£7 billion - Cost of hay fever to British business
Hay fever costing British business over £7 billion every year
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Monday, 30, Mar 2009 05:48
Hay fever is costing British business over £7 billion every year in lost productivity, new research shows.
A report commissioned by Kleenex claims employers are failing to take the condition seriously with sufferers suggesting hay fever has a negative affect on their ability to work.
Almost four in ten hay fever sufferers claim the condition affects their ability to concentrate throughout the working day. And over half say when symptoms are at their worst they operate at less than 50 per cent, which could equate to as much as £7.1billion a year in lost productivity.
A number of employers, however, admit they don't provide resources that might help to alleviate symptoms.
And over a quarter say they would raise an eyebrow if someone calls in sick with hay fever for the first time, and would start to question their commitment if they did so regularly.
Commenting on the findings, Professor Jean Emberlin, director of the National Pollen and Aerobiology Research Unit said: "With almost a quarter of our entire workforce being affected by hay fever these figures give us real cause for concern - particularly as businesses struggle to achieve maximum efficiency in the recession."