Don't be a mucus trooper, says TUC

Three out of four workers have been to work when they are ill, according to a TUC poll published last month.

The poll also found that one in five said they had been to work when too ill in the previous month, and nearly half had done so in the last year. As sickness absence last year was the lowest since surveys began, the TUC says that too many people may now be going to work when they should be recovering at home.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "We are not the nation of malingerers that some paint. In fact we struggle into work even when we are too ill to do so because we don't want to let people down. It's all part of our long hours culture. Indeed long hours, stress and increasing workloads make people sick."

The most common reason people gave for going to work when too ill was that "people depend on the job I do, and I don't want to let them down" (42%). A significant minority (16%) said they went to work because they "would have lost pay and couldn't afford it".

The TUC says that advertising can be irresponsible. Campaigns for cold remedies too often focus on trying to frighten people into what would happen if they don't struggle into work. Barber added: "The TUC's message is - don't be a mucus trooper. Look after yourself properly."

For the TUC's new advice on sickness at work go to www.worksmart.org.uk