetic boss, working through illness can help those with chronic conditions continue to be employed.
The voluntary nature of working when sick is key: people can judge for themselves if they aren’t under pressure from management or stress from workloads. Given Brits lean towards not taking time off, smart managers will generally trust workers to be honest when calling in sick. And that must be clearly communicated to employees, with managers taking sick days if and when necessary to set an example.
“It’s critically important that we support our employees so that they feel comfortable stepping away to recover from illness,” says Landis. “It can be as simple as taking a moment to make it clear that it’s okay to take sick days if you’re under the weather. But leaders may simply overlook the importance of having this conversation — they might assume that employees feel comfortable when in fact they don’t.”
The CIPD advises that HR departments explain sick pay terms, ensure it’s clear when sick notes are needed, and “give guidance” on absences caused by other events, such as bad weather or popular sports events – if you’re worried people are calling in sick because their team lost, it’s better to just have a chat than ruin the system for everyone.
However, it’s worth noting that when people are their own bosses, they’re even harder task masters: a study of self-employed Swedes showed they were too worried about their businesses to take time off when ill, suggesting freelancers need more support. But don’t forget that, in the UK at least, you have a legal right to sick days, let alone a moral one. If you’re too ill to work, don’t do it; make a cup of tea and cuddle up under a duvet – it’s better for everyone that way.