ITHACA, N.Y., Jan. 5 (UPI) -- Researchers at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., said they have found that providing health insurance for workers increases job performance.
Researchers conducted a study reviewing six months of job data to see if providing insurance would affect "job anxiety, tardiness, absenteeism and overall task performance," the university said in a release.
They found only task performance was affected, but a parallel study that concerned workers with health insurance that also included mental health insurance showed a slight increase in job tardiness.
"We wanted to take a scientific look at whether having health insurance made a noticeable difference," said Sean Way, assistant professor at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration and one of the authors of the study, titled "The Impact of Health Insurance on Employee Job Anxiety, Withdrawal Behaviors and Task Performance."
Way called the study results that showed increased tardiness among workers provided with mental health insurance "puzzling."
