Missing out on the opportunity to catch up on the always-entertaining-for-one-reason-or-another The View, 72 percent of workers go to work when they are sick, according to a new survey released today by CareerBuilder.  Evidently, “presenteeism” and workplace pressures outweigh the desire to see the ridiculous charming banter between Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Whoopi Goldberg, as more than half of those workers (55 percent) say they feel guilty if they call in sick.

(Side note: I can’t help but notice that this 72 percent overlaps slightly with the 29 percent of workers who admitted they have faked an excuse to call in sick in a previous CareerBuilder survey. I’d love to get a peek inside the minds of those who show no remorse at calling in sick when they aren’t, but just don’t feel right about it when they are.)

While I understand feeling too guilty to take a sick day, is there no shame when it comes to putting your co-workers at risk of getting sick? (Did anyone else not see Outbreak?!) More than half of workers surveyed (53 percent) said they have gotten sick from a co-worker who came to the office sick.

According to Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, it’s important for employees to stay home if they aren’t feeling well – for the sake of their health and everyone else’s.  It’s also in managers’ best interest to promote the health of their employees in order to maintain productivity.

Haefner offers the following tips managers can use to promote a healthy – and productive – workplace:

• Insist that sick employees go or stay home. If they absolutely must come into the office, let them work in a conference room or away from others so they don’t spread their sickness.
• If you think your employees might be hesitant to take sick days, talk to them – or have HR talk to them – about how their sick days can be used.  Offer to let them telecommute, delegate or call-in if necessary. Do whatever you can to ensure they take care of themselves, get healthy and get back to work as soon as possible.
• Provide healthy resources. Make sure hand sanitizers, hand soap, paper towels, tissues and other cleaning supplies are readily available for employees to use.
• Develop company telecommuting policies – or, if necessary, adjust existing ones –and determine standards for allowing employees to telecommute during this time to reduce the potential for spreading germs.