Nearly two-thirds of Belgians continued to work despite health problems over the past year, according to a study released on Thursday by HR services provider Tempo-Team.
The survey, which questioned around 2,000 Belgian employees, found that 45.3% of sick workers went to their workplace, while 23.8% completed their tasks from home.
Younger workers were more likely to opt for teleworking, with 28.8% of respondents under 35 doing so compared to 22.4% of those aged 35-54 and 17.4% of those over 55.
The study revealed that guilt was the main reason for working while unwell, cited by 35% of respondents.
Other motivating factors included a desire to avoid leaving work unfinished (33.1%) and concerns about burdening colleagues due to their absence (31.3%). One in ten workers also felt social pressure from their peers.
Despite their efforts, half of these workers admitted that health problems prevented them from performing tasks effectively.
The phenomenon, known as “presenteeism” or “pink absenteeism,” reduces productivity for companies and can increase the likelihood of other employees falling ill.
Professor Anja Van den Broeck, a work motivation expert at KU Leuven who contributed to the study, suggested employers could address the issue by clearly defining when workers should or should not be present.
She also recommended implementing more flexible systems to prevent unnecessary workload accumulation during staff illnesses.
