The results of the study, which surveyed some 2,000 people, help to explain the overall drop in sick days taken in the UK.

Last year, UK workers took an average of 4.3 days off work due to illness, the lowest number since records began.

And back in the heady days of 1993, we took almost twice as many sick days a year, with the average number coming in at 7.2 days per employee, according to the Office for National Statistics.

If you need any convincing to call in sick next time you’re feeling ill, have a read of Lucy Mangan’s column about sick days being the new “mini break”, or take heed of Lena Dunham’s wise words and repeat after me: “We can only pull off a high wire act for so long before gravity does its job.”

Images: iStock

Most British workers have stopped taking sick days, survey finds