Almost every second German is working despite illness

Sick to work: admirable sense of duty or just a big mistake?

There are many people who go to their job sick for a variety of reasons. A representative survey now tried to clarify the question of how many Germans go to work from time to time with a disease. The results were clear: 46 percent of respondents reported that they had not consistently stayed at home for the past 12 months even though they had a medical condition or at least felt sick.

The market research company GfK has now carried out a survey, which should clarify whether people in Germany often go sick to their work. The experts were able to determine that despite going to work sickness is unfortunately quite widespread. Over the past twelve months, 46 percent of respondents did not always go to the doctor if they were supposed to stay home due to illness. It was also found that getting sick to work is more common in women than in men. Of the women surveyed, around 50 percent went to work sick. Among the participating men, the calculated rate was slightly lower, it was 43 percent.

When people go to work sick, they not only endanger their own health and that of their fellow human beings, but also cause increased costs for the company concerned. (Image: Klaus Eppele / fotolia.com)

Survey includes 600 participants

At the beginning of August, the well-known market research company GfK had interviewed around 600 working people. The survey dealt with the issue of whether people also go to work sick. The results clearly show that many working people go to work even when, from a medical point of view, there is actually a medical condition that should be cured at home. The experts were also interested in the number of days in which respondents had gone to work in the past twelve months, even though they were actually ill.

How often were the respondents ill at work in one year??

The results of the survey show that about a third of the respondents did not feel ill once during the past year. But there were also enough people who had gone to work several times. One in ten respondents to the survey were mentally disabled for one to three days. There were another ten percent of people who went to work four to five days a year. 13 percent of respondents went to work despite six to ten days of illness. Another 12 percent of respondents said they had gone to work sick for more than 10 days despite a discomfort.

One in five participants always stayed at home exemplary when he was ill

Last but not least, it is also interesting to know how many people consistently stayed at home when they felt that they were ill. According to the news agency DPA, the researchers found that about one in five respondents was always exemplary in their illness.

If people go to work sick, it will hurt the company considerably

When people go to work sick, it can lead to negative health effects for the affected person as well as for the rest of the workforce. In other words: Sick employees cause considerable damage to their company, even though they are dutifully willing to do their job despite their illness.

A few years ago, another study had found that sick employees at work are twice as likely to pay as employees who stay home when they have a medical condition. Because people who go to work sick, statistically proven to make more mistakes and in addition they provide only a reduced work performance. In addition, colleagues may also be infected, which then fail at work and there are further costs for the company. In addition, when people go to work sick, they also increase their risk of having burnout syndrome later. The right treatment for a disease and the subsequent recovery is very important for workers and their colleagues. (As)