<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>338470</docID> <postdate>2025-02-17 14:26:06</postdate> <headline>Women less likely to turn up to work sick than men</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-238832" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/spring-sneezing-resized.jpeg" alt="" width="900" height="600" /></p> <caption>Women are more likely than men to stay at home from work when sick, a survey has found.</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Maeve Bannister</strong> in Sydney</span></p> <p><strong>Women are more likely to stay away from work when sick compared to their male colleagues.</strong></p> <p>A study of workplace behaviour conducted by the University of Western Australia, surveyed people on whether they continued going to work when they were sick.</p> <p>"We wanted to know what employers were doing to discourage sick people coming to work or continuing to work while unwell and if they were successful," study co-author associate professor Aleksandra Luksyte told AAP.</p> <p>The study looked at workplace sickness preventative practices such as promoting social distancing, wearing masks, frequently disinfecting surfaces, increasing ventilation and washing hands.</p> <p>Results showed sickness prevention practices were particularly beneficial for reducing the likelihood of women coming into work unwell compared to men.</p> <p>"When there is a question of protecting health, men tended to focus more on persevering with their performance," Prof Luksyte said.</p> <p>"Women understood that protecting themselves was more important than persevering with work at the expense of their health."</p> <p>The study results were "absolutely" a message for businesses about their need to implement and enforce sickness prevention signals, Prof Luksyte added.</p> <p>"The lesson is that we need to have sick leave available and also need to create a culture that there is nothing wrong with taking it," she said.</p> <p>"When an organisation creates this health-promotion culture it's good for everyone.</p> <p>"Although absenteeism can be costly, continuing to work while sick is even costlier due to its negative effects on employees and their co-workers."</p> </body>