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Employees often feel pressure to work while sick, leading to lost productivity, deviant behaviors such as theft and mistreatment of coworkers and intent to leave the organization, according to new research led by University of South Florida Assistant Professor of Psychology Claire Smith. The cost of such behavior, known as "presenteeism," can be staggering—as much as $150 billion annually, according to Harvard Business Review.

The findings were published in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology on Friday, Sept. 13.

Here are key takeaways from the research, which included separate studies of four groups of individuals:

While missing work, known as absenteeism, can hurt productivity, going to work while sick, or presenteeism, costs even more. The research introduces the concept of presenteeism pressure, which is when workplaces expect employees to always come in. It also creates a new tool—the Presenteeism Pressure Scale—to measure this expectation.

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