Are you a STOIC? Or more of a Wickie? According to new research, the answer will depend on how your working practices are influenced by your health and by modern technology.

A report from Professor Cary Cooper and health insurance provider Ellipse suggests that technological advances have created an "always on" work culture. This, coupled with low job security, says the study, has heaped pressure upon workers. The study showed that 80% of employees continue to work when ill, with damaging effects on productivity and health.

Said Professor Cooper, "For many people, gone are the days when you would simply phone in sick and sleep off a bout of flu. Today, we are more a nation of 'STOICs' (sick, though often inbox checking), who are neither fully off work nor fully working, but often doing something in between.

"The pressure to work when ill and failure to address the condition early on are dangerous and often prove to be a false economy, contributing in some cases to chronic medical conditions."

The study, entitled Sick Notes, outlines other common absence types in the modern workplace. The 'Wickie' (working sickie) is a common sight across the UK, despite four-fifths of employers claiming that they view presenteeism as a bad thing.

The report said that such behaviour highlights the growing "grey area between absence and working".

Read the study, "Rather than jump to the conclusion that we are a nation of serial skivers who like to bunk off, there are many businesses that simply do not pay enough attention to the work-life balance issues that may be the root cause of both illegitimate and legitimate days off.

"Stressful, long-hours cultures or organisational inefficiencies can put people under such pressure that they feel like they are entitled to take a day off, or indeed they dread the prospect of work so much that they would rather stay at home."