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Cornell University Study:
Sick Workers Should Stay at Home
Workers who come into work when they are ill cost their employers an average of $255 each year, according to a recent Cornell University study. That's because sick workers work more slowly and have to repeat tasks, have difficulty concentrating and generally bog down productivity.
Sick workers also tend to get their co-workers sick, but those costs weren't counted in the
study.
Economists refer to slack productivity from ailing workers as "presenteeism," and the Cornell study said it may cost employers even more than absenteeism due to illness.
The study found that 61 percent of medical and lost productivity costs related to 10 common ailments, including colds, asthma and arthritis, were attributable to ill workers staying on the job.
The impact of employee absenteeism is well documented — an average of $645 per employee per year, according to CCH Inc., a trade group that does an annual survey on the issue. Figuring out how much it costs to come to work sick, however, has been more elusive because of a lack of accepted measurement standards.
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