Partner Article

Government must do more to tackle absenteeism

The issue of workplace sickness absence is a matter of urgency which the Government must take immediate steps to tackle, according to the EEF.

The manufacturers organisation made the comments on the back of publication of their annual sickness absence report 2012. The report, which was published in partnership with Westfield Health, indicated some positive results of companies taking a proactive approach to managing sickness absence, which has resulted in a year on year decline on short term absence over the past five years.

Commenting, EEF Chief Medical Adviser, Professor Sayeed Khan, said: “With our economy still suffering from weak growth we need to pull every possible lever to improve our economic performance. This includes helping employees to return to health and work as soon as possible.

“There are now signs that the wins to reduce short -term absence are being exhausted and we need a fresh approach from government to address the more deep-rooted problems such as stress and back pain.”

The number of employees having no sickness absence has also increased to 51%, from 46% the previous year, reflecting steps taken by employers in this area. This includes setting stretching absence targets, training line managers and providing employees with Occupational Health services. It also indicated that smaller business tend to have lower levels of absenteeism than larger firms.

Despite these efforts however, overall sickness absence rates have flattened off, and remain unchanged from 2010 at 2.2%, while average working days lost to absence have marginally increased from 5 days per employee to 5.1 days. However, what is more concerning is the divergence between short and long term absence where almost 40% of companies saw an increase in 2011, an increase of 5% on 2010 alone.

This has been attributed to increasing levels of stress, anxiety and depression, which result in longer periods off work. 55% of companies have also express concerns over the issue of presenteeism, in particular on the impact of long term health, short term illness and unmotivated employees. Despite this however, only 5% of companies monitor the cost of presenteeism.

Paul Shires, Westfield Health Executive Director said: “As the NHS continues to work towards its £20 billion savings target by 2014, we would expect the amount of companies taking a more proactive approach to grow, and, it is essential that health insurers continue introducing more relevant benefits to bridge gaps in service provision.

“However, as the survey shows overall sickness absence has plateaued and stress related absenteeism has grown, it is clear that more needs to be done to aid and assist employers with their healthcare needs.”

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