Women were said to take more time off than men
The effect is a loss of business amounting to nearly £1.5bn per year, the BLF has calculated.
A survey among 1,200 people found as many as a third took time off for lung-related diseases.
The foundation says the government cannot afford to ignore the impact of lung disease.
BLF chief executive Dame Helena Shovelton, said there is also an "enormous strain" on GP services from lung disease.
She said: "We have to put more resources into preventing and treating lung diseases.
"Lung disease has so often been the poor relation in terms of health spending and we are now paying the price."
Lung disease affects about 8m people in the UK - on average about one person in every family.
Coughing
The survey, by Taylor Nelson Sofres, is based on telephone interviews with 1,200 working people in the UK who took time off during 2000.
All respondents were in paid employment, including part-time.
Coughing was the most widely-suffered condition reported by those who took time off, with 25 % taking time off with flu.
This is significant as the BLF reports that flu can weaken the body's lung defences against more serious health problems. It can also prompt other lung diseases to flare up - such as asthma, chronic bronchitis or bronchiectasis.
Some 83% of people interviewed had flu once. Only 11% of those polled had received a flu vaccination.
Regional variations
Those who complained of lung symptoms suffered from aching limbs, sore throat, flu symptoms and headaches among other ailments.
Among those who took time off, women were shown to be absent with illness more often than men - 16 days per year compared with 12.5.
Young people aged 25-34 took less time off than their older counterparts but it was those aged 16-24 who were more likely to complain of lung symptoms.
Workers in the south west take the least time off and the survey found regional variations mainly corresponded to lung disease rates among the population.
The results revealed that public and service sector workers took more time off than manual and construction workers.
Nurses were reported as taking the least time off.
The survey showed that 40% of those who took time off visited their GP.