12% of restaurant employees come to work sick

Do you ever worry when you see a restaurant employee coughing while on duty? Since their job revolves around food, you would hope that any sick restaurant worker would take the day off.

A recent study conducted by Duke University Hospital, however, shows that 12% of all restaurant workers have come to work twice in the past year while suffering from diarrhea or vomiting. Considering that past studies found the percentage to be 5%, this news is particularly disturbing.

For those who frequent restaurants, these results may be alarming—that is, after all, one out of eight food service employees. Generally, one restaurant keeps more than eight employees on duty during peak hours.

Restaurants serving more than 300 meals on busy days were even more likely to have workers come in when sick, according to the study.

“It may be if you're working in a busy place your manager is less likely to send you home, or you may feel bad to leave your coworker stranded on a busy shift," said Dr. Steven Sumner, resident in internal medicine at Duke University Hospital.

Without effective policies for handling employee illness, restaurants could have little choice but to allow a sick employee to work. It may be a long time before an optimal answer is developed; until then, load up on hand sanitizer.