Bad flu season hits Works nearly five-year high in January

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

The number of people taking sick days hit a virtually five-year full of January, in accordance with the labor Department. Figures from the department's monthly Current Population Survey show an estimated 1.2 million workers didn't punch time in any respect throughout the survey reference week since they were sick, injured, or had doctor appointments. An additional 2.9 million full-time employees worked part-time for the similar reasons.

Those are the highest estimates since February 2008, when 1.3 million workers stayed home and 3.3 million worked part-time instead of full-time.

Though these estimates include absenteeism for those types of illnesses and injuries, the spike is likely because of seasonal cold and flu strains, the Labor Department said in a very blog post soon.

The 2010 spike could be the consequence of a really bad flu season combined with flu vaccinations that proved less effective than expected. But whatever the causes, he states, a spike in absenteeism can deliver a major hit to productivity in all types of workplaces, says Ronald Ehrenberg, a professor of commercial and labor relations at Cornell University.

"Absenteeism is a problem. If you think maybe about public schools and substitute teachers in contrast to regular teachers, the quantity of learning falls," he states. "I think it would be a particular overuse injury in small companies, since they are unlikely to have people they could shift and fill the role in the absent person."

In addition, he states, the flu can raise costs for companies instructed to pay employees overtime to compensate for sick colleagues that have stayed home.

All of the costs mount up. In accordance with the CDC, influenza costs businesses around $10.4 billion dollars Yearly.