Employees who go to work when they are sick cost employers far more than
absenteeism or disability leave, according to a recent study published in the
US Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
Researchers used estimates from a database of about 375,000 employees, which
included information on insurance claims for medical care and short-term
disability over three years, and combined it with productivity surveys for 10
health conditions that most commonly affect workers.
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Researchers at the Cornell University Institute for Health and Productivity
Studies (IHPS) estimated that companies’ on-the-job productivity losses from
presenteeism could be as high as 60 per cent of the total cost of worker illness.
It said that where companies pay health benefits, sickness costs £144 per
employee per year.
