Partner Article

Sickies give employers a headache

Absence from work cost the UK economy over £13bn last year, according to figures released this week. The average employee took almost seven days off sick, while the gulf between absence rates in the public sector and the private sector grew to a record level, research from the CBI and AXA revealed.

The CBI/AXA Absence Survey showed that average absence levels across the public sector stood at nine days, which is 55% higher than the 5.8 day average of the private sector. The private sector improved its absence levels over 2007, while the public sector stood still.

The survey also revealed that of the 172 million days lost to absence in 2007, more than one in ten (12%) are thought to be non-genuine. These 21 million “sickies” cost the economy £1.6bn and two-thirds (65%) of employers think that some staff are using them to extend weekends. 60% said that fake sickness was used to extend holiday, and a third of employers (34%) suspect that sickies are used for special events like birthdays and major football games.

Long-term absence (20 days or more) also continued to be a serious concern for firms. Although only 5% of absence spells became long-term, they accounted for a massive 40% of all time lost, costing £5.3bn. Long-term absence accounted for half (50%) of all time lost in the public sector, but under a third (31%) in the private sector.

Sarah Green, Regional Director, CBI North East said: “Everyone agrees that sick people need time off work. But employers face two serious and expensive challenges - dealing with bogus sick days, and helping those with long-term illness return to work when they are fit to do so. “People who awarded themselves sickies to enjoy the recent sunny weather or to extend a weekend away are acting unfairly, leaving their colleagues to pick up their work, and costing taxpayers and employers over a billion pounds a year.”

The North East performed relatively well compared to the national figures, with an average of 6.5 days per employee. Yorkshire, the poorest performer, came in at nearly 9 days.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .