'Soldiering on' through illness causes more workplace harm

The office orchestra around this point of Autumn is the same year-on-year: there’s an ensemble of coughers; a whole section of splutterers; likely there’s a row or two of sneezers; all backed by a chorus of snifflers.

Yet, what might appear to be earnest hard work – employees dragging themselves into the office in the face of seasonal ailments isn’t the best attitude to have, and can hold negative effects for both worker and employer.

Writing in the Financial Times, Pilita Clark noted that “several experts claim that presenteeism is now a bigger problem in the UK than absenteeism and could even help explain the country’s dismal productivity growth”.

Yet, Clark explains, the trend of ‘soldiering on’ isn’t something that the new trend of ‘workplace wellness’ programmes can fix. Whilst many companies now offer free gym passes, dental care and ‘ping-pong’ tables – this isn’t tackling presenteeism.