Purpose: Little is known about the factors that influence whether food workers work while ill. We conducted a study designed to identify factors related to workers working while ill.
Methods: We conducted workplace interviews with food workers (N = 491) from 391 randomly selected restaurants located in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Environmental Health Specialists Network sites. These interviews assessed whether the workers had worked while ill with vomiting or diarrhea in the previous year, the workers’ characteristics, job responsibilities, and beliefs about the influence of specific factors on their decisions to work while ill.
Results: Twenty percent of workers had worked while ill with vomiting or diarrhea on at least one shift in the previous year. Factors significantly (P < .05) related to the decision whether to work while ill with vomiting or diarrhea included worker sex, years of work experience, job responsibilities, concerns about leaving coworkers short-staffed and concerns about job loss.
Significance: The findings from this study suggest that the decision to work while ill is complex and multifactorial. Factors that influence these decisions may be personal, social, or financial. Efforts to curtail ill workers’ role in food preparation should take these factors into consideration.