Employees Want Sick Co-Workers to Stay Home

Bosses says they encourage sick employees to stay home (53% encourage strongly, 29% encourage somewhat), but a survey from OfficeTeam finds 85% of employees surveyed have gone to work while sick.

Reasons for going to the office sick cited by these employees include:

• Felt well enough to work – 36%;
• Didn’t want to fall behind in work – 32%;
• Don’t get any sick days – 12%;
• Want to save sick time in case it’s needed later – 9%; and
• Feel the boss would frown on them for not coming in – 4%.

But co-workers are not pleased: 42% of employees surveyed said their biggest pet peeve during cold and flu season is when someone comes in sick. Another 42% are most annoyed when those around them don’t cover their mouth when sneezing or coughing.

More than 300 HR managers at U.S. companies with 20 or more employees, and more than 500 U.S. workers 18 years of age or older and employed in office environments were surveyed.