Slight fall in sickness absence

The total number of days lost to sick leave eased down slightly in 2007, a new CBI survey has revealed.

The study, carried out by the CBI and insurers Axa, found that on average workers took 6.7 days off sick last year, down from seven days in 2006.

Despite the improvement, sickness absence still cost the economy some £13.2 billion in lost productivity, the CBI said.

The survey also highlighted the gap in levels of sick leave between the private and public sectors.

While private sector employees were off sick for an average of 5.8 days last year, public sector workers were absent sick for an average of nine days.

The figures mean that the private sector improved its absence levels over 2007, while the public sector stood still.

Of the 172 million days lost to absence in 2007, some 12 per cent, the CBI said, were thought to be non-genuine. That added up to 21 million ‘sickie’ days off at a cost to the economy of £1.6 billion.

Two-thirds of employers believed that some staff were using sick leave to extend weekends, while six out of ten bosses thought that fake sickness was being used to extend holidays.

Long-term absence, which is defined as 20 days or more, was still a persistent problem for employers. Although only 5 per cent of absence spells became long-term, they accounted for 40 per cent of all time lost.

Susan Anderson, the CBI’s director of HR policy, 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.”

Ms Anderson argued that staff who award themselves sickies to enjoy the 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.

She added: “Those with long-term illnesses need time to recover. But in many cases, like those involving stress or back pain, firms that keep in touch with employees and offer flexible working have been successful at reducing long-term absence levels.

“A fresh, proactive approach to managing long-term absence could help stem the flow onto incapacity benefit – which currently costs £12.5 billion a year for 2.5 million people – and help employers to retain skilled employees, many of whom will find that work can improve their health and outlook.”