VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Could you end up catching a cold because you went to the hospital?

The Hospital Employees Union claims too many health care workers are being pressured to go to work while sick.

"Many health authorities have 'attendance management' programs that penalize workers who are sick but are deemed to have above-average sick time usage. They will do things like deny them access to overtime hours, reduce their hours of work, threaten them with dismissal," says Mike Old with the HEU.

He tells us these attendance management measures go against the government's request to ask staff to stay home when they are ill.

"They are trying to encourage more workers to get a flu vaccine and we support that on a voluntary basis; they also want to make workers wear a surgical mask if they don't get a flu vaccine," says Old.

But he tells us if people are under the weather, they need to look after themselves without being intimidated.

A poll conducted by the HEU finds one third of health care workers go to work even if they are experiencing cold or flu symptoms.

"Employers can't have it both ways," says Bonnie Pearson, secretary-business manager with HEU. "The first line of defense in reducing the spread of influenza in health facilities needs to be encouraging workers to stay home when they are sick -- not punishing them for accessing sick leaves."

About 800 workers were surveyed.

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Health care workers pressured to work while sick: union