Fifteen percent of employees who worked sick did so from home. Women in particular indicated that they worked sick: 54 percent of the female respondents, compared to 47 percent of men. Young people under the age of 34 work sick more often than those over the age of 34: 58 percent, compared to 43 percent.
In almost half of the cases, these were symptoms of a cold. A quarter worked with back pain, a fifth with abdominal pain and 18 percent with fever. 16 percent worked with psychological complaints.
The research was carried out by an independent research agency in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Anja Van den Broeck, work motivation expert at KU Leuven. A total of 2,500 employees and 250 employers in Belgium were surveyed online between June 22 and July 11 of this year after selection through a representative sample.
Those who continue to work ill do so mainly to avoid putting an extra burden on colleagues, according to the research. Yet they run the risk of infecting colleagues. In addition, one in three admit that they cannot do the job well enough when they are ill. 15 percent say they continue to work sick because their supervisor expects it. 14 percent feel social pressure and state that colleagues disapprove of being absent because of illness.