WORKERS are going to work despite being ill because of pressure from bosses, according to a new report.

And a northern TUC leader said one cause was the imposition of “performance management” by employers who put output before the health and wellbeing of employees.

The report came from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), which describes itself as “the professional body for human resources and people development.”

The CIPD surveyed 600 employers and found that almost a third reported a rise in so-called “presenteeism” — workers attending despite being ill.

The study found that workers were more likely to go to the office while sick if long working hours were seen as the norm, or where “operational demands” took precedence over employee wellbeing.

The problem was worse in the public sector because of pressure to deliver services despite budget cuts, said the CIPD.

North West TUC secretary Lynn Collins said: “The increasing pressure of ‘performance management’ and ‘sickness absence’ systems mean that people are often turning in to work when ill for fear of an adverse mark or scoring in one of these systems.

“Nobody really benefits when people are ill at work, particularly for those workers in front-facing public-serving professions, and it’s about time employers worked with unions to make sure there are systems in place that support people when they are ill and don’t penalise them or place unnecessary pressure on them to attend when not fit.”