Life as an American worker is challenging. Many of us work too hard and don't get enough time off. Some employees don't get sick time at all and lose pay if they skip a shift.
Even those with successful, lucrative careers see the work pile up when they take a day off. That work doesn't get done if someone's home in bed.
So, what do most of us do when we have a cold or bug? Take a sick day?
Not so much, as you might expect. A recent poll by the market research company Talker Research found that the average American works 84 hours, or just over two work weeks a year, while sick with a cold or other virus.
About half the 2,000 adult workers surveyed said they would rather just power through their day than call in. A third worry about looking overly dramatic by staying home to rest and recover.
Many employees recall someone making a snide comment about how much they called in with an illness. That influences them to show up at the job to grind through the sneezes and sniffles.
Of course, these workers can infect the very people making the nasty remarks, who then presumably work through their own bug.
Americans will more often miss a social outing because of a cold or other virus. The average respondent missed 17 social events because of illness.
Seasonal allergies affect nearly half the adults surveyed. The poll notes this group hesitates to take a sick day because of what coworkers might think.
Employer and employee benefit from a sick day. A worker distracted by a cold is invariably going to have performance issues. That can impact job safety and increase mistakes.
And that's nothing to sneeze at.
Copyright 2024 WUFT 89.1
