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NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - With memories of last year's flu vaccine shortage still fresh in their minds, employers want ill workers to go home rather than spread their germs at the office, according to the findings of a new survey.

Nearly half of employers who participated in a survey conducted by publishing firm CCH say that sick workers who show up for work are a problem, up 20 percent from last year.

"When someone doesn't feel well, they are simply not as productive, nor is the quality of their work as high," CCH employee benefits Tulay Turan said. "Then, there is the added problem of spreading illnesses to other employees who in turn either call in sick, or come in sick."

Employers fearing lost productivity from illnesses are using a variety of strategies to fight the spread of germs in the workplace, the survey said.

Sixty-two percent of the organizations reported they send sick employees home, while 41 percent educate employees on the importance of staying home when sick, and 36 percent try to foster a culture that discourages employees from coming to work sick.

The shift in attitude is occurring in workplaces small and large, according to USA Today. Wyse Advertising in Cleveland, which employs about 100 people, asks sick workers to stay home, and Big Four accounting firm Ernst & Young adheres to a similar policy, the newspaper reported.

HR Staffing Solutions, a technical recruiter in Syracuse, N.Y., doesn't just ask workers to stay away from the office if they're sick, the newspaper said, the company sends them home.

The company line may change, but workers may be hesitant to follow through on new guidelines, the USA Today report said, citing a separate survey conducted by Caravan Opinion Research that shows almost 40 percent of employees feel pressured to keep working when ill, even though 75 percent of them say their company encourages them to stay home when sick.

Costs for missed work days can pile up, with unscheduled absences running employers an average of $660 an employee each year, up from $610 last year, the CCH survey said.

CCH said its survey reflects the experiences of randomly polled organizations with an estimated total of more than one million employees.

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