More than a third of employees have continued working despite being ill during the pandemic, with younger people even more likely to do so.
Encouragingly there was a drop in self-reported presenteeism from last year although the figure still remained a stubbornly high.
According to research from Canada Life, almost half (46%) of those it surveyed who were aged 18-34 carried on working when unwell in the last 18 months, much higher than the national average of 35%.
Notably 21% of respondents who admitted to working while unwell, said they would have taken the time off if lockdown restrictions had not applied.
The most common reasons for working while being unwell included thinking the illness was not serious enough to take time off (50%, up from 40% last year), their workload being too great to take time off (27%) and being worried about the financial implications (24%).
Of those working from home, about a third (32%) felt a greater pressure to be present at work – which had dropped from 46% during the peak of the pandemic in 2020.
Again, younger employees and also women were most affected with 37% of 18-34 year-olds feeling this way compared to only 27% of over 55s, and 37% of women compared to 28% of men.
Longer hours
The survey of 2,000 adults carried out by Opinium in September found more than a fifth (22%) of those working from home were working longer hours than before the pandemic.
Men tend to start earlier (24% for men vs 19% for women), with women finishing later (18% for men vs 23% for women).
Additionally, around 20% of employees admitted to checking their emails more regularly outside of working hours than before.
Similarly, the research showed that 20% of employees working from home found their working day to be more stressful than before, with 18% of people feeling the need to prove they work every day which rose to 23% for women.
And 14% of employees felt pressure to attend every meeting or call throughout the day, again rising to 19% for women.
Canada Life protection sales director Dan Crook noted that since the beginning of the pandemic, and the increase in working from home, everyone had to adapt to a new routine.
“We’ve had to get used to fewer interactions and less contact with our colleagues, alongside our increased use of technology,” he said.
“This has had a drastic effect on how our work days are structured, and how work gets done and in some cases it has had a negative impact on mental health, causing higher levels of stress and an anxiousness to be present.
“It is so important for employees to take time off and employers have a key role to play in facilitating this,” he added.
