A quarter of people are struggling into work, despite feeling ill, according to a survey from business psychology company Robertson Cooper.

The survey of 39,000 UK workers found that half reported good health, while the rest described their health as ‘alright’ or ‘poor’.

The report found that 26% of these employees took no sick leave at all in the last quarter and only 38% claimed their productivity was at 90% or above, compared with 51% of workers in the ‘healthy’ group.

Professor Ivan Robertson, managing director at Robertson Cooper, says: “Presenteeism in the workplace has a number of causes, one of which is often related to feelings of job insecurity. Recently, this feeling is likely to have been inflamed as a result of the recession.

“People feel under pressure to be at work; they believe that by showing their faces even when they are ill, they are demonstrating their commitment, despite being unproductive. Businesses can’t afford to ignore this problem.”