More than 50% of British workers are working through illness rather than calling in sick over fears that they will lose their job, according to research conducted by HireScores.com.

The research also found that that many British workers are too nervous or busy to take a full lunch break with 20% rarely taking a lunch break, 23% seldom taking their full break and 14% revealing they don't have time to eat lunch.

Small business owners have been reminded that staff will work more productively if they have a full break.

"Despite the fact that members of staff and management may feel as though working through their lunch is the best option for getting through a big pile of work, it's clear that this is not an effective long term strategy," said Lisette Howlett, founder of HireScores.com.