December 19, 2005 8:03 AM

Stay home
Posted by Jason Tuoheyat 8:03 AM

The Boston Globe today covers a story on "presenteeism," better known as the act of going to work while sick.

Health problems, from cancer diagnoses to backaches to the flu, result in $225 billion in lost work time annually in the United States. And most of that -- 71 percent -- can be traced to workers who showed up feeling punk, largely because of respiratory and gastrointestinal bugs.

This estimate is actually about $75 billion higher than one made last year in a BostonWorks article. So, presenteeism isn't just rampant in the workplace -- it's spreading.