The results of a recent study carried out by Bupa has shown that almost half (49%) of staff who are off sick will still continue to do some work, with 32% reading work emails while ill and 28% responding to them.

According to the research, a quarter of employees have taken work-related calls when absent due to illness, and 2% have even hosted meetings from their sick beds.

The report follows a study by the Work Foundation and AXA earlier this year which found that levels of what has been dubbed "sickness presence" are remarkably high in the UK. Bupa’s work backs up this finding, apparently showing that 67% of staff in the UK have gone to work when unwell. Of these working ill, 44% reported that they are working at less than half their usual productivity levels.

Coincidentally, the CBI’s annual absence survey was also published this month. The survey showed that overall absence rates had continued to fall in the UK, a trend which some experts - including the CIPD - have put down to employee fears about job security, although Bupa blamed employers for not implementing health and wellbeing strategies for their workers.

There is a worry that employees not taking sufficient time off when they are ill will lead to longer-term sickness absence in the future - this could be a problem for the Government, who has announced plans to cut the number of workers on incapacity benefit.

Technorati Tags: Employees, Sick Leave