It’s not unknown that Aussies have a ‘she’ll be right’ attitude, and it turns out not even a worldwide pandemic can change that.
New and concerning research shows that 70% of Australians have said they would present to work with cold or flu symptoms.
The Australian Government has told people time and time again to stay home and get tested for COVID-19 if they feel unwell with related COVID symptoms, even mild ones.
More than half of Aussies would present to work with a headache, and even worse – a stuffy nose, runny nose, sore throat, tingly throat, or fatigue could be early symptoms of COVID-19 or the flu, and 38% of respondents said they would still go into the office with these symptoms.
When it comes to age demographics, it seems as though under-30s would be more likely to present to work with cold or flu symptoms.
The most common response when asked why they would still present themselves at work is ‘the symptoms are not serious enough to justify taking time off work’. 42% say it’s because they would have too much on at work, with no one else able to do their job. 29% think their employer won’t regard their symptoms as serious enough, while 24% don’t want to use up their sick leave or say they will have pressure from their employer to present to work.
“Now that we are facing the genuine threat of a virus ‘double whammy’ – COVID-19 and the flu – it is more important than ever not to go to work when feeling unwell,” says Co-Founder and Director at Cleancorp, Lisa Macqueen.
“As a significant proportion of employees re-enter their workplaces – either partially or fully – organisations must do everything they can to minimise the risks of viruses spreading among their employees, customers, and visitors.
“While it is encouraging to see that many of our clients are asking for heavy-duty anti-viral cleans, we need to see a strong shift towards a ‘stay at home if you’re unwell’ mentality to contain the coronavirus successfully,” concludes Ms Macqueen.
The findings comes from an independent survey conducted in June this year, with 1000 Australian employees, commissioned by Cleancorp.