More Workers Show Up Sick, Poll Finds

Boosted in part by a fear of falling behind with their workload, the number of workers who say they show up for work when they are sick has now grown to 83 percent, a survey has found.

The information concerning employees who work while ill was turned up in the Tell It Now(SM) poll by ComPsych Corp., in Chicago, a provider of employee assistance programs and guidance resources including behavioral health, wellness, work-life and crisis intervention services.

ComPsych said there has been a 6 percent increase in workers showing up while sick since 2005 when the same poll showed a total of 77 percent of workers going to work while ill.

Thirty-seven percent now say they show up sick because their workload makes it too difficult to take off as compared with 34 percent in 2005.

The number of those polled who reported they came to work sick because it feels "risky" to take off was basically flat, going from 26 percent to 25 percent.

Respondents saying they worked out of a desire to "save my sick days for when my kids need me" increased to 21 percent from 17 percent.

A spokesperson for ComPsych, Jennifer Hudson, said the survey asked whether employees were saving sick days for their children, because the firm has found that is one of the most common reasons for absences. The survey did not ask if people saved sick days for other reasons.

Richard A. Chaifetz, chairman and chief executive officer of ComPsych, in a statement explaining the findings said, "Employees are pushing the limits of their health and showing up to work at all costs."

The trend, he said, "is driven in part by an uncertain economy and the significant debt loads taken on by workers in the last two years. More than ever, employees feel the need to be present and show effort on the job."

The Tell It Now survey was conducted from Nov. 12 to Dec. 11, with responses from the employees of 1,000 ComPsych client companies nationwide.