In our last post we mentioned that employees should stay home when they’re feeling sick to help prevent the spread of germs at the office. We wanted to take a look at reasons employees state that they don’t like to call in when they’re under the weather.
A survey conducted in 2008 by LifeCare sheds some light on the subject. Sure, the survey was done 8 years ago, but it’s very likely that these percentages haven’t changed much since then.
Without further ado, here are the top reasons:
- Other people depend on me: 29%
- Too risky to take time off: 26%
- Too much to do to stay home: 15%
- Saving sick days for childcare/eldercare emergencies: 12%
- Saving sick days for vacation time: 8%
- I don’t work when I’m sick: 7%
- Other reasons: 3%
If you’ll notice, only 7% of employees actually take off when they’re sick. That’s not very many at all.
There is no one solution to help fix this, as each business’ needs are different. It would be nice to say that offering a few more sick days could help keep more sick employees at home, but that doesn’t solve a number of situations (the feeling of being depended on, saving sick days, etc.), and it may not be financially feasible, especially for smaller companies.
Since there’s not many real options to keep sick employees home, practicing proper sanitation is crucial. As we outlined in our last post, there are a few things employees can do to help keep the workplace more sanitary, but nothing is a substitute for supplying proper sanitation.
If you need sanitation supplies to help keep your workplace as germ-free as possible, give Business Hygiene of Central Texas a call today! We’d love to discuss your needs and get you set up with the proper equipment and supplies to make sanitation as hassle-free as possible!
