Don't worry: be poorly, study says

Mondays are always the same

The guilt of a day off sick is easily comforted by the thought that staying under a duvet makes more sense than snuffling self-pityingly at a desk.

Now, research has turned that soothing hunch into hard academic reality.

Researchers at Cornell University in the US have completed a rare study* into the economic effects of working while ill, or "presenteeism".

After looking at 375,000 workers, the authors found that presentees cost their employers $255 (£144) a year.

Indeed, the study suggests that, among 10 common complaints, presenteeism accounts for 61% of the total costs - medical expenses and lost output - accruing to the employer.

An ill wind

It's not hard to see why.

Workers who are ill are obviously less productive, and induce lower productivity - or alternatively, more overtime - in others.

One coughing hero can start a minor epidemic, leading to a spate of absences far more severe than what might originally have happened.

"Employers have not yet fully realised the financial impact it can have on their business," said Ron Goetzel, head of Cornell's Institute for Health and Productivity Studies.

The findings are in some respects controversial, however - not least because the methodology of calculating productivity losses is in dispute.

CCH, a US consultancy that tracks absenteeism across the US, reckons that taking time off does cost investors far more - an average of $645 a year.

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*Health, Absence, Disability, and Presenteeism: Cost Estimates of Certain Physical and Mental Health Conditions Affecting U.S. Employers. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, April 2004.