3 in 4 remote workers don’t take day off when sick

Research by Codex has found that as many as 75% of remote office workers continue working from home when they are sick, rather than taking time off.

The fact that 3 in 4 remote employees ‘soldier on’ through illness suggests that sick days are increasingly seen as a privilege rather than a worker’s right. Many remote workers may feel guilty about taking a sick day when they are already at home, and the office supplies company says employers need to lead by example.

“Working from home has many benefits but it seems that sick leave is not one of them,” said Patrick Murphy, CEO of Codex, officially one of Ireland’s Best Workplaces. “It’s important that people take time to recover when they are sick, and we would encourage all employers to make that clear to their staff.

“If you’re not well, you’re not going to be able to do your job well or support your colleagues at 100%, so you’re better off focussing on getting better,” Mr Murphy added.

Struggling to switch off

The survey of 500 office staff suggests that Irish workers are not only reluctant to take sick leave but are struggling to disconnect from work generally in the remote/hybrid working environment.

The Codex research found that, while most (75%) employers do encourage workers to take their annual leave in order to unwind, some half (50%) of employees do not take their full allocation of leave due to a heavy workload. A further 20% said they do not take all their holiday entitlement for fear of falling behind at work.

Of those who do take holidays, 55% say they have felt pressured to stay connected (check emails or answer calls) instead of switching off from work.

“It’s good that most employers do encourage staff to take their annual leave, but we would urge bosses to go even further and tell employees they should not stay connected when on holiday,” said Codex CEO Patrick Murphy.

“By managing their work-life balance, staff become more engaged and more productive when they’re on the job,” he added. “Here at Codex, our employee engagement scores have increased by 10% in the past four years and our revenue has grown by 18% during the same period.”

Research shows that Ireland has the highest share of hybrid job postings in the EU, with 42% of all paid job postings on LinkedIn in April 2023 offering hybrid working, compared to an average of 33% across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) during the same period.