by Brianna Crandall — October 17, 2014—For the first time in five years, the number of employees that said they go to work with the flu (influenza) has dropped to 60%, after four straight years of increases, according to the fifth annual Flu Season Survey from Staples, a leading provider of supplies that help keep offices healthy.
While this is a drop from last year, many employees still feel they cannot take a sick day. Despite 88% of managers encouraging sick employees to stay at home, 40% feel there is too much going on at work to stay away, and 31% show up sick because they think their boss appreciates it. According to the Staples survey, there are a number of factors that have contributed to the drop in employees going to work sick:
- Sick employees coming into work considered worse for office productivity than a security breach — Both employees and employers recognize the detrimental impact that coming to work sick has on workplace productivity. In fact, more than one-quarter of employees (27%) think that coming to work sick is worse for office productivity than a security breach, natural disaster or product/service issue.
- Presenteeism recognized as a bigger problem than absenteeism — More respondents think that presenteeism, i.e., people going into the office when sick but not fully functioning, is a bigger problem than people being absent from work due to illness. This isn’t surprising considering that more than a third of respondents (36%) say that their personal productivity is less than 50% of their usual level when they show up with the flu.
- Employees are taking charge of their own health and wellness —The survey shows that even as the availability of flu vaccinations in the workplace is on the rise, employees are taking more responsibility for their personal health during flu season. In fact, 70% of respondents have some involvement in cleaning their work spaces. This provides employers with the opportunity to promote workplace wellness in simple, inexpensive ways, such as providing cleaning supplies so employees can keep their personal workspace clean.
- Recent virus outbreaks are affecting behavior —Recent virus outbreaks are affecting behavior, as the majority of employees (53%) said they will take extra precautions to protect themselves against the flu and other illness this winter.
“While we are encouraged that for the first time in five years the number of sick employees coming into work has dropped, 60% is still a significant number,” said Chris Correnti, vice president of Staples Facility Solutions at Staples Advantage, the business-to-business division of Staples. “Clearly there is still much work to be done. Recent outbreaks such as Enterovirus in the U.S. underscore the importance of fostering a culture of workplace wellness. ”
Staples offers flu prevention tactics to help office facilities managers keep sick days to a minimum during flu season, which typically runs October through March, meaning six months of flu symptoms and sickness going around the office and at home. To get ahead of flu season, Staples advises FMs to stock up on disinfectants, wipes and cleaners, and most importantly, to get the flu vaccine themselves.
Staples offers a presentation called The Workplace Flu Disconnect that illustrates the findings of this year’s Flu Season Survey. The Staples Flu Center Web site provides information to help office managers and workers prepare for this year’s flu season, as well as a quick online quiz to judge how ready readers’ workplaces are for the season.
The survey was conducted by Redshift Research among 1,500 U.S. office workers. All were working full-time and spend at least 50% of their time working in an office environment. Nearly half (704) of the respondents were managers, and the remaining 796 were general office workers. Results of any sample are subject to sampling variation, notes Staples.
