actually you find that here too - and I'd be one of the guilty parties. There's actually social pressure to appear for work unless you're seriously sick ie, bad dose of the flu, tonsilitis, heart attack etc. A mild cold "doesn't count" and you appear for work. That said, there are those to DO stay at home but generally people appear for work. Another side of it is that you still have the backlog of work to deal with when you get better and that can be as stressful as working while you're sick. Another side is that you're only allowed 10 paid sick days here, anything else is on your own time and/or can be deducted from your holidays (not allowing for disability etc which is paid and has other issues/criteria). Another more subtle aspect is that if you have a reputation for only taking a sick day when you absolutely need to, then phoning in sick if you have another reason isn't suspicious (emergency/hangover/apathy), aka, "pulling a sickie". Not exactly moral but can come in handy ( ... )