Have you bravely stumbled into work when ill? You're not alone. According to a survey published this week, the majority of UK workers go to work despite being sick, largely because of fears over job security.

In a poll of 1,600 workers conducted by Nuffield Health, 72% said they had gone into work while sick on at least one occasion in the last year. More alarmingly, 53% admitted that they may have risked colleagues' health by coming to work.

Around a third of respondents (30%) said they were more likely to practice such 'presenteeism' now than they were before the economic downturn The most common reason for going into work when sick was fear over job security, cited by around half of those interviewed.

Said Marcus Powell, managing director of corporate wellbeing at Nuffield Health, "Employees going into work sick costs business dearly - up to £15billion a year. Our research shows the economic downturn has made people more likely to go into work sick often because they fear losing their job. This is bad for business."

Lower paid and younger workers were found to be the most likely to engage in presenteeism, whilst women were slightly more likely than men to struggle into work because of the economic recession (33% to 27%).